newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — The race in North Pole’s House District 11 is between a political newcomer and a popular five-time incumbent.

Democrat Corey Allen manages a warehouse for a snack food distributor, and Republican John Coghill teaches U.S. government at a Baptist school.

Allen, the challenger, agrees with Coghill on most issues, but said he thinks it’s time to replace Coghill with someone offering a fresh perspective.

“I don’t know if I can change things, but I figured I might as well get in and try. I’m tired of complaining,” the 45-year-old said.

Coghill wants a sixth term, saying he’s learned too much throughout the last 10 years to quit now.

“I don’t have to do this for the rest of my life,” said Coghill, 58. “It’s just that I’ve been good at it.”

•••

Corey Allen said he has nothing against Rep. John Coghill.

But after watching other state lawmakers go to jail for taking bribes, Allen said he thinks the political process is broken and voters ought to wipe the slate clean by electing new people to the Legislature.

“I figured it was time to stand up and do something,” he said.

The husband and father of four is challenging a senior member of the Interior delegation and one of the most conservative lawmakers in the state. Coghill also has a record of trouncing his opponents.

It’s an uphill battle for Allen, who is relatively unknown, has received no financial help from his political party and whose campaign has run out of money.

Hard fights are nothing new for Allen, who has lost two houses and filed for bankruptcy.

“I knew it was going to be a big challenge when I took it on,” he said. “I’m not the normal politician. I’ve lived through good times. I’ve lived through bad times. I’m a fighter.”

Allen was a registered Republican until February when he changed parties so he could support Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

But while Allen quit the Republican party, he did not leave behind his right-leaning principles.

He said he believes in small government and opposes legalized abortion.

“I don’t think we need a lot of government regulation,” Allen said. “From my view, God makes life. Life begins at conception.”

Allen moved to Fairbanks in 1977 after his father found work here from Washington state, where he was born. He earned his GED and has been working full-time since the age of 17. Allen is vice president of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1496. He also is a shop steward.

His campaign Web site can be found at www.coreyallenstatehousenorthpole.com/.

•••

Rep. John Coghill found himself at a crossroads about this time last year.

After serving in the Alaska Legislature for nine years, Coghill was feeling beat up by angry constituents, worn out from special sessions and was in debt.

A corruption scandal involving state lawmakers had been dominating the news, and even though Coghill was not implicated, the acts of some legislators seemed to taint the honor of the whole group. Worst of all, Coghill’s 4-year-old grandson, Joseph Greene, died in an accident.

“Why was I doing this anyway?” the lawmaker began to ask himself.

“I had to get my attitude straightened away,” he said.

After some soul searching, Coghill came up with the answer, and now he is asking the voters for a sixth term.

“I really came to the conclusion that what I’ve learned, really at the state’s benefit and expense, really did require that I step up and keep going until we get some of these things settled,” he said.

And what Coghill means by “these things” is the natural gas pipeline.

The state has a contract with a Canadian firm to build the pipeline and a private-sector pipeline project also is in the works, but the pipeline is far from a sure thing.

Coghill wants to see the project through.

“There’s a sense of responsibility,” he said.

Coghill, a husband and father of three, is as surprised as anyone that he has been a state legislator for the past decade. He said he didn’t plan it that way.

“I’ve never thought of this as a career, but it has become one,” he said.

Politics are something of a family tradition for the genteel lay pastor. Coghill’s father, and one of his closest advisers, served in the state Senate, as lieutenant governor, and was one of the signatories to the state’s Constitution almost 50 years ago.

Coghill was born in Fairbanks but raised in Nenana. He spent five years in the U.S. Air Force.

Coghill’s blog can be found at http://johncoghill.blogspot.com/.