Local lawmakers pick up challengers as filing deadline passes
Originally published Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at 7:27 a.m.
Updated Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at 7:27 a.m.
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Stumble It!JUNEAU — Democrats and Republicans will battle it out this fall for all the local seats up for election in the Alaska Legislature.
Reps. Mike Kelly and Jay Ramras, both Republicans from Fairbanks, will face challengers from within their own party at the primary election in August and from Democrats at the general election in November, should they win in August.
Reps. Woodie Salmon, David Guttenberg, Scott Kawasaki, John Coghill and House Speaker John Harris will all face opponents in the general election.
A number of candidates joined local races just before the state’s filing deadline Monday afternoon.
Joe Paskvan, a Democrat and longtime Fairbanks lawyer, officially joined the race Monday for the only local Senate seat up for election this year. He will face E. Cynthia Henry, a Republican and member of the University of Alaska Board of Regents, who had already filed to run for the seat. It is currently held by Fairbanks Republican Sen. Gary Wilken, who is not running for re-election.
Paskvan practices law at the Paskvan and Ringstad law firm in Fairbanks, working mostly in the field of personal injury but also doing some corporate and real estate law.
He said Monday he was running because he wanted to bring a new voice and new ideas to Juneau and because he thought the current Fairbanks delegation hadn’t secured a fair share of state dollars for Fairbanks area projects, including the proposed biological sciences facility at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
“The work didn’t get done,” he said.
Karl Kassel of Fairbanks, who recently retired as director of the borough’s Parks and Recreation Department, filed to run as a Democrat against incumbent lawmaker Kelly in House District 7.
Will Finely of Fairbanks, a Republican and instructor at UAF’s School of Management, filed as a Republican against Guttenberg, a Fairbanks Democrat, in House District 8.
Frank Turney of Fairbanks is running as a Republican against Ramras in House District 10 and Nancy Lethcoe of Valdez, a book publisher, is running as a Democrat against Harris, a Valdez Republican, in House District 12.
Kay Brown, communications director for the Alaska Democratic Party, said she was pleased with the field of candidates and optimistic about the election, adding that her party’s goal was to gain a majority in the state House and Senate. (Republicans currently hold 11 of the 20 Senate seats and 23 of the 40 House seats.)
Randy Ruedrich, chairman of the Alaska Republican Party, noted that almost all the Republican incumbents were running for re-election, and said the contested Republican primaries were mostly happening in districts currently served by Democrats.
One exception is House District 7, served by Kelly.
“Part of it’s a rematch,” Ruedrich said, referring to Republican challenger Mike Behner, who ran against Kelly in 2006, “and part of it is a young man by the name of Schaeffer Cox, running for the first time. I think that’s very cool.”
Ruedrich added that Republicans hoped to keep Wilken’s Senate seat a Republican seat and take back the seat won by Kawasaki, a Democrat, in 2006.
Brown said she expected corruption and ethics to continue to be big campaign issues, as they were in 2006, while Ruedrich said he expected talk to focus more on the state’s economy.
Crowded races for U.S. seats
U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and U.S. Rep. Don Young are both being challenged by long lists of candidates, including fellow Republicans.
After Monday’s filing deadline, Stevens faces a total of 12 challengers, six of them Republicans. Young faces six challengers, including two Republicans.
Harris held to his promise that he would only run for U.S. House if something happened to Young.
“He decided to stay in, so I’m not going to get in it,” he said Monday.
The Alaska Republican Party does not endorse candidates in the primary races. The Alaska Democratic Party has endorsed Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, one of the candidates running against Stevens.
