Republican U.S. House candidates in Alaska continue to attack each other while urging voters to ‘rank the red’ – Anchorage Daily News

Former Gov. Sarah Palin speaks at a rally Sunday at the Denaina Convention Center on October 9, 2022. (Marc Lester / ADN)

In Alaskas U.S. House race, the two Republican candidates are urging their supporters to rank the red even as they continue to attack each other, in an effort to unseat newly elected Democrat U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola.

At an Anchorage event hosted by a political action committee on Sunday, former Gov. Sarah Palin railed against her opponent, Nick Begich III, and the new ranked choice voting system. After a forum hosted by the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce on Monday, Begich returned fire against Palin. But both said that their supporters should rank the other Republican in the race to ensure Peltola doesnt hold the seat for a full term.

Under Alaskas new voting system, Begich and Palin who spent weeks attacking each other in ads and at in-person events split the Republican share of the vote in an August special election, allowing Peltola to come away with the victory to replace Republican U.S. Rep. Don Young. Now, all three candidates along with Libertarian Chris Bye are running for the full two-year House term that begins in January.

[Alaskas 2022 election: Compare the candidates for governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House]

Peltola, the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress, has campaigned on a message of bipartisanship and carrying on the legacy of her Republican predecessor. Meanwhile, the criticism Begich and Palin have toward one another has continued largely unabated, even as political observers have noted that the biggest beneficiary of their criticism is Peltola.

U.S. House candidates Chris Bye, left, and Nick Begich answer yes-or-no questions in a forum hosted by the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce at the Denaina Convention Center on October 10, 2022. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Rep. Mary Peltola appears by video at the U.S. House candidates forum hosted by the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce at the Denaina Convention Center on October 10, 2022. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Since announcing her U.S. House bid in April, Palin has held a limited number of campaign events in Alaska. Aside from an appearance at an Anchorage rally with former President Donald Trump that drew thousands, Palins campaign strategy has appeared to include primarily appearances on national right-wing media outlets and social media posts.

But last week she announced she would attend a rally organized by a newly formed political action committee, Patriot Freedom PAC, led and funded by Trump allies who said they intended to spend $400,000 in Alaska in support of Palin and Trump-endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Kelly Tshibaka.

[Watch: Alaska U.S. Senate and U.S. House candidate forums]

Palin, whose official campaign is barred from coordinating with super PACs, hosted a fundraiser at the Denaina Center prior to taking the rally stage for around 15 minutes in front of a crowd of less than 100 that gathered Sunday afternoon in a room that can hold thousands.

The event included appearances by singer Tony Wilson, a Chicago performer who goes by the stage name Young James Brown, and David Clarke, a Trump surrogate and former sheriff from Wisconsin. There was also a mechanical bull and bounce house that didnt appear to get any use.

At the event, Palin stuck to a familiar message. She derided Alaskas new ranked choice voting system, a prominent part of her campaign since Trump attacked the new voting rules at his Anchorage rally. On Sunday, Palin called ranked choice voting convoluted and complicated and no good for Alaska.

A James Brown tribute performer leads people around the room during musical entertainment at Patriot Freedom PAC rally for U.S. House candidate Sarah Palin at the Denaina Convention Center on October 9, 2022. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Before the August special election, Palin told voters that she only ranked herself. Her message, she said, was dont comply. But since her loss in the special election, Palin has adapted her message to her supporters to include that while she continues to view ranked choice voting negatively, she must operate with the cards that we have been dealt.

In principle, I was so opposed to this screwy system that was put in place for nefarious reasons, but until things are changed legally when it comes to how we elect our officials now in Alaska, we have to rank the red. Because Alaska cannot afford to have that Democrat in office, Palin told the crowd at the Denaina Center.

[Alaska campaign roundup: Pierce resurfaces, Al Gross returns to the political scene, and Outside group holds rally for Palin and Tshibaka]

Still, when asked about her Republican opponent Begich the same candidate she was telling her voters to rank second on their ballots she criticized him for campaigning negatively against her. Ive taken the high road from day one, Palin said. But Begich, she added, drew first blood.

In a series of campaign ads released before the special election, Begich accused Palin of being a quitter and a self-absorbed celebrity.

