newsminer.com

FAIRBANKS — Outgoing Sen. Gary Wilken’s post is becoming a hot commodity.

Republican candidate Cynthia Henry had raised more than $62,000 through Tuesday, almost half of it since mid-August, according to reports filed with the Alaska Public Offices Commission early this week. Joe Paskvan, an attorney running as a Democrat, has raised almost $70,000 for the same Senate seat.

The race is one of five for Fairbanks-based posts on the Alaska Legislature this fall, four for the state’s House of Representatives and one for the Senate post.

As with the Senate race, all four Democratic House hopefuls have outraised their respective Republican opponents, according to financial reports.

Wilken’s Senate district includes the bulk of the city of Fairbanks south of the Johansen Expressway and north of the Tanana River.

Henry, 58, owns and manages HOPS Hallmark and previously served on the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly and school board.

She has received a few major donations through the fall election reporting cycle, chief among them a $9,000 contribution from the group Fairbanks Republican Women.

“She’s facing an opponent that’s well-known in the community, and we deemed her as being a great candidate,” the group’s president, Beka Zerbst, said of the decision to back Henry.

The average donation to Paskvan’s campaign is smaller, but he’s received almost twice as many, including help from a number of unions and from the Democratic mayor of Anchorage. The Alaska Professional Fire Fighters Association, local laborer and carpenter unions, the National Education Association-Alaska, and the state’s Associated General Contractors of Alaska have all contributed to Paskvan’s campaign at about the $1,000 level, according to his report filed Monday.

“We focused on issues important to firefighters, and he responded to our questions. We view him as a candidate that would be supportive of our issues in Juneau,” said Mark Drygas, president of the statewide firefighters group, citing the state’s retirement plans and public safety concerns among the group’s top issues.

Paskvan, 56, also has received money from a collection of residents, ranging from businesswoman Kyong Hollen to advisory public transportation commissioner Carl Benson.

Developer Tim Cerny, Republican leaders Randy Ruedrich and John Binkley, the Alaska Realtors political action committee and former borough Mayor Rhonda Boyles are among those who have backed Henry’s race financially.

House races

Democratic House candidate Karl Kassel has outraised his opponent, incumbent Rep. Mike Kelly, by roughly 50 percent in the race for Kelly’s House District 7 seat.

The district covers a broad area north and east of the city of Fairbanks including Chena Hot Springs Road, the Two Rivers community and the Goldstream Valley.

Kassel saw support from 179 groups or individuals during the fall, including contributions from a number of sitting Democratic lawmakers across the state and a collection of union groups.

He had raised $47,738 through the beginning of the week. Kelly saw contributions from 79 groups or individuals including a $5,000 donation from Fairbanks Republican Women, bringing his total income to $31,548, according to his campaign.

Even more money is flowing into the race for House District 9, held by Democrat Rep. Scott Kawasaki.

The incumbent has reported raising more than $70,000, and his Republican challenger, long-time school board member Sue Hull, reported raising almost $60,000 during the same stretch.

House District 9 includes much of the city of Fairbanks, including the Aurora Subdivision and South Fairbanks west of Cushman Street.

The race between incumbent Republican Rep. Jay Ramras and Democratic challenger John Brown has drawn $39,598 for Ramras and $66,261 for Brown in the race for Ramras’ House District 10 seat, which covers east Fairbanks.

Incumbent Democratic Rep. David Guttenberg has easily out-raised Republican opponent Will Finley in the race for West Fairbanks’ House District 8 seat, reportedly receiving $38,520 this election cycle, less than one-third of which he has spent. Finley reported raising $6,950.

A map of Fairbanks-area electoral districts can be found on the Legislature’s Web site, www.state.ak.us/redistricting/amendedfinal/maps/fairbanks.pdf.

The state’s general election is Nov. 4, the same day as the national election.