UNUSE, Alaska (AP)-Alaska voters faced an election when they saw 48 candidates vying for the man to hold the sole state seat in the United States House of Representatives for 49 years.
While some of the special candidates in this week’s primary have name recognition, including Sarah Pelin and Santa Claus – yes, Santa Claus – many are relatively unknown or politicians – most likely a fishing guide, a contractor , a miner. gold is trapped. Threatens federal land managers.
The large number of candidates and the short lead time for the elections following the death of U.S. Republican Congressman Don Young on March 18 has shocked some voters trying to find out more about their options. This will be the first election under the voter -approved system in 2020, which will end in the party primary, i.e., all candidates will be by unilateral ballot.
The four candidates with the most votes will go to special elections in August, where the classified vote will be used. The winner of this competition will serve Yang’s remaining term, which ends in January. Separate elections at the end of the year will decide who will have a two -year term beginning in January.
Max Sumner, a Vasila general contractor who fought for the Republican seat, said he was serious about his proposal “as much as anyone knows he won’t win.” He said he was interested in being part of the “first experiment” in the new electoral process and he said he participated in Congress.
“I do not agree with the government led by career politicians. “I think it should be as short as possible and you’re on the outside,” he said.
He said he voted for himself and asked others to do the same, but he did not campaign. He said it also encouraged other Republicans in the race, Josh Revack, a state senator who co-chaired Young’s re-election campaign and was supported by Young’s widow.
In all there were 16 Republican candidates, including Palin, former governor of Alaska; Nick Begic, a businessman from a prominent Democratic political family; Former State Congressman John Cogill; And Tara Sweeney, who served as co-chair at the Young Campaign and was supported by a group representing the leaders of regional corporations based in the influential state of Alaska.
Nearly half of the candidates, aged 22, are independent. These include Al Gross, an orthopedic surgeon who ran for the Senate in 2020 with support from the State Democratic Party, and the self-proclaimed “Independent, Progressive, Democratic Socialist,” whose legal name is Santa Claus and serves in the town council. North Pole Society.
Gross angered some Democrats when, in an interview with the Anchorage Daily News, he did not promise to take part in the fight against Democrats if he was elected. Then he said he would. The Democratic Party of Alaska called on voters to vote for one in six Democrats to vote.
The closest Democrat to defeating Yang in the past 20 years was in 2008, when Yang won 50% of the vote and Ethan Berkovic 45%.
“Alaskans have a tendency to vote for the status quo, to evaluate their feasibility, to vote for the devil you know, and I really think that with this new system, especially with classified voting, we have the opportunity to change it,” Lindsay . Said Cavanaugh. Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Alaska.
Revak posted a video stating that “the war is waging Santa Claus” and his “Marxist fantasies”. Revak’s campaign said the video was for a light hearted, but Klaus said it didn’t work as a joke.
“I’m 75 and I want to spend my time and energy wisely,” Klaus said.
Klaus’s candidacy, and especially his support for abortion rights, attracted voters to Sandy Hicks, an independent member of Juno. Last month he sought advice on the community’s Facebook page where to find candidate information. Commenters shared links to news sites, including where candidate polls were posted.
Others on his short list include Gross; the Democrat Mary Peltola, former MP; And also independent Jeff Lowenfels, a horticultural expert with legal experience, as a former Deputy Attorney General.
“I’m more comfortable, you know, instead of 48 people, it’s three or four people,” Hicks said.
Approximately 100,000 ballot papers have been returned, mostly via email. That’s more than 88,817 who attended the 2016 regular season, when turnout was only 17%. Who can predict how many of the ballots sent to registered voters will be returned.
The ability to vote in person or in advance exists in about 165 communities, many of them in the countryside, where postal services may not be appropriate. The State Electoral Division and advocacy groups have worked to educate voters about the new electoral process, including reminding them that only one candidate will be selected in this round.
The online candidate list for the department includes contact information and links to candidate websites for those who have it. One of the candidates, Republican John T. Callahan, has a website that simply quotes, often attributed to Civil War General William Tecumse Sherman: “If a candidate is nominated, I won’t vote. I won’t vote. worthy if I am elected. “
Libertarian Chris Bye said his candidacy began with him and others suing in Congress and challenging each other to vote. He decided to go. He was one of the few candidates, along with Begic and Democrat Christopher Constant, who began voting in the House before Young died.
Bye, who said he quit military service to fight, called himself a “normal person”. He said he works in retail and fisheries as a guide and Congress needs people like him.
“I believe that the average Alaskan can make better decisions than politicians who are orderly or professional,” he said.
Kogil, whose late father was involved in Alaska politics, said he was “sorry” for so many candidates “because it makes the election more confusing.”
He said, name recognition is important in this competition.
“My name is still recognized, sometimes highly respected, sometimes not very well, but still known,” Kogil said.
Adam Wool, a Democrat who ran for Democrat in the election, said the election reminded him of an online poll conducted in Britain years ago in which people were asked what the name of the new polar research was. vessel of the country. Winner Offer: Boat MacBotface.
“There are some things going on in this election, with a group of people we don’t know and people with funny names and types of celebrity candidates like Sarah Palin,” she said, adding that she didn’t want to. Elections will be the place where people will choose the “shock value”.
“I don’t (voters) Boat Macbotface in the Alaska election,” he said.
Source: Huffpost
