By TIM BARTO
A campaign sign in Eagle River that promotes “Yes on Ballot Measure 2” was vandalized over the weekend, while a nearby sign for candidate Kelly Merrick remained untouched.
But former House Rep. Ken McCarty keeps an eye on such things in the Eagle River/Chugiak area. In fact, when a recent windstorm knocked over a Yes on 2 sign, McCarty called on some friends, who fixed it and used sandbags to securely stand it back up.
Over the weekend, the sign, which sits at the busy intersection of Old Glenn Highway and North Eagle River Access Road, was back on the ground despite an almost complete lack of wind in the area. Close inspection found the support legs were damaged, indicating someone forcibly pushed it over.
McCarty is going to repair and reinforce the sign to get it back up and help support Ballot Measure 2, which seeks to rid our state of ranked-choice voting.
McCarty is not unfamiliar with vandalism to campaign signs in what is typically a very low crime community. Prior to August’s jungle primary, while he was still in the Senate race with Jared Goecker, one of his signs and one of Goecker’s signs were damaged. Goecker is running against Merrick, while McCarty has dropped out after the primary election. The two of them got together and, in the spirit of friendly competition and party unity, they helped repair each other’s signs.
A couple years ago, McCarty took the initiative to put up some signs calling out those who opted to collect unemployment compensation instead of looking for honest work. The signs included a telephone number for employers to call if they offered able-bodied people a job that said able-bodied person turned down. The message was evidently too much for the so-called paragons of tolerance to tolerate, so they vandalized the signs, leaving spray-painted anarchist symbols as their calling card.
Acts of sign vandalism and theft occur each campaign season, but all the incidents described above occurred against conservative candidates and principles, all of which fits neatly with the Left’s intent to squelch speech they dislike and candidates they oppose.
With all their voiced concerns about saving democracy at the national level, the Left has coalesced around a presidential candidate who received her party’s nomination without receiving a single primary vote. With all their leftist protestations that speech they find offensive is, to them, actual violence, it is they who excused, if not outright supported violence by egging on the Black Lives Matter riots during the 2020 election cycle. It is the Let that embraces the lawlessness of ignorant college students who spray paint buildings and shut down their own campuses to show their support of Hamas terrorists and the raping and killing of Jews.
At the state level, the Left rallies public school students to shout and create disorder inside the state Capitol in order to show their support for increased spending for failing schools.
On the local level – at least in Eagle River – they display their tolerance by damaging signs of those with whom they disagree.
Ken McCarty and his friends have not only repaired the damaged Yes on 2 sign, but they are proving their resilience by installing a few more in Eagle River and around Anchorage. It takes that type of perseverance to win against $7.8 million in Outside dark money pouring into state media from the other side.
Tim Barto is a regular contributor to Must Read Alaska, and vice president at Alaska Family Council.
Liberalism is a mental disorder.
Thanks for all your help Ken as well as being unselfish and letting another candidate take the reins.
Your actions speaks volumes about the integrity it takes to keep RINO’s like Merrick home with her union hubby planning ways to spend the PFD cash.
Keep up the good work on the signs because the vandalism will get worse as the left flushes itself toward the septic.
Merrick and her crew illegally trespassed onto our property and in our yard after being asked to respect our private property signs. She and several members of her crew were witnessed leaving her campaign fliers on the driveways at the edge of the road of everyone on our street … which I believe is called littering.
Merrick please go run a campaign in a liberal city where people will believe you when you “identify” as a conservative but vote differently. Oh wait. That’s happening here.
Wake up Eagle River and Chugiak. This woman is not to be trusted.
Sounds like voter intimidation.
<—– Tips Hat…Thank you Ken … always #1st Class