Tag: Alaska

With Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young both embroiled in federal corruption investigations, could this story of Alaska in 2008 be encapsulated in the following quote?

“These disclosures have come as a real shock, because of revelations of what was going on, and because Alaskans have always felt that they are special,” said Vic Fisher, 83, one of four surviving members of the convention that only a half-century ago wrote Alaska’s state constitution. “And that this thing is ruining our national reputation.”

Stevens and Young are going to end up on the wrong side of the broom.

Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich recently spent some time hobnobbing in DC, getting the royal treatment from Harry Reid and Chuck Schumer as they attempt to recruit him to take on crusty Republican Sen. Ted Stevens next year.  Begich sat down with local NBC affiliate KTUU for an interview about the race.  While he hasn’t yet committed to the race, I can’t help but get the sense that he’s planning on running.  Here are some relevant excerpts:

Mayor Mark Begich: I think no matter what happens in ’08 both Ted Stevens and Don Young are going to have very competitive races.

Going to Washington D.C. and being asked to sit with seven U.S. senators throughout the day and talk to them about their issues, in recruiting me, but also my issues about Alaska and Anchorage; I think for the first time in a long time some very positive attention was paid to our state. It was very humbling and from my perspective a great opportunity for us as a city.

I think a lot of things are changing. I think people are looking for a new generation of leadership. They’re looking for fresh, new ideas. If you ask people how they feel about the country, only 40 percent feel it’s moving in the right direction. The rest think it’s not. I think a lot of people are looking for a new type of leadership and I haven’t made a decision.

I get asked whether I’ll run every day but as mayor of this city there are many things we’re still working on and focused on for the next several months. […]

The days of going and just slicing up the pie and delivering bacon back are long over. Those days are gone. The senator is in the minority. The changing demographics of the state are making an impact as to who’s going to serve in Washington, D.C.

Setting the track for who is going to be in Congress for the next 20 or 30 years is going to be important. Now, it’s clear that the majority, if you listen to anybody, Democrats are going to be in control of the U.S. Senate.

I think that if I was in the race, that’s what I’d be offering. But right now I think people are examining what I’ve done as mayor and are feeling very positive that I would be a good candidate and a good representative for this state.

I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a guy who has given the race a great deal of thought and is mentally preparing himself for a run.  But when can we expect a decision?  Don’t hold your breath:

News: What’s your timeline on a decision?

Begich: Well, filing deadline is June 1.

Remember, Begich has a history of waiting until the last minute to run for office:

But in an interview with CQPolitics.com last week, Begich suggested that the outside pressure to decide is unlikely to have any effect on his time line for making a decision. “My history tells you the answer,” he said, citing his decision to enter the 2003 mayor’s race just two days before that year’s filing deadline.

So don’t expect a Begich candidacy to blossom until springtime, perhaps.  But the signs are looking good that he’ll run.

With ’06 Lt. Governor nominee and former State House Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz now in the race to take out Rep. Don Young, there’s pretty much one guy on the Democratic bench in Alaska that could make a race against the scandal-haunted internet guru and Senator Ted Stevens: Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich.

Begich swung by Washington, DC recently and received the full court press from DSCC Chuck Schumer and six other Senators:

Begich recently spent a day in Washington, D.C., meeting with seven U.S. senators, including Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Finance Chairman Max Baucus of Montana, and Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chuck Schumer of New York.

Begich told The Associated Press that meetings lasted at least 30 minutes with each senator. He said each lawmaker urged him to take on Stevens, who has held office since 1968.

Begich, 45, said he hasn’t yet accepted the challenge.

“It’s humbling in a lot of ways because these meetings were not an in-and-out shuffle,” he said. “Their message was clear: They would love for me to serve in the U.S. Senate.

“As the day progressed, it closed out with Reid and Schumer, and it was a hard sell at that point.”

Begich has been procrastinating on committing to the race, but it appears that Senate Democrats are pulling out all the stops to get him to enter the fray.  What could be next?  A weekend ski trip with Bill Clinton?

(H/T: S2G)

Alaska pollster Ivan Moore shares a new poll with the Swing State Project that tests the candidates on both sides of the aisle in Alaska’s at-large US House race next year.

The poll, conducted over “this last weekend” (10/19-10/21), shows Don Young with some very lackluster numbers in the Republican primary for a guy with three and a half decades of incumbency:

Don Young (R-inc): 61%
Gabrielle LeDoux (R): 33%
Undecided: 5%
(n=238)

If Young is losing that much of the Republican base against a low-profile candidate (LeDoux is a state Rep and former Democrat), you know that things aren’t looking so hot for the scandal-plagued incumbent.

Among potential Democratic primary voters, former state House Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz holds an early edge:

Ethan Berkowitz (D): 45%
Diane Benson (D): 19%
Jake Metcalfe (D): 14%
(n=328)

The poll also shows that Berkowitz has nearly 80% name recognition in the state, while Benson has 66% and Metcalfe 65%.  If that seems slightly high, remember that Benson was the ’06 nominee while Metcalfe has already begun airing campaign commercials — and that this is a pretty small state with a cheaper-than-average media market.

Big news out of Alaska: Anchorage pollster Ivan Moore shares a shocking new poll (PDF) with the Swing State Project that shows former state Rep. Ethan Berkowitz with an early lead on scandal-tainted Rep. Don Young:

Ethan Berkowitz (D): 51%
Don Young (R-inc.): 45.5%
(MoE: ±4.4%)

Wowza.  Could we be seeing the continuation of an anti-incumbent wave washing across the Last Frontier, which began with Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski’s landslide primary defeat to Sarah Palin in 2006?  With Alaskans growing increasingly frustrated with their representation in Washington, 2008 could be a banner year for change in the state.

Moore’s poll also shows Young with a 49.9% negative rating in the state (43.1% positive and 7% neutral) — something that I do not expect to improve for Young as the ethical and legal morass that is his too-cozy relationship with the overwhelmingly unpopular VECO corporation continues to grow.

Still, Young will be no pushover.  He is currently sitting on a massive warchest of over $1.6 million (although some of this is being eaten away by hefty legal fees), he has the state’s Republican tilt in his favor, and he’s held statewide office since Jesus invented the wheel.

There is also the possibility that Young could take one for the team and retire, or that he could fall in a primary to a fresh-faced Republican, such as state Rep. and current challenger Gabrielle LeDoux.  In such an event, Berkowitz could find himself twice unlucky: his Lt. Governor bid in 2006 fell short because Republicans had the sense to replace the unpopular Murkowski with the independent-minded Palin.

For now, though, it’s looking like Berkowitz picked the right time to run.

Race Tracker: AK-AL

Huge news out of Alaska: former Democratic State House Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz has announced that he will run against the muck-encrusted GOP Rep. Don Young.  Berkowitz, considered a rising star within the state party, served five terms in the state House from 1996-2006 and ran for Lt. Governor on the ticket led by Tony Knowles last year.  You can check out his campaign website here.

Berkowitz has been heavily courted by the DCCC to run for the seat, but his name has also been mentioned as a potential opponent to Internet guru and Senator Ted Stevens if Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich passed on that race.  This is a pretty big development, as Begich and Berkowitz have been in contact with each other during the past few months to co-ordinate their potential campaigns and each settle on a target (Stevens or Young).  With Berkowitz formally in the ring against Young, we can safely assume that it’s a Senate bid or nothing for Begich.

Berkowitz faces former Alaska Democratic Party Chairman Jake Metcalfe and 2006 nominee Diane Benson in the Democratic primary.

UPDATE: It looks like Young will have a primary opponent–state Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, a former Democrat.

Race Tracker: AK-AL

In a recent poll comissioned by the state Democratic party, Alaskan voters said that they were unlikely to re-elect Republican Internet Guru Ted Stevens to the US Senate.

Likelihood to re-elect (Hays Research Group, 9/17-18; June results in parentheses; n=401; MoE=+-4.9%):

Very Unlikely: 29 (30)
Somewhat Unlikely: 16 (13)
Undecided: 11 (6)
Somewhat Likely: 16 (22)
Very Likely: 27 (28)

These numbers are certainly moving in the right direction, as a full 45% of Alaskans say they're unlikely to re-elect the veteran legislator to a seventh full term.

I guess all the corruption was bound to catch up to him at some point.