October 1, 2014 — The last time the klieg lights pivoted our way was when she-who-must-not-be-named became an overnight sensation during the 2008 presidential election. We all know how that turned out. Now, six years later, the networks are back, with Alaska seen as a closely contested “key state” that could affect the “crucial balance” of Democrats and Republicans in the Senate.
Well, if you want to gauge the political mood around here, sit down at the Backdoor Cafe with a cup of coffee and a salmonberry scone, pick up The Daily Sitka Sentinel, have a chat with folks, and you’ll learn that not much is predictable in the 49th state.
From all appearances, the Republican candidate, Dan Sullivan, a good-looking, amicable Marine officer and former commissioner of the state’s Department of Natural Resources, should have little problem beating the Democratic incumbent, Mark Begich. Mr. Begich, a first-term senator, slid into his seat in 2008 by just under 4,000 votes, ousting the G.O.P. candidate, Ted Stevens, who had been convicted of felony corruption charges (though the indictment was later dismissed). The governor, Sean Parnell, is a Republican; Republicans control the state legislature and have the state’s only seat in the House of Representatives, along with the other Senate seat. President Obama is unpopular; he lost the state by a large margin in 2008, and again, by a smaller margin, in 2012.
But it’s a mistake to check Alaska off as bright red. Large numbers of voters here register as nonpartisan. We abolished the death penalty in 1957, two years before we were even a state. In 1959, we were the first state to adopt a minimum wage higher than the federal level, and we maintained the highest minimum wage in the country for more than 30 years. We were one of four states to legalize abortion prior to the decision in Roe v. Wade in 1973.
Outsiders point to she-who-must-not-be-named as proof of Tea Party tendencies, not understanding that we gave her high marks because she aggressively taxed oil companies and fought hard to fund state programs. Even Governor Parnell is thought to be at risk in November’s elections, threatened by an independent ticket endorsed by the Alaska Democratic Party.
In the Senate race, Mr. Begich, the Democrat, appears to have the upper hand in field operations. He’s built a reputation for stopping by bingo halls to call numbers and has opened a number of rural offices. He even set up a campaign office in the laundromat in Dillingham, on the logic that all fishermen need to do laundry (logic that I would, ahem, question).
Read the full opinion piece at the New York Times