U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola gives a speech at a meet and greet in Juneau on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)
Alaska Congresswoman Mary Peltola was in Juneau this weekend for a meet-and-greet with voters. It was the last stop on a six-day tour to kick off her reelection campaign.
Juneau Democratic Sen. Jesse Kiehl introduced Peltola to a crowded top floor of the Crystal Saloon.
“She has stood up for the environment and the economy,” he said. “She is pro-jobs, pro-family, pro-freedom and pro-fish.”
“Fish, family, freedom” has been Peltola’s campaign slogan since 2022, when she won a special election to fill the remainder of Congressman Don Young’s term. That November, she was reelected for a full term.
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Peltola said she and the rest of the Alaska delegation – Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan – have accomplished a lot in the last year. She pointed to an executive order barring Russia from selling seafood to U.S. markets after processing it through other countries.
“That impacts fishermen throughout Southeast Alaska and throughout Alaska,” she told attendees. “After 10 years of the delegation pushing that executive order, we got it through a few weeks ago.”
Juneau resident Karen Smith, a former troller and longline fisher, said fish is a top priority for her.
“I’m glad she’s out protecting one of our mainstays here,” Smith said. “If you’ve eaten any other fish anywhere else, it’s not as good as ours.”U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola gives a speech at a meet and greet in Juneau on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)
Peltola is a Democrat, but she’s more in line with the Republican Party on issues like Arctic drilling and even gun control. In an interview, she said one of her biggest accomplishments has been advancing the Willow oil project.
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“I am proud of the fact that I helped bring it across the finish line,” she said. “I was the one who worked with the leadership in my caucus to really insist that Joe Biden meet with us.”
For Juneau resident Kevin Maier, Peltola’s bipartisanship is a selling point. He said voting across party lines isn’t as surprising in Alaska as it might be in the Lower 48.
“She is actually trying to solve problems, not just trying to yell at people, and that requires reaching across the aisle,” he said. “It’s cool that she can have positions that are different than mine but I can still be all in for her.”Alyson Kenney attends U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola’s meet and greet in Juneau on Saturday, Jan. 27, 2024. (Clarise Larson/KTOO)
University of Alaska Southeast sophomore Alyson Kenney is studying environmental resources. This will be the first election she can vote in, and she said she was excited about Peltola’s advocacy for fish conservation. But she was surprised to learn about Peltola’s support of the Willow project in her opening remarks.
“I didn’t know she did until she just was speaking positively about it. That’s definitely something that’s a little iffy,” Kenney said. “I’ll have to do more research on that.”
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Peltola’s challengers include Republican Nick Begich. He finished third in both 2022 races behind Peltola and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, another Republican, is also running for the U.S. House seat. Her campaign is backed by a fundraising committee affiliated with U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson.
JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) – The Supreme Court of Alaska will be taking up the case of the State of Alaska, Division of Elections v. Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.
The oral arguments will be held Monday at 10 a.m. via Zoom, according to an order and opening notice.
The document also specifies that a decision is expected to be made before noon on Tuesday.
According to documents from the Division of Elections, the state must start printing ballots at noon on the same day.
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This comes after an Anchorage Superior Court Judge ordered Dan J. Sullivan on to the ballot Friday.
See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com
A new home under construction in Potter Valley in Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN)
This June, two very different offers reach Alaska families, and both amount to the same thing: $10,000. The difference is everything.
Bill Walker, running for governor, would hand every eligible Alaskan a one-time $10,000 check and then end the Permanent Fund dividend for good. Ask one question: Where does his $10,000 come from?
It comes from the Permanent Fund, the people’s own money and the savings Alaskans built for their children. Walker would spend that endowment once to pay Alaskans to give up the yearly dividend forever.
Think about what that does. It cancels the annual check that gives a family a reason to keep an Alaska address and replaces it with a single payout. You hand people their own savings, call it a gift and cut the tie that held them here in the same motion. It is the oldest mistake in governing money: raid what you have saved to buy a moment’s applause and call the spending generosity.
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A plan that spends the people’s savings to send the people away is not bold. It is foolish.
Now consider the other $10,000. Through Alaska Housing Finance Corp., the state offers families up to $10,000 to build a new, energy-efficient home. AHFC raids nothing. It earns its own way. Over the years, it has returned more than $2 billion to the state treasury, and it spends some of that income the way any good business does: to win a customer.
Here, the customer is an Alaskan who wants to own a home, put down roots and stay.
That is the oldest sound move in business: Invest a little of what you earn to bring in someone who stays. The homeowner remains, the community gains a family and the corporation keeps earning. The money spent comes back. A plan that puts earnings to work to bring people home is not charity. It is clever.
Same amount. Opposite source. Opposite wisdom. One spends savings; the other spends earnings. One pays Alaskans to leave; the other pays them to stay. One empties the state; the other fills it.
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This Homeownership Month, the choice is the size of a single check, and the whole question is where the check comes from and what it asks of you. Ten thousand dollars of your own fund, to wave you goodbye. Or $10,000, earned and reinvested, to help you stay and build.
Evan Swensen is the publisher of Publication Consultants in Anchorage and the author of “What’s the Money For: A Permanent Fund Mortgage Proposal.”
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:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/adn/LI7HDFQ245FJDKX4HMKNNEMWMI.jpg?w=400&resize=400,240&ssl=1 "Alaska’s congressional delegation split on President Trump’s executive orders, Jan. 6 and his nominees")
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/adn/LI7HDFQ245FJDKX4HMKNNEMWMI.jpg?w=80&resize=80,80&ssl=1 "Alaska’s congressional delegation split on President Trump’s executive orders, Jan. 6 and his nominees")