Former Gov. Sarah Palin, center, speaks before the start of a rally at the Denaina Convention Center on October 9, 2022. She was joined by former Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Sheriff David Clarke, second of right, and former Alaska lawmaker Jerry Ward, right. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Palins U.S. House race is her first run for elected office since stepping down from the governors office partway through her first term in 2009 after her unsuccessful vice presidential bid put her in the national spotlight. Begich, a businessman who has never held statewide elected office, has earned millions from a business that offshores information technology jobs to other countries.

Nick Begich, my fellow Republican, has planted a seed in peoples minds that I dont live here, Palin said on Sunday. Palin says she has traveled the world promoting Alaska.

[In her few days in Congress before the election, Peltola enjoyed Democratic support even as she straddled party lines]

Jerry Ward, a former state lawmaker who ran Trumps Alaska campaigns and is now involved in Palins campaign, said Sunday that he recently met with Begichs campaign manager, Truman Reed, and Trumans father Ashley Reed, a registered state lobbyist, to ask them to stop running negative ads attacking Palin.

I had Ashley Reed and his son Truman sitting in the campaign headquarters and we had a discussion, Ward said. Weve asked them not to run negative ads against a fellow Republican.

Ward said that Begichs campaign manager said that they will consider doing that.

Asked Monday about the meeting, Truman initially denied it had occurred, saying he had only ever communicated with Ward in passing.

I dont know what Jerry Wards talking about, Truman said, but moments later he corrected himself, acknowledged that he and Ashley Reed had met Ward while they were at Judys Cafe, an Anchorage establishment that shares a parking lot with Palins campaign headquarters, located in a building owned by Ward. According to Truman, Ward then invited Truman and Ashley to Palins campaign headquarters but it was very casual.

Ashley Reed, a longtime influential Alaska lobbyist, is earning more than $191,000 this year to lobby for several companies including in the oil and gas sector, according to state disclosures. He has made frequent appearances at Begich fundraisers but has not publicly been involved with Begichs campaign. Truman said his father doesnt have any official role in Begichs campaign, but that he helps out whenever he can, as any dad would.

Ashley Reed has in the past participated in fundraising for state candidates while working as a Juneau lobbyist, which is not allowed under state law.

Asked about the request from Palins campaign to tone down the negative ads, Begich said Monday he had not been in touch with Ward.

Im sure other campaigns would like folks to stop talking about records and start talking about something else, but thats part of the campaign process, Begich said.

After a candidate forum on Monday, Begich responded to criticism from Palins campaign regarding his negative campaigning, saying it was about sharing his opponents record.

Were going to talk about records, Begich said. Thats part of campaigning.

Palin was absent from the candidate forum hosted by the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce on Monday. Her campaign manager Kris Perry did not provide an explanation for Palins absence when asked. Peltola, who was in Sitka for a celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day, participated in the forum by Zoom.

Begich, who came in third in the special election, says he is still in position to emerge victorious from the U.S. House race by convincing some Palin voters to switch and by appealing to voters who did not vote in the special election but intend to vote in the regularly scheduled November election. Results of the special election indicated that in a head-to-head race, Begich would have beaten Peltola where Palin had lost.

For most people that I speak with, theyre looking for someone whos serious about the state of Alaska. Not somebody whos going to bring a James Brown impersonator from Chicago and do backflips on stage. People who are actually going to work hard to solve the problems of Alaskans, Begich said.

We have to stop thinking about politics like political entertainment. This is one of the big problems that weve experienced as a nation for the last decade, that politics have become entertainment. That degrades our opportunity to govern properly, to represent our people properly. It takes the arguments that are cogent and throws them out the window for dancers and singers and entertainers. Thats not going to fix the problems that we have as a country.

When it comes to the Democrat in the race, Palin and Begich have both taken the strategy of tying her to some of the Democratic Partys national messages, even as Peltola herself has campaigned on a message of bipartisanship.

Mary Peltola I love her. Shes adorable. Shes wonderful. Were friends, Palin said on Sunday. I really love her. But Alaska cannot afford to have the Democrat in office. Were a deep red state.

In a series of videos posted recently on social media, Begich attached Peltolas name to national Democratic leaders and to the Inflation Reduction Act, a bill that passed Congress before Peltola was elected but one she said she would have supported.

It seems like everything is going in the wrong direction. This is what happens when you put Democrats in charge, Begich said in one of the videos. Unfortunately for Alaska, weve got a Democrat representing us in the House. Thats got to stop, thats got to change.

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Republican U.S. House candidates in Alaska continue to attack each other while urging voters to 'rank the red' - Anchorage Daily News