Constitution Party supports small government, biblical principles

HAINES — If you’re looking for an expert in third-party campaigning, you could do a lot worse than J.R. Myers, the man running for governor on the Alaska Constitution Party ticket this November.

“I learned 30 years ago, more or less, that the Republican Party was an empty shell,” Myers said Tuesday by phone from Haines, where he lives, having recently returned from the party’s statewide convention in Anchorage. At this convention, Myers said, Russ Millette, briefly the chair of the state’s Republican Party and then a candidate for the Republican nomination for governor, joined the party.

“With the exception of a few elected officials, there’s really no party that’s really walking the talk,” Myers said of the traditional party system. “They’re running away form the constitution as fast as they can, both of the parties, in practice anyways.”

Myers’ disenchantment with the GOP happened in Montana. He left to join the Libertarian Party there. Then he moved on to the Reform Party, where he got Pat Buchanan on the state ballot.

When he moved to Alaska he joined up with the Alaska Independence Party, which worked to get national Constitution Party candidates on the Alaska ballot. When that partnership between the two parties ended, Myers split off to form a Constitution Party in Alaska.

He said that a lot of what the party stands for is similar to the Libertarian Party.

“Our main difference would be on our interpretation of morality and adherence to biