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Photo by Sam Harrel

Photo by Sam Harrel

FAIRBANKS — Republican congressional candidate Sean Parnell said he is willing to support earmarks, as long as they fall under public scrutiny.

“If we are willing to say yes to earmarks, which I am willing to say, we have to clean up the process,” Parnell said Tuesday at a chamber of commerce congressional candidates forum. “If we can lay it on the table, do it out in the open, good. I think that’s good for Alaska. Anything less diminishes us as a people.”

That’s something of a shift for the lieutenant governor, who has repeatedly spoken out against earmarks during his campaign to unseat long-time incumbent Don Young in the Republican primary. Parnell was endorsed in June by Club for Growth, a national group against earmarks, and he has said he would approve a one-year moratorium on all earmarks.

Young and Gabrielle LeDoux, another Republican challenger, charged that Parnell’s comments are a major shift in his position on earmarks.

Young responded at the forum that every earmark he’s sought has been at the request of Alaskans and was necessary to accomplish what the state wasn’t getting done.

Young has a long history of working earmarks through the political process and sending the money back to Alaska. The congressman also has spent more than $1 million of campaign money on legal fees related to a federal investigations into his campaign finances and relationships with lobbyists.

“I’m for earmarks, always have been, always will be, because you’ve asked me for them,” Young told an estimated 170 people attending the forum.

Other candidates running for seats held by Sen. Ted Stevens and Young generally said earmarks can be good for Alaska if the process is transparent and avoids closed-door deals with special interests. Stevens, who also is noted for earmarks he’s made to the state’s advantage, said he will continue to seek money as requested by Alaskans.

Republican Vik Vickers said earmarks by Stevens, as well as the indictment of the senator on federal charges of failing to disclose gifts, have hurt Alaska’s credibility in the U.S. Senate.

The business community also wanted to know how candidates stood on federal No Child Left Behind rules, the role Congress could play in helping small businesses deal with health insurance costs, and how the candidates would help develop infrastructure in the Interior to further long-term economic development. Each of the 14 candidates present — some failed to meet the chamber’s confirmation deadline — had 60 seconds to introduce themselves before several rounds of fast responses to questions developed by the chamber’s governmental relations committee.

Chamber chair-elect Jack Wilbur said the strong candidate turnout and response to a wide variety of issues should help the 170 or so people present cement their ballot plans for the Aug. 26 primary. Those who came with their minds made up probably found nuggets to reinforce their support, while those still on the fence likely gained the information needed to pick sides.

Colleen Redman attended to better understand all the candidates, but her votes were already secure with Mark Begich, a Democrat and the mayor of Anchorage, who is running for the Senate seat contested this year, and Ethan Berkowitz, a Democrat seeking the state House of Representatives job, she said.

“Begich and Ethan Berkowitz are for quality preschool, which I think is a key issue for our entire country,” she pointed out.

All candidates stood in favor of developing oil and gas resources in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.