Just a quickie…. They had a lead of over 1% on election night, but there were about 60,000 outstanding votes (out of less than 300,000). Not all of the votes have been counted yet, but enough to declare the Walker/Mallott ticket the winner.
I don't know much about Walker. He used to be a Republican, and the mayor of Valdez. I think my boss knows him from Mayor stuff, as he used to be our mayor. But Mallott, the Dem nominee for Gov who bailed on that to run with with Walker and take out Parnell, has a great reputation. I have met him and heard him speak, and know people who know him. It will be an improvement over the GOP good ol' boy scene that is typically in charge around here.
However other issues pan out, his campaign statement on health care shows strong support for expanding medicaid in the Great Land.
I support the Medicaid expansion with the caveat of continued Federal funding at its current level — 4,000 new Alaska jobs would be created and lower-cost coverage for 40,000+ Alaskans would be provided.
I am on the Board of Directors of our local medical clinic. We were in a strategy session this week. One of the opportunities noted was the potential to increase our ability to serve citizens if they are covered by expanded medicaid, as Governor Elect Walker has stated intention to implement. As we discussed this Thursday night, the election hadn't been called yet. It has now.
Alaska is considered Deep Red. And it sorta kinda is in a way, but not really. The Reds outnumber us, true. But there is a significant and fairly feisty Blue/Green segment of the population. And prior to oil, Alaska was not a haven for conservatives. It was only after the oil boom that it got that way. … Look at what happened in the elections here. Yes, we lost Begich, and that hurts. But we took out an incumbent Repub Governor, legalized weed (margin approaching 6%!), approved restrictions on mining in perhaps the worlds most productive fishery (with something like 69%), and raised the minimum wage (about 66% or so). And a really smart, progressive young candidate for the House, Forest Dunbar, got over 40% against crusty old Don Young. That may not sound like a strong showing, but it is in the context of running against Don Young, with no name recognition, that bodes well for the future. ...
I've drifted from Walker and Medicaid, I hope someone finds it interesting.