Candidates jostle to be No. 1 in race for state’s No. 2 job

MAT-SU —The third of a planned series of election-related forums and debates will bring the candidates for lieutenant governor to the Alaska Club Theater Thursday.

The forum kicks off at 5:30 p.m. According to the state’s Division of Elections, eight candidates have signed up for the race: three Democrats, a Libertarian and four Republicans. Since current Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell announced he wouldn’t run for re-election, there’s no incumbent in the race.

Diane Benson

Benson is a Democrat who, in 2006, unsuccessfully tried to unseat U.S. Rep. Don Young.

Her website describes Benson as a former truck driver and television film producer, as well as an adjunct college professor. Her campaign offices are in Anchorage.

Benson says she is running on a platform of putting Alaskans to work, educating state residents, ensuring their safety, honoring veterans and making sure government is run ethically.

Jeffrey Brown

Brown is the sole Libertarian seeking the state’s No. 2 spot. His filings with the Division of Elections do not contain a phone number and attempts to reach him failed. He lists an Anchorage mailing address.

Eddie Burke

Burke is a Republican and a former radio talk show host who describes himself as the only conservative in the lieutenant governor’s race.

He describes himself as pro-gun and anti-abortion, the son of a Marine and himself a disabled Navy veteran. He hopes to bring state spending under control. He supports the current plan to get Alaska’s natural gas to market.

Burke has lived in Alaska for 38 years and has four children and three grandchildren.

Bob Lupo

Lupo is seeking the Republican nomination. He’s retired from the military and taught university classes for nine years. He holds degrees in electronics, philosophy and anthropology.

“I just enjoy life; I don’t want to be hog-tied to one particular area,” he said of his varied academic background..

Lupo came to politics as a way to serve people, saying he has the means and time to do such things now that he’s retired and financially solvent. He hopes to be an advocate for veterans, women, children and education.

Lynette Moreno-Hinz

Moreno-Hinz has seven children and eight grandchildren. She is an Alaska Native and a lifelong Democrat who has worked for 31 years as a cab driver, at one point running hot-pink taxis in the Valley under the name Glacier Cab.

“I had a hard time keeping male drivers,” she said.

Moreno-Hinz said she is running to give subsistence hunters and fishermen a voice in Juneau. She feels more fish should be allotted to users in the Bush.

J.J. “Jack” Powers

Powers says Democrats have recently become almost indistinguishable from Republicans, a fact he hopes to change as a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor.

He wants the position to be given more responsibility and is happy to take on such an expanded role. He owns Tudor Road Bingo Center, Lottery Alaska and a campground in Seward. His campaign bio credits him with starting the campaign to revive the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous festival.

Powers said he’d be willing to take the position at a salary of $1 per year.

Jay Ramras

Ramras is a hotel and restaurant owner and state representative. He was born in Fairbanks.

A Republican, he was the first to file to run for the seat and says that while the duties of the lieutenant governor are few, in the right hands the job can be that of a “rainmaker” who can help Alaska find its place in the economy of the Pacific Rim.

His campaign website touts his socially conservative voting record and his successful push to shrink the legislative session from 121 days to 90 days.

Mead Treadwell

In order to run as a Republican, Treadwell resigned his seat on the United States Arctic Research Commission, to which he was appointed by then-President George W. Bush.

In his time he has been a volunteer for then-Gov. Wally Hickel, a newspaper reporter and a deputy commissioner of the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation. He’s currently on the board of directors of a handful of technology companies. He has also done a lot of work on oil and gas issues.