newsminer.com

This from reporter Stefan Milkowski at the News-Miner’s Juneau bureau (he’s having some issues with the new Web site):

Democrats are gathering at the convention center in Juneau tomorrow. Republicans are meeting in a room that’s part of a popular bar.

There’s a few things going on here, and they don’t have anything to do with Republicans and bars. First, Democrats outnumber Republicans here in the state’s capital, although not by that much.

Second, Democrats are holding a fan-out caucus event, which requires that everyone be there at the same time, and Republicans are holding something that looks like a normal election, meaning people can come and go. Hence the smaller venue for the Republicans.

Another difference is in who can participate.

Republicans are accommodating lawmakers and legislative staff from around the state by letting them vote at the Juneau location and counting their ballots with their home districts. Democrats require that you show up at their home site to participate in the caucus. So local Democrats Sen. Joe Thomas and Reps. David Guttenberg and Scott Kawasaki, and whatever Fairbanks area Democratic staffers there are, are sort of out of luck this time around.