Candidates who have filed to run for office in 2008
U.S. Senate
• Ted Stevens, R* (Girdwood)
• Michael Corey, R^ (Anchorage)
• David Cuddy, R^ (Anchorage)
• Gerald Heikes, R^ (Palmer)
• Roderic Sikma, R (North Pole)
• Vic Vickers, R^ (Anchorage)
• Rich Wanda, R (Anchorage)
• Mark Begich, D (Anchorage)
• Ray Metcalfe, D (Anchorage)
• Frank Vondersaar, D (Homer)
• Bob Bird, Alaskan Independence (Nikiski)
• Fredrick Haase, Libertarian^ (Anchorage)
• Lance Merrick, non-partisan^ (Anchorage)
U.S. House>
• Don Young, R*^ (Fort Yukon)
• Gabrielle LeDoux, R (Anchorage)
• Sean Parnell, R (Anchorage)
• Diane Benson, D (Anchorage)
• Ethan Berkowitz, D (Anchorage)
• Jake Metcalfe, D (Anchorage, unofficially withdrawn)
• Frank Frost, Alaskan Independence^ (Anchorage)
• Don Wright, Alaskan Independence^ (Kenai)
State Senate District E
• Cynthia Henry, R
• Joe Paskvan, D^
State House District 6
• Woodie Salmon, D*
• Ward Sattler, R
State House District 7
• Mike Kelly, R*
• Mike Behner, R
• Schaeffer Cox, R
• Karl Kassel, D^
State House District 8
• David Guttenberg, D*
• Will Finely, R^
State House District 9
• Scott Kawasaki, D*
• Sue Hull, R
State House District 10
• Jay Ramras, R*
• Frank Turney, R^
• John Brown, D
State House District 11
• John Coghill, R*
• Corey Allen, D^
State House District 12
• John Harris, R*
• Nancy Lethcoe, D^
*Incumbent
^Filed but not certified
For more news from the capital, visit www.newsminer.com and look for the Capital Focus blog. Contact staff writer Stefan Milkowski at 388-6141.
Community Discussion
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Jay Ramras v. Frank Turney...my brain hurts already.
Ramras was too busy to attend the Gas Pipeline briefings last week? Maybe we should help him out, allow him to focus all of his time and energy on important things, like running his business.
Too busy to tackle the biggest issue on Alaska's economic horizon? That's cool, get out of Juneau then.
I thought he was running his business and doing well from Juneau creating the laws to help his business. Or am I mistaken...
Fries and a pickle, ... oh yeah, yea gasline, when I have the time... I agree with you all.
Jay got his hand stuck in the cookie box and couldn't attend the AGIA meetings....give him a break! Chef Jeffrey L Brooks had to get a cleaver out to free him!!!!!!
Oh - and he did help pass the one substantial peice of legislation last session....the one where you can now take home a 1/2 empty bottle of wine!
I hear next on his plate is allowing you to take home a half-empty bottle of mad-dog or a 40!
nice
I say go with Turney...at least we would know that he was a felon before he went to Juneau.
Ramras has shown what he is, but he has $150,000 plus in his campaign fund. this will be tough for any opponent to overcome. Don't forget that the he also got himself a teenage girlfriend when he was in Juneau, that was in the paper.
Turney may be off the beam a bit but at least he holds the ideals of what America is and should be (to him at least) very close to his heart; he doesnt waiver or back down even faced with jail. Standing up and telling a jury that they have a right to use common sense and make the call instead of being a jury that is told how to interpret things and hand out sentences that are what the court wants, to me that is civic disobedience.
When Paskvan first announced his run he said it was because not enough children were graduating from high school. Now it's because the current group has not "got it done", and we need more buildings at UAF. Pander to the vote and say anything. Today they want to hear... so I'll say.... Depending on how much he spends I'll lay 6to5 he gets less than 30% if he makes it to the general election. Even us ole Fairbanksans will figure this guy out.
Let it be known the democrats have started the dirty politics first. Look at the guy they hired,Doug, to stalk Senator Ted Stevens and video his every move. Fairbanks folks need to learn what a scam and liar Mark Begich is. Learn how peoples property taxes went thru the roof in Anchorage while he's been mayor,all for his pet projects.
When a trial lawyer runs for office, it aint because he's interested in the public good, I'll testify to that !
Begich for U.S. Senate ???? Give me a break. The last thing we need is to strengthen Harry Reed and and the socialist lunatic liberals in D.C.
Alaska Di...with the recent idictments, scandals and investigations you call the Dems "dirty"? Perhaps you should re-evaluate. I vote based on candidate, not party.
conspiracytheorist;Most scandals towards the right are media pushed. Like you dont know. How about you google Bill Clinton affair with Gina Girson,("I did not have sex with that woman,"EITHER"). But the press is not going to make headlines about that,are they?
The bad thing is a candidate is only as good as his party and as a former republican. That party has become one baaad party that I no longer will vote for or be a part of. Don't believe in the total left wing liberal but darn proud to be out of the dirty republican party.
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