When Fairbanks School Board President Brandy Harty shared on the record the rumor she heard about Fairbanks lawmakers being bribed with $70,000 in campaign contributions, it stunned conservatives around the state. Where did she hear that rumor?
It may have been in the newsletter of Rep. Zack Fields, who represents downtown Anchorage and who is formerly a union organizer.
“In pressuring Republicans to flip-flop and oppose a bill they previously supported, Dunleavy threatened to campaign and spend $70,000 per race against any Republicans who voted to override the veto,” Fields wrote. The Alaska Beacon wrote that he got the idea from a Republican lawmaker.
Harty twisted it 180 degrees, and named Sen. Robert Myers, Rep. Frank Tomaszewski, and Rep. Mike Cronk, specifically saying into the microphone and on the record that the rumor was they had been promised $70,000 in campaign contributions in exchange for their vote against overriding a veto on an education spending bill, Senate Bill 140.
She then asked reporters in the room not to write about it. The Fairbanks News-Miner did her bidding and did not write about it.
She said, “I hope it was worth it.”
By inference, Harty was not only accusing the three lawmakers from the Interior, but all other Alaska lawmakers who sided with the governor on his veto override.
Conservatives in Fairbanks are weighing their options, including discussing whether they will file an ethics complaint against Harty for accusing lawmakers of a felony. But there is no actual consequence if such a complaint were filed; the only recourse Fairbanks has is to launch a recall of Harty.
People in Fairbanks are saying Harty is planning to run for the Legislature against Rep. Tomaszewski, since she has been bashing him loudly and repeatedly in public.
