The governor race in Alaska has taken an interesting turn with Independent Republican Bill Walker jumping out of his party and platform to team with Byron Mallott, the Democrat’s candidate aligned with Begich and Obama. If this alliance wins, then it will have a major impact on the ongoing gasline projects. Some say that this race is now reminiscent of the Palin or Hickel races, but there are major differences.

Sarah Palin ran against proven corruption in the legislature and won with the conservative populist vote, never abandoning party or principles. Hickel ran a conservative campaign against a liberal Republican opponent. Walker is running a liberal populist campaign based on an appeal to perceived evils in our successful oil and gas industry. He often talks of state taking back control of paid-for leases, and taking ownership of gas pipeline and liquefaction facilities as other countries have done. He’s running against an incumbent governor whose optimism and focus on increasing oil production and a gasline have created an economic boom with jobs increasing every year. We currently have a gasline deal moving forward with buy-in from the producers and approval of the legislature.

From an energy perspective, the most important issue that the next governor will address is a gasline project. Bill Walker has for many years been a driving force behind the Alaska Gasline Port Authority (AGPA), established in 1999 by the Fairbanks North Star Borough, the North Slope Borough and the City of Valdez. It was created to support a gasline effort to Valdez, the one that the voters statewide also chose to support in 2002. That project never garnered the support that was necessary to see it to fruition.

Other gas projects were later proposed and gained political backing. Walker’s Port Authority chose a scorched earth policy, working to defeat all other gas line proposals that weren’t their own. They advertised with public dollars and personally lobbied the legislature and administration to kill all other gas line projects, instead of modifying their plan to fit the new situation. Note, they did attempt at one point a gas trucking project for Fairbanks, but that was defeated, mainly based on the high price the public and assembly thought they were paying to buy the local gas utility. Personally, I’ve always been a supporter of the line to Valdez, and voted for Walker in 2010 because I thought that the specific gasline was the defining issue. What I don’t understand is refusing to adapt when the situation changed, delaying the chance for a gasline, due to a desire for a particular plan. Sometimes perfect is the enemy of good.

Consider the following questions: How is Walker going to advance the gasline project that is already in motion? The Alaska LNG project, a project to construct a gasline and the facilities to export gas and provide for Alaska’s energy needs, has achieved cooperation with the oil companies and they been doing field work for it all summer. The planned route goes to Nikiski, on the Kenai Peninsula, not Walker’s hometown of Valdez and the EIS (Environmental Impact Statement) work is underway. There are more negotiations still to be done.

How will a man who has consistently worked for the last fifteen years for a specific project to Valdez and against all others handle those negotiations? How will he make the win-win deal that is needed in our free enterprise system to advance a gasline, when he has taken an adversarial position with the oil companies, going so far as to sue the state after the Point Thomson settlement took place? This settlement would supply the gas for a line, has caused the oil companies to invest billions in infrastructure and had 700 people working this summer. If Walker mandates a change from what was previously approved and intended by the legislature, how will he be able to get legislative approval?

For most of Alaska, a gasline is just an important source of future revenue, but for us in Fairbanks it is life or death, as many of our long-time citizens are leaving for places with cheaper utility bills. Sean Parnell helped the Interior by proposing and supporting the Interior Energy project to truck gas to Fairbanks. This is a bridge project that will prove helpful, but does not diminish the need for a long-term solution such as a gasline. If you examine the record of the candidates then it’s pretty easy to see that the choice you’ll make in November is Walker or a natural gas pipeline.

Lance Roberts is an engineer, born and raised in Fairbanks. He is a member of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly. The views expressed here are his own and do not represent the assembly or borough administration.

By Andrew Wellner.

After reviewing last week’s primary election numbers, a few things seem clear — the Valley supports the current oil tax structure and voters here love Joe Miller.

Vote totals aren’t yet official and might still change slightly. The Alaska Division of Elections plans to count the early ballots cast between Aug. 16 and Election Day today, then count absentee and questioned ballots until Sept. 2, after which the election will need to be officially certified.

Miller, the eventual second-place finisher in the Republican primary race for the U.S. Senate seat that Mark Begich currently holds, took every Mat-Su district from Butte to Talkeetna to Chickaloon. Percentage-wise, he walked away with 41 percent of the vote. His nearest competitor in Mat-Su — the eventual statewide winner, Dan Sullivan — took just 35 percent. The third major contender, Mead Treadwell, garnered 22 percent. An additional 2 percent went to John Jaramillo.

Miller performed similarly well in Mat-Su the last time he ran for Senate, an election in which he first bested Lisa Murkowski in the Republican primary then lost to her write-in campaign in the general.

As for oil taxes, Mat-Su voters preferred the current regime, with 61 percent voting against its repeal. Every single district voted that way.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Tea Party candidate favored in Homer

By Naomi Klouda.

One surprise in the primary election results showed Joe Miller as the favored Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Homer, as well as all other District 31 precincts including Ninilchik, Kasilof and Anchor River.

Miller’s 1,332 votes topped Dan Sullivan’s 948, with Mead Treadwell a distant third at 586. Incumbent Sen. Mark Begich topped all of them in the district results, with 1,430 votes.

Statewide, the No vote, to rescind SB21, was winning after primary election day, 79,980 to 73,184. Even with more than 21,000 outstanding ballots to count, the Vote No camp declared victory.

Miller also conceded to Republican Dan Sullivan, though their spread of difference was just under 7,000 statewide, according to the tally immediately following the primary.

Miller’s campaign director, Randy DeSoto, said Miller made several visits to Homer during his campaign, beginning early in the spring. The Homer/Anchor Point area also had a strong army of volunteers who worked hard, he said.

Read more from this story HERE.

United for Liberty chairman, Michael Chambers announced today the first debate for Alaskan’s general election campaign between Republican Dan Sullivan, and Democrat Mark Begich on Wednesday, August 27th. This debate will be held at the Wendy Williamson Auditorium on UAA Campus from 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm. We encourage everyone to come early as this event may fill up quickly.

“United for Liberty is the big tent that has pulled most of the smaller organizations like Anchorage Tea Party, Alaska Independence Party, The Alaska Constitution Party, the Alaska Libertarian Party, and other non partisans and independent affiliations,” said Chambers.

“We’ve seen both Republican and Democrat politicians harm this country, and by pulling the 57% of Alaskans who are neither Republican nor Democrat into our big tent, we’ve become the “swing vote” that may decide this election…which can decide control of the United States Senate,” said Chambers.

“Six years ago Mark Begich won because one of our affiliate candidates, Bob Bird, took 12,000 votes which may have gone to the Republican, and gave the election to Begich. Today, with 20 partner organizations, and over 100,000 email connections, we can bypass the mainstream media, and our partners can talk to each other directly. This will be our second US Senate debate…the first for the general election. We will print our next newsletter with articles and contributions weighing in on this debate…who to vote for. You can access our current and future newsletters at: www.uflalaska.com

We’ve offered to meet with the candidates in a closed room and explain our positions, and find out which candidate can best promote the liberty/freedom/limited government agenda. In the time ahead our members will make up their minds…which could decide this election.”

This election has the notice of the big money from the East Coast, attracting tens of millions of out of state dollars to influence the election. “It is relatively inexpensive to buy a seat in the US Senate in Alaska,” said Chambers, “and the importance of this pivotal seat is not lost on the Washington insiders.”

“So far we don’t represent the majority of Alaskans, but our numbers make us the biggest minority, which gives us the numbers to determine the outcome of elections, and push candidates to address “good government” issues,” said Chambers. It is our relationships and building coalitions of trust with our group members which makes us unique on the political landscape. In addition, Michael Chambers is also the chairman the Alaska Libertarian Party.

Contact: Michael Chambers: 907 748 6323 August 25, 2014