The Sunday Minefield – July 21, 2024

The primaries are less than a month away! I’m writing my column this week from Nome! I came up here for a few days to visit a friend and check it out. I hear the great weather today is the best it’s ever been. I’m staying at the newly reopened Nome Nugget Inn, which is great.

The big news today is Joe Biden is out. He, or people with access to his social media accounts, have posted that he is not running for re-election and that he is running for vice president Kamala Harris for president. Meanwhile, the Republicans held their convention in Milwaukee this week. Several Alaskans were present as delegates. This week, the FEC reports for the second quarter came out. They show that the representative Maria Peltola (D – Alaska) maintains a huge fundraising lead over her two Republican opponents. Multiple bills were sent to the governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska), including the five that passed the House after the constitutional deadline. And after weeks of silence, Gov. Dunleavy quietly re-appointed Ethan Schutt this week to the board of the Permanent Fund.

A friendly message and reminder to all of our readers. The Landmine is made possible by myself and a team of great Alaskans. I have covered the Juneau legislative session for the past six years. We will once again be providing in-depth coverage for both the primaries and the general election. If you enjoy the content we provide, please consider making a one-time or recurring monthly donation. You can click here to donate. We have a system in place that makes it super easy. We would really appreciate it. And thank you to everyone who has supported us.

Bye Bye Biden

President Joe Biden announced today that he will not seek re-election in a letter posted on his social media. Politico reported that several White House and campaign staffers learned of the news via Twitter. Biden has been in isolation at his home in Delaware for the past four days. Frankly, it all feels like a high-level coup within the Democratic Party. Either way, Biden is out now.

Biden (as far as we know) and several other Democrats, immediately expressed their support Kamala HarrisAlaska Democratic Party leaders were quick to join in. But Barrack Obama and many Democratic congressional leaders have not supported her. There is a lot of talk that Senator Joe Manchin (I – West Virginia) is considering switching back to Democrat so he can also seek the nomination. Whatever happens, Democratic delegates will choose the party’s nominee, not the millions of Democratic primary voters who vote on Joe BidenSo much for democracy!

Q2 FEC Reports

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) reports for federal candidates for the second quarter were due July 15. These reports cover the period from April 1 through June 30. The reports show the representatives Maria Peltola again with a significant fundraising and money advantage over her two Republican opponents, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom And Nick Begich. Peltola has a war chest of $3.3 million. Dahlstrom has just under $605,000, while To start has $234,000.

Here are the Q2 highlights for each candidate:

• Peltola took in over $2 million — $1.8 million came from individuals while $204,000 came from political action committees. She spent $1.3 million, leaving her with $3.3 million in cash.
• Dahlstrom took in $389,000—of which $249,000 came from transfers from other authorized committees, $103,000 came from individuals, and $46,000 came from political action committees. She spent $189,000, leaving her with $605,000 in cash.
• To start Raised $311,000—all from individuals, except $6,000 from a political action committee. He spent $250,000, leaving him with $234,000 in cash. Begich’s The report lists a debt of $425,000 to his campaign. He explained that this was a holdover from his previous campaign. He loaned his campaign $650,000 last cycle, of which he repaid himself $225,000. He has not made any loans this cycle and says he will not repay any of the previous loans to himself.

Other events

The Republican National Convention was held this week in Milwaukee. Several Alaskans, including former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and Nick Begich, were in attendance. Notable is Gov. Dunleavy was spotted sitting two seats away Donald Trump on Thursday evening (18-07-2024), the night Trump spoke. If anyone doubted that Dunleavy is looking for a cabinet position as Trump wins, you can now remove those doubts.

Governor Dunleavy reappointed Ethan Schutt this week to the board of the Permanent Fund. Schutts term expired on July 1. Dunleavy remained silent on the matter for weeks. His office declined to comment. A Landmine story earlier this year about internal problems at the Permanent Fund included an email in which the chief investment officer said Ellie Rubenstein told him that Dunleavy told her that Shut would not be reappointed. This resulted in many people looking at what Dunleavy would do. Shut is the current chairman, but in recent months there have been major votes shifting away from 4-2 Shut. To search Shut soon to be replaced as a chair. The most likely new chair is Jason Brune. Craig Richards has voted with Shut and there’s no way they’re gonna make it Ellie Rubenstein Chairman. And it is highly unlikely that commissioners Adam Crumb or Ryan Andersen will become chairman. A board meeting is scheduled for this Wednesday in Fairbanks.

Several bills have been sent to the governor Dunleavy this week, including the five bills the House passed after midnight on Day 121 – the limit of the constitutional session. Multiple sources report Dunleavy plans to veto the bills because of the constitutional issue. I have stated publicly on several occasions that if any of the bills are signed, or allowed to go into effect without a signature, I will file a lawsuit to challenge them.

Other bills still need to be sent to Dunleavy two months after the session ended. One of them is Senate Bill 127, the compromise bill on car rental/Turo tax. Senator Matt Claman (D – Anchorage), the bill’s sponsor, is asking that it not be forwarded so he can try to convince authorities Dunleavy so as not to veto it.

Several Republicans, including Representative Jesse Sumner (R – Wasilla) were listed this week as co-hosts for a recent fundraiser for the independent House candidate. Nick tired. tired is in a heads-up match with Democrat Carolyn Zaal for the open West Anchorage House seat. That’s going to be an interesting race.

More drama in the office of the U.S. Attorney for Alaska. That office sounds like an unmitigated disaster.

Neil Steiningera former director of OMB, has filed for the open Downtown Juneau/Douglas Assembly seat. So far, he is the only candidate. The deadline to file is tomorrow afternoon. Multiple sources are reporting that former Permanent Fund CEO Angela Rodell will file a complaint against the mayor of Juneau Beth Weldon. toboggan recently worked as a legislative aide for Senator Cathy Giessel (R – Anchorage).

This week’s loose unit

Something I learned late in the week was confirmed by this week’s designated person. Loose unit is Lisa Simpson (earlier Lisa Vaught). Simpson was a former legislator and staffer for former Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux. She also ran unsuccessfully for the State House in 2012 (don’t miss this gem!) In 2019, Simpson And LeDouxAnd from Simpson son, were accused of electoral fraud arising from LeDoux’s Elections 2018. In 2021, more charges were added.

The trial has been postponed repeatedly for years. But this week it is finally scheduled to begin. Friday I got a tip that Simpson turned around LeDoux and made a deal with prosecutors. I was able to confirm the tip quickly. I have not been able to get the plea agreement yet, but I am told that part of her plea agreement is to testify against LeDoux. It doesn’t get much looser than appeasing your former boss and friend right before the trail begins. Classic Loose unit behaviour.

If you have a nomination for this week’s award Loose unitor if you have any political news, stories or gossip (or old photos of politicians or government officials), please email me at [email protected].