The filing deadline to run in the November election is June 1, which means Alaskans have less than 30 days left to file as a candidate. One of the reasons they should do so is to provide primary opponents for the RINO legislators down in Juneau. Unfortunately, as of yesterday’s report from the Alaska Public Offices Commission, none of the RINOs has a Republican primary opponent yet. This is a disappointing critique of the Alaska Republican Party. The four RINOs up for reelection this year desperately need a primary opponent, if for no other reason than to show that their treachery will not pass unnoticed.
When some of the Republicans joined with Democrats to form governing caucuses in both houses, it thwarted the conservative governance that the citizens of this state voted for.
When this first happened, the AKGOP should have been quick to respond, but did nothing. Other states faced with a similar situation have taken punitive action against their party members, including political banishment and recruiting primary opponents to run against them. The AKGOP’s inability to do so signals just how weak their party is.
The AKGOP’s failure to find primary opponents to run against the RINOs will embolden them to again steal part of your PFD … whittling it down over time until it becomes a distant memory.
It isn’t as if this needs to be some symbolic effort with no chance of success. Representative Louise Stutes has decided to run for the seat currently held by retiring RINO Senator Gary Stevens, representing District C. Stutes is not a sure winner of this race, and a recent analysis showed how she would face a serious challenge from a candidate in District 6. An effort from the District 6 AKGOP to find a strong Republican primary challenger against Stutes could have had a real chance of success. Unfortunately, as of today, the AKGOP has done nothing to find one.
That same criticism goes for the district GOP leadership in districts represented by the other RINOs as well. It has been nothing but crickets from the local GOP district leadership teams. When this is discussed with them, they cry crocodile tears, saying they don’t support the RINOs and want conservative Republicans to run, but then do nothing to find the candidates.
This does not change; it means the four RINOs up for election this cycle will do so without a Republican challenger in the August primary and will sail through to the November General Election. If that happens, it will leave conservative Alaskans in their districts with a Hobson’s choice. We will be forced to vote for a Democrat, a Democrat pretending to be non-partisan, or hold our nose and vote for a liberal Republican who votes like a Democrat. That isn’t much of a choice.
ALASKA WATCHMAN DIRECT TO YOUR INBOX
Besides their defections, Alaskans certainly have valid reasons to be upset with the performance of the RINOs in our legislature. They plead both lack of funds as the reason to take the majority of your PFD check, then claim that, despite the Iran war giving us increased oil revenues to the state, there are pressing financial needs that require them to spend the additional funds on their pet projects. While the budget has not been finalized yet, based on the proposed budgets from both sides of the legislature, they plan to increase education funding, yet again, after having already done so last year. They are trying to enact another guaranteed benefit retirement program for schoolteachers, like the one that failed in 2006. They plan to spend a capital budget of $2.43 billion, and to pay for all of this, but to do so, they plan to take at least $2,000 of your permanent fund check.
That PFD confiscation adds up to $8,000 for the average family of four, which is a very substantial amount of money that most of us can’t afford to lose. Back in 1773, our ancestors started a revolution and defeated the British Empire because they raised the tax on tea by 3 cents. Today, it looks like the legislature will be taking eight grand from the average Alaskan family, and nobody is yet motivated to do anything about it.
Alaskans should be outraged, and there should be lines at the Division of Elections offices with people lined up to file to run against the RINOs. Since it hasn’t happened yet, behind closed doors, the RINOs are probably laughing at all of us, believing that they are free to keep stealing our PFD to give to their supporters. The AKGOP’s failure to find primary opponents to run against the RINOs will embolden them to again steal part of your PFD in the next legislative session, whittling it down over time until it becomes a distant memory. Every one of the four RINOs running for election this fall deserves multiple challengers in the Republican primary election, if for no other reason than to hear the voice of the voter saying, “We’re as mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.”
The views expressed here are those of Greg Sarber. Read more Sarber posts at his Seward’s Folly substack.
16 Comments
Greg, this article deserves a sequel proposing a solution to develop the incentives that will lead better candidates to run, and conservative voters to support them when they do. Your analysis does have one shortcoming though, if I may. Our state Republican Party does not feel threatened by the RINO’s. If it did, it would be motivated to make their re-election campaigns more difficult (if not impossible). It is not threatened in the slightest by Louise Stutes or Cathy Giessel, or Chuck Kopp, or Kelly Merrick and the rest. If these politicians were to disappear tomorrow, the AKGOP would find themselves in a very bad place. They would have to immediately come up with new (and likely worse) excuses for why they have given up on fighting for Republican priorities in the legislature. There is no fight left in them. They struggle at times to find the energy to even pretend to fight. Take away their best excuses and you really leave them in a bad way. The AKGOP needs the Kopps and Merricks and Giessels. This is why they don’t receive any real challengers during the campaign season. Now a Lora Reinbold, or a Joe Miller…the party would absolutely consider those types of candidates a threat and would show up to fight. If you want to see which politicians threaten the party, just look at which politicians get shafted by the party during redistricting. It’s not any of the RINO’s you mentioned. Tell me I’m wrong.
Amen. Well stated David!
Hi David, Thank you for your comments. I always appreciate your opinion about matters in Juneau, as you have the best perspective based on your time there. With respect to the AKGOP, you are probably right; they have not tried to influence the RINOs or punish them in any way, meaning they are comfortable with what is happening down in Juneau. The solution could be something like what is happening in England right now. Their traditional parties both abandoned the voters in the UK, so they formed a brand new conservative party called Reform UK. It is likely to win the next general election and elect the new prime minister. That will be a huge earthquake in British politics. Perhaps Alaska voters need to come up with a similar viable conservative party. Don’t laugh! Reform UK started small and only elected its first member of parliament in 2024, yet it has now displaced the Tory/Conservative party as the most popular political party in the UK. The Tories were the oldest political party in the world, older than either the Democrats or Republicans in this country. If the Tories are replaced by a new party more responsive to the voters, something similar could happen to the AKGOP. Stranger things have happened.
Respectfully, Greg
And what does Carmella warfield say to this?
Carmela warfield is a government dependent, she had done nothing but attend events and parties
The AKGOP are currently being managed and run by members who themselves are government dependents. Until Republican members not dependent upon government via taxpayers are not only in community councils, Republican district chairs, and staff; tge Ak Republican Party will remain a party of government dependents of the Merricks, the Giessels. The Stevens, The Stedmans, the Stutes. the Cronks, The Yates, The Costellos
Well. Then why doesn’t Republicans such as Sarber relocate from Homer to Anchorage where it matters more than any place on the state and sends the majority of legislators to the legislature (26 legislators sent) ; instead of wasting his brain and resources in boring do-nothing Homer.
Changing Alaska’s downward trajectory and changing the control of the AkGOP leaders won’t start in a small town like Homer, it’ll most likely start in its largest community of Anchorage to the Matsu.
It seems most of our state is dis-enfranchised by the Juneau isolated ivory tower location as well as the joke of an election ‘system’. The battle has proven so over the top difficult and discouraging that the majority of voters really have given up and the state-wide Republican district (lack of) involvement is evidence of that. It is like digging a hole in sand that keeps refilling. Alaska citizens now just try to manage their lives around the insane decisions shoved upon them by the primarily power and control addicted narcissist cult that controls our capital, as well as the dysfunctional elections. Getting rid of RCV might help as at least then we would have actual voting and maybe could have a chance at getting rid of some of these people. In the meantime, what sane, logical person would even want to run for office, as if by some miracle they actually got ‘appointed’’ by the corrupt shell game system, they would only get churned up in the self serving cesspool.
I agree, Juneau is a huge cesspool.
As long as the good ‘ole boy club is in charge, I think that people have given up trying to run against anyone in the club. Ever walk in grass where ticks live? When something walks the grass, the ticks pile up on it and try to suck the life out of it.
> behind closed doors, the RINOs are probably laughing at all of us
> RINOs running for election this fall deserves multiple challengers in the Republican primary election
So true. I hang my head in shame. Time to have a hard conversation with myself. We all need to have a hard conversation with ourselves. The situation is unacceptable.
It’s amazing that the author of this article doesn’t understand some basic law. No one, no one is stealing ones PFD. You must own, have in possession, the item for it to be stolen. I’m sure the author knows, that the PFD is an appropriation made only by the legislature. Parties will continue to struggle to pass legislation, if the don’t work together.
If something one is promised, and is entitled to, is taken away before it is received, this too is stealing.
What is the meaning of is Bob?
Leftists and their “logic”.
Greg, David, et al: The indifference arises from the lack of election integrity. Why subject yourself to vicious media criticism, spend your private capital and lost family time in a run against a RINO who will win? Or mysteriously watch your victory melt away as mail-in ballots trickle in for weeks? The Alaskan Party awaits your registration.
I just love reading comments from people blaming the party leadership for everything. It isn’t the job of ARP to find good candidates. It is the job of all of you writing comments. How do you think the party would know every possible candidate? Ifyou were involved you would know that all of the leadership, including me are constantly talking to people to run. I spoke to someone who had run before last week. She said if you can guarantee me $50,000 I will do it. She had spent $40,000 in her first run. I will be glad to hear from
all of you in how much you are going to donate so we can raise that $50,000. I will also give her your name so you can tell her how you can volunteer!