Demboski’s Challenger Is Like Eating Hamburgers at Moose’s Tooth

As Anchorage municipal election draws near, Assembly races in particular are heating up and the curtain is lifting on who is supporting whom, and which candidates are getting big bucks from what sources. Donations and contributors typically make for good litmus tests on philosophy and like-mindedness…Or do they?

Assemblymember Amy Demboski and her Chugiak-Eagle River seat is one to look at.

Her race was a no-brainer shoe-in as an incumbent, a fiscal and social conservative, representing her similarly minded constituents. Besides, she came in a close second for mayor last year, against a strongly democratic candidate, Ethan Berkowitz, after defeating heavy-hitters like Andrew Halcro and Dan Coffey, both celebrated star power with deep pockets.

So fast forward to an actual challenger surfacing the race: None other than a Begich. However it isn’t the eponymous Mark Begich, nor his scientist brother Nick Begich, but actually Mark’s nephew and Nick’s son, Nicholas Begich III.

Now here comes the irony… Nicholas is a registered Republican. He purports to be conservative; in fact “more” than Demboski, per his campaign messaging and rhetoric. He’s the “true” conservative, or so he attests.

One pesky fact that has anchored Nicholas the Third’s public ascension in this race is the fact the Begich name has long been associated with liberalism and the Democratic Party in Alaska. “Begich” and “Republican” are as oxymoronic as racing the Iditarod with a feline team, or eating a hamburger at Moose’s Tooth Pizza.

Teams Supporters “Tell-All”

Courtesy of Alaska Public Offices (APOC) regulations, this week candidates had to reveal not only how much money they have raised for campaign coffers, but also who is supporting them financially. Demboski has traditional conservative Republican support, reporting donations from stalwart Republicans and respectables like Chugiak Senator Bill Stoltze, Chugiak-Eagle River Assemblyman Bill Starr, former Anchorage Mayor Tom Fink, and former Chugiak-Eagle River Assemblyman Dan Kendall.  Demboski also received Political Action Committee donations from the Alaska Association of Realtors and the Alaska Republican Party (District 12-Chugiak). This reporting period Demboski listed 117 donors, most from Chugiak-Eagle River and Anchorage, with a sprinkle from the Mat-Su, and one from Fairbanks.

How about her opponent?

Nicholas Begich III may very well live up to the Begich name. The young assembly candidate reported 38 donors this period and, like Demboski, there were some big names. Predictably, his family donated to his effort, including Uncles Mark and Tom Begich. Donations also rolled in from other big names in the Democratic Party: Patricia Higgins (former Party Chair), Jim Lottsfeldt (long-time Democrat candidate consultant and now union lobbyist), Frank Gwartney (union activist who filed a complaint against Governor Sarah Palin re: her daughters’ travel), and Robert Gottstein, to name a few. Begich also received Political Action Committee checks from three local labor unions (the NEA, Teamsters, and the Anchorage Police Department Employees Association).

Strikingly absent from either of Begich’s APOC reports was support from Chugiak-Eagle River neighbors. For the entire campaign, Begich’s local district support totals 11 donors from Chugiak-Eagle River, trumped by his 16 out-of-state donors; more checks from the Lower 48 then from his own constituents.

The Whopper

The only prominent, yet infamous, Republican to team up with the unions and Democrats in donating to Assembly candidate Begich is former Republican Party Chair Randy Ruedrich. Could Ruedrich have been the robo-call mastermind who conveniently omitted Demboski from the Republican Party’s endorsement phone call to voters two weeks ago?

Randy Ruedrich endorsing a Begich?

Is it snowing in Hell? Is Bernie Sanders the president? Are pigs flying over the Chugach Mountains?

Ultimately, candidates come and go, and donations are dredged up from all sorts of characters and for a bag full of reasons. Endorsements can matter, and so might donations when it comes to comparing and contrasting who is a true conservative or liberal.

While Amy Demboski’s record and conservative platform is obvious, her opponent’s actual party philosophy and policy leanings are not. Is he a Republican or does he just play one on TV? The bed he has made for himself is full of people. He’s been courted and supported by unions, liberal advocates, and an alarming amount of Democrats, yet he hasn’t been supported from his actual constituents.

The question is, “Which candidate represents Chugiak-Eagle River voters?” We could meet at Moose’s Tooth and debate that over pizza.

APE Editorial