By TIM BARTO
Thursday’s Chugiak-Eagle River Chamber of Commerce candidate forum was intended to be a chance for statewide legislative candidates to tell voters where they stand on issues and why they are the best candidates for the job.
The House candidates couldn’t make it, so it ended up being a forum for the Senate District L candidates, which is just as well, as that is the race to watch in Chugiak-Eagle River.
The panel included Democrat Lee Hammermeister, conservative Republican Jared Goecker, and registered Republican Kelly Merrick, who is the incumbent.
Hammermeister described himself as a moderate Democrat, but recent ads placed by Merrick and her allies accuse him of being a “fake Democrat” who has endorsed Rep. Jamie Allard of District 23.
It is particularly rich for someone who has abandoned her own party to accuse someone else of being a fake party member, but such is the political campaign logic. More about that at the end of this piece.
Goecker is running for elected office for the first time. In 2022, he ran a successful campaign to elect Republican Stanley Wright to the House in what is a purplish-blue district in Anchorage. His motivation to run for this Senate seat comes from a desire to reform and strengthen the criminal justice system following his brother’s murder last year at the hands of a career criminal, and because he feels the conservative Chugiak-Eagle River community deserves an equally conservative Senator to resolve the many issues in our state.
Merrick is the registered Republican who joined Democrats to give them control of the House of Representatives from 2021-2022, and then again in the Senate from 2023-2024. In February 2021, Republicans in her own district censured her for breaking her campaign promise not to caucus with the Democrats.
Yet, she was able to shrug off this controversy and win election to the Senate in 2022, defeating House colleague – and more conservative Republican – Ken McCarty, who was attempting to make the same move from to the Senate.
The incumbent’s reward for ditching her party of registration for a coalition led by left-leaning moderates – and outright leftists – has been leadership positions in prized committees, giving her power and seemingly emboldening her and her union backers. Merrick’s husband, Joey, is the Business Manager/Secretary-Treasurer for Laborer’s Local 341, a position that brings with it considerable sway with union members; and she is friends with Democrat Rep. Zack Fields, who also happens to be an organizer for Local 341 and a subordinate employee of Joey Merrick.
The national organization to which Local 341 belongs – the Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA), – is unabashedly endorsing Kamala Harris for President, which isn’t surprising since it previously endorsed President Biden (despite his obvious cognitive decline) and Hillary Clinton for the same office.
LiUNA Local 341 hasn’t publicly endorsed a presidential candidate, and neither has Sen. Merrick. During Thursday’s forum in Eagle River, this writer asked the panelists if they were supporting their party’s national-level candidates for President and House of Representatives.
First to answer was “fake Democrat” Hammermeister, who further emboldened his fake status by endorsing Kamala Harris almost as enthusiastically as the LiUNA national office does. Lee didn’t comment on the Begich-Peltola House race.
Merrick answered next, saying she votes for Republicans but does not endorse other candidates, which is a somewhat strange position since one of her campaign mailers proudly announce the various labor unions that have endorsed her.
Last to answer was Goecker, who interpreted Merrick’s terse, noncommittal answer to mean the incumbent was not going to vote for Donald Trump. Goecker then went on to confidently announce that he was supporting Donald Trump over Kamala Harris for President, and Nick Begich to replace Mary Peltola in the House.
While Merrick and Goecker traded barbs, the forum was rather cordial and respectful. When given time to conclude their remarks, Merrick found it necessary to try and assert that she was not only a Republican but a conservative, and she challenged anyone to look at her voting record and see something different. Goecker noted that Merrick was part of an elected majority of Republican Senators but opted to side with Democrats and give power to the most liberal of legislators, such as Loki Tobin and Forrest Dunbar.
Goecker proudly announced he has received the endorsements of the state Republican Party and Governor Dunleavy, and pointed out that 70 percent of his campaign funds come from within his community, while Merrick can only claim that 12 percent of her donations come from the community. Goecker also assessed provided his assessment that Alaska is heading in the wrong direction on almost every front, while Merrick claimed that Alaska is overall in pretty good shape.
August’s jungle primary vote was very close, with Merrick edging out Goecker 33.1% to 33.8%, a numerical margin of 43 votes. Hammermeister garnered 14.2% of the vote, while conservative Republicans Ken McCarty and Sharon Jackson combined to win 18.8% of the vote.
Both McCarty and Jackson then endorsed Goecker, with McCarty dropping out of the race even though his fourth place finish qualified him to still be on the ballot. If the conservatives who voted for McCarty and Jackson turn out in November, it appears that Goecker has a very good chance of winning the seat.
What, then, of the Merrick accusations of fakery regarding Hammermeister’s status as a Democrat?
It could be some type of ranked-choice voting strategy for her. More likely, it’s a scheme to get the outnumbered but ideologically aligned Democrats in the District to vote for the “Republican who sides with Democrats,” instead of actually voting for the actual Democrat.
Tim Barto is a regular contributor to Must Read Alaska, and a 32 year resident of Eagle River. He is also Vice President of the faith-based policy advocacy organization, Alaska Family Council.