One of the most critical races in the state of Alaska is in Senate Seat A between incumbent Republican John Coghill, leader of the Senate Minority and incumbent Democrat Joe Thomas. What hangs in the balance is control of the state senate. Coghill has been an effective advocate for conservative social issues such as liberty, life, limited government, and school choice. In contrast, Joe Thomas has been an advocate of larger government (he voted for the creation of Senate Standing Committees last session), supported SB9 on compulsory public school attendance, has expressed his belief in government control from the cradle, and has consistently voted in a way that is adverse to virtually every issue important to real Alaskan conservatives.

This race is so important to the Bipartisan Working Group and the Democratic Party that Coghill is being outspent by negative ads. According to these, Joe Thomas claims to be the only “man with a plan.” The ads claim the bipartisan group is working and that we should stand up for these senators.

Curiously, Joe Thomas and the Bipartisan Working Group voted against the Amendment 1 sponsored by John Coghill. When the state senate finance committee cut funding for natural gas in the Interior from the state budget, Coghill came back with an additional amendment. Who fought the amendment for the Bipartisan Working Group? Sen. Joe Thomas led the fight, claiming that the Interior did not need the money. In the face of that, Sen. John Coghill pled for relief for the Interior. Nevertheless, Sen. Joe Thomas, Sen. Joe Paskvan, and the Bipartisan Working Group voted against the amendment.

The Bipartisan Working Group may be working for someone, but not the folks of House District 2. It is amazing that John Coghill, the state senator for North Pole and Valdez, appeals for residents in Fairbanks while the actual senators for Fairbanks oppose this legislation that would have led to accelerating the construction of a natural gas infrastructure and rate relief for Fairbanks residents.

Here are two videos that lay out stark differences between Coghill and Thomas, in their own words: