Voters in Fairbanks may not be aware that House candidate Joy Beth Cottle changed her voter registration just days before she officially filed to challenge Republican Rep. Frank Tomaszewski, who represents House District 34.
While she was registered as “undeclared,” she was suddenly a Republican as of the third week of May. But her record is hard-left Democrat.
Cottle submitted testimony to the Legislature begging lawmakers to restore the costly pension program for public employees — the same program that was eliminated due to it bankrupting Alaska back in 2006, when the Legislature switched employees over to a defined contribution program, a classic 401(k) retirement system like much of the rest of the workforce has. Restoring pensions would cost the rest of Alaskans’ Permanent Fund dividends, and then some. In fact, the state is still in debt for the now-retired pension plan, and will be for years to come.
Cottle’s main issue is wanting the pension plan restored. She is a union activist and enjoys a Tier III defined benefits pension member. In a letter to the Alaska Legislature in 2021, she said she divorced “a fantastic man” and blamed the stresses of her job as a firefighter and the fact that she and her ex-husband both worked too hard to take care of their marriage.
An employee of the Fairbanks Fire Department, Cottle also signed the petition for higher minimum wages in 2014, but surprisingly has not voted in a single primary election since 2015.
On her Facebook page, she wrote, “the Daily News Miner ran a story incorrectly identifying me as running (D). I filed as a Republican and I’m requesting a correction to the article. I’ll assume best intent unless proven otherwise.” But, in fact, it was the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner that pegged her correctly on its first draft, saying the quiet part out loud:
