Anchorage — The race just started in the spring season, here known as Dissolution.
Dozens of parliamentary campaigns took place in just a few days as ice sheets shattered across rivers, snow melted, road gravel and dust were exposed, and hunting and fishing preparations began. Candidates had a solemn conversation with their families, advisors hurriedly secured a website domain, and began to be flooded with approvals and donations.
The Unexpected death in March Republican Rep. Don Young, who represented Alaska’s only parliamentary district for nearly half a century, has created a crowded and noisy competition to succeed him.At least four dozen Alaskans — political veterans, Gaddfly, and even a man legally named Santa Claus — are running to take over Mr. Young as the only representative of the state’s home. 734,000 people..
The list of candidates is vast. This includes former Governor Sarah Palin, approved by former President Donald J. Trump. Nick Begich III, his grandfather had a seat in front of Mr. Young. Four Alaska Natives, including Tara Sweeney, who served the Trump administration. Jeff Lowenfels, Retired Lawyer, Prolific local gardening columnistAnd cool, bearded Arctic councilor and socialist Klaus.
“It’s a lot of people to investigate and understand,” said Morgan Johnson, 25, as her black cat, Edgar, was wandering across the counter in her botanical store in Juneau. “I’m stuck for an hour on one Instagram — now I have to do it for 48 people.”
To complicate matters, four elections in five months will determine Young’s successor. First, a large number of candidates will run in the primaries on June 11. The top four will advance to a special election in August, completing the remaining term of Mr. Young. On that same August day, candidates who choose to do so will compete in yet another primary and decide which four will advance to the general election. And finally in November, voters choose the winner to swear in January 2023.
The huge amount of candidates is partly due to Alaska’s new electoral system, which opens primaries to all visitors, regardless of political party. Under the rules, voters can choose one candidate, and the four who get the most votes compete in some sort of final vote, where voters rank their choices. Settings are counted until someone secures a majority.
State officials and advocates I’m in a hurry To stop the blaze contest and ensure that voters understand how the new rules work.
Alaska’s Returning Officer, Gale Fenumiai, said, “We’re compressing all the work that normally takes about seven months in 90 days,” and mailed and processed more than 586,000 ballots. Said. “It requires a fair amount of work.”
State officials have decided to hold a special election by mail, partly due to the lack of time required to hire and train more than 2,000 new electoral workers and to test and send election equipment across the state. Decided.Ballot Carefully designed To fit all the names on one side of the paper, the first names were shipped within six weeks of Young’s death.
Candidates also had little time to build campaigns to highlight or cross mountainous areas that were only accessible by plane or ferry to villages and towns.
Christopher Constant, a member of Anchorage and a Democrat, said:Announced his intentions Challenge Young in February.
A wide range of disciplines have shaken close politics here, competing with colleagues and friends for many years.
“This seat has been held by one man for 49 years and people are hungry for another voice in Congress. They think they can add to it,” said one of the candidates. State legislative John Coghill said. ..
It also opened the door to a series of historic bids, including four candidates, the first Alaska Natives to represent a state that identifies more than 15% of its population to be indigenous.
“It was a long time ago that indigenous people were sent to Washington, DC to work on behalf of Alaska,” Yupik democrat Mary Peltra, who spent 10 years in the legislature, said in an interview in Anchorage. Said.
Peltra is one of the candidates who has made great efforts to emphasize his personal connection and gratitude to Young.
The fiercest competition takes place within the Republican Party, where young conservatives, who have been waiting for a lifetime in the shadow of Mr. Young, are vying for his successor cloak. The deadline for submission was April 1, two weeks after Young’s death. In short, candidates had to decide whether to run for parliament before the funeral was over.
“It surprised the entire state and had to understand what this new reality would look like and what the process was in front of the Alaskans regarding this vacancy-it was exhausted.” Said Co-Chair Sweeney, a result of Young’s campaign and is now a candidate for his seat.
Sweeney, an Inupiat and the first Alaska Native woman to assist the Secretary of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, has emerged as a leading Republican candidate. Alaska Native Owned Companies Banding together Support her campaign..
Conservative Democrat Bezić, who held a Democratic seat until his grandfather of the same name disappeared in a plane crash in 1972, made many of Young’s inner circles jump and angry. For the October race As a challenger, he hung what they saw as a hint that lawmakers were too old.
The State Republican Selected CandidatesBezić denied the $ 1 trillion infrastructure bill that Young proudly defended and the congressman’s tendency to allocate federal dollars to Alaska.
“For too long, the Alaskan formula was to sacrifice national interests for the benefit of the country, and I don’t think it’s the formula we need to practice in the future,” Vegitch said. Interview.
Young’s allies are attracted to less conservative candidates.
Among them are Mr. Sweeney and Josh Revak, a state senator, and a veteran of the Iraq War. Coveted support From Mr. Young’s widow, Anne.
“It was a really difficult choice, but if he believes in me, others believe in me, and I have the heart to work, work ethic and experience, I want to do it “Walk in the fire,” said Levac, wearing an ivory borotie with a Senate Alaskan seal and a purple heart pin, after recently raising funds at Anchorage’s house.
Mr. Palin’s late entry into the race, and Mr. Trump’s almost immediate support, further confused the political picture. As a former governor and vice-presidential candidate, Palin, who ran a campaign that didn’t respond to interview requests, easily has the strongest name in her candidate’s field.
But as her rivals are trying to arm her visibility with national headlines, she has also become a frequent target for candidates for both parties, agitating the state’s protracted dissatisfaction with her. Was Sudden decision to leave the governor’s mansion in 2009 It attracts thousands of voters who have moved to Alaska since then.
At a recent event in Juneau’s plane hangar, Mr. Vezić jumped at the opportunity to make fun of Mr. Palin.
“I don’t think you’re going to ride a’masked singer’,” a woman told him when dozens of people gathered laughing.
“I don’t have a pink bear costume,” Vegitch replied, referring to Palin’s 2020 appearance on a reality show.
Most observers here believe that Mr. Young’s seats are likely to stay in the hands of the Republicans given the conservative inclination of the state, but a new rank that tends to favor the central candidate. The selection system can overturn conventional knowledge.
For example, you can help the independent Al Gross, who challenged Republican Senator Dan Sullivan in 2020. Mr. Gross has won both public attention and local ridicule. Viral campaign advertising It called him “Alaska’s own bear doctor.”
“Sure, this campaign isn’t about bears, it’s about Alaska,” Gross, a former orthopedic surgeon, said in an interview.
Unlike in 2020, when the Senate Democratic campaign department approved him, he vowed to refuse financial support from major parties, and if he won, to the bipartisan group Problem Solver’s Caucus. He said he was planning to participate.
Democrats of Alaska are aiming for him, Call Mr. Gross “Proven loser”.
Republicans have also unleashed a torrent of Christmas-themed attacks on Mr. Klaus. This is at least some concern that the combination of his name recognition and his professed “affinity with Bernie Sanders” could help him win in the ranked choices. Shows the election. (Mr. Klaus, The person who changed the name Almost 20 years ago, he often wore a red robe in the order of the monks he was a member of. Participation plan If elected, Congressional Cannabis Caucus. )
“For the rest of Don Young’s term, anyone who participates in this special term needs to focus on representing all Alaska here and there. He only ends Mr. Young’s term this year. He added that he was looking for.
Citing concerns about the pandemic, Mr. Klaus said he restricted direct campaigns and effectively sought election support from his perch as an Arctic councilor.
But he added, “I take it seriously.”
