Carpetbagger Dan Sullivan (R. OH)
So Republicans in Alaska finally got their candidate to take on Senator Mark Begich (D. AK):
http://www.msnbc.com/...
The Republican establishment got its way in Alaska late Tuesday, successfully anointing Dan Sullivan, former attorney general and national resources commissioner, as the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. Sullivan will face incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Begich in a race that is crucially important for control of the Senate.
The primary campaign was hard-fought but inconclusive. The most recent polling showed Sullivan ahead in the three-way race, but polls in the state are notoriously unreliable.
Both Sullivan and current Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell were considered real threats to Begich, but establishment Republican groups have largely coalesced around Sullivan, as has the conservative Club For Growth. The wild card was Joe Miller, a tea party insurgent who won the 2010 Republican Senate nomination in an upset over incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski – only to lose to Murkowski, who was a write-in candidate in the general election. Miller, who has called for President Obama’s impeachment, would likely have taken the seat out of play for Republicans. - MSNBC, 8/19/14
And of course the establishment is happy that Sullivan won:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
The Alaska GOP Senate race mirrored national trends, with tea party conservatives trying to knock out mainstream Republicans.
Tuesday morning, Sullivan was out with supporters — including his wife, three teenage daughters and niece — waving signs along a busy Anchorage street and looking relaxed.
He said the attack ads from Democrats and the super PAC Put Alaska First show, “they’re afraid; they fear me.”
Sullivan spent the last few days leading up to the primary covering hundreds of miles in an RV. He skipped the last debate to be broadcast statewide to focus on door-to-door campaigning. - Washington Post, 8/19/14
And now it's game time:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/...
In a victory statement, Sullivan tied Begich to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
"Harry Reid tried to stop us, but his millions of dollars of attack ads didn't work. Mark Begich, his loyal lieutenant, has spent the last ten months trying to avoid talking about his failed record. Now is the time to focus on the real issues that matter the most to Alaskans. I look forward to painting a clear contrast between Mark Begich’s inability to move our state forward and my vision for a brighter and better Alaska," wrote Sullivan.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee quickly fired off a statement, saying "Sullivan is wrong for Alaska women, seniors, and middle class families."
"Sullivan is an Outsider and his campaign is bankrolled by Outside special interests that want to privatize Medicare and Social Security, eliminate a federal minimum wage, and protect tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas," added DSCC Deputy Executive Director Matt Canter, in a statement.
With the primary over, the amount of attention and outside money flowing into the Alaska showdown will only intensify. - CNN, 8/20/14
While it would've been nice had Tea Party Wild Card Joe Miller (R. AK) won the primary, making things easier for Begich, Democrats knew it was always going to be Sullivan and Begich already knows how to attack Sullivan:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Begich wants Alaskans to know he is one of them and an independent voice against President Barack Obama. But Tuesday's primary produced a GOP nominee with a military record that could hold broad appeal in a state with a high population of veterans.
Newly-nominated GOP challenger Dan Sullivan, Alaska's former attorney general and a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps reserves, poses a challenge for Begich that the freshman lawmaker didn't face in 2008, when he defeated scandal-plagued incumbent Ted Stevens. The veteran senator spent most of that election in a courtroom. Sullivan faces no such restrictions on his time. He's demonstrated a fundraising prowess that rivals Begich's.
But unlike Begich, who was born and raised in Alaska, Sullivan hails from Ohio. Sullivan's wife, however, is from Alaska and his roots here date to the 1990s. Sullivan also has spent much of the past 10 months battling it out in a three-way GOP primary and fending off attacks by Democrats and a pro-Begich super PAC. Begich, meanwhile, faced no real Democratic opposition and has spent money and time building his bona fides in a state where relationships and roots are important to voters.
Begich used the time to open campaign offices in far-flung places like a coin-operated laundry in Dillingham, a hamlet of 2,000 people. He's allowed himself to be videotaped strutting his stuff at the Athabascan Fiddlers' dance in Fairbanks. And as anyone with a television knows, he rode a snowmobile in subzero temperatures in the Arctic, speaking into a camera about fighting the Obama administration to help secure offshore drilling permits.
The two-pronged message puts the freshman senator in a unique position to benefit from this conservative state's strong nonpartisan streak, despite its overwhelming votes against Obama in 2008 and 2012. For many voters, going with the person they know and trust matters far more than party labels.
"The national policies are important," said Bill Popp, president of the Anchorage Economic Development Corp. and a longtime friend of Begich. "But the ground game of how you take care of constituents' needs in the state will be much more important."
Begich knows this. His campaign motto is "True Alaska" and, despite holding a leadership position in the Senate Democratic conference, he has worked to cast himself as independent voice. To defeat him, Republicans will have to convince voters that it's bad for the country for Democrats to control the Senate — the GOP needs to net six seats to win control of the chamber — but also that Begich is bad for Alaska. - Huffington Post, 8/20/14
And Begich already has a head start in the campaign:
http://www.newser.com/...
While Republicans battled it out in a three-way primary, Begich — who faced no real opposition — spent the past eight months solidifying what was already a well-polished image as a native son, talking up his accomplishments and touting his deep roots. In Anchorage, where he grew up and once served in the assembly and as mayor, his campaign signs sat in some yards next to the independent candidate for governor and those supportive of oil tax cuts put in place by the Republican-controlled state Legislature last year. Some people still remember his days as a property manager, when he would show up at all hours to fix leaky toilets.
"Let's not get caught up in the D.C. trap of Democrats versus Republicans," he said in an interview. "When you're in Alaska it's about what's important for Alaska."
Begich will soon have 13 field offices in the state, including in communities that his campaign said have never had them before, like Barrow, billed as the northern most city in the United States, and Dillingham, where people have P.O. boxes for addresses. Having support in rural Alaska is seen as critical to running a successful statewide race, particularly one that's expected to be tight.
He says that establishing an office sends a message: "Look, you are part of this campaign. We need your help. I need your support. I need your time." - Newser, 8/20/14
We can hold onto this seat but Begich is going to need our support big time. Click here to donate and get involved with Begich's campaign:
http://www.markbegich.com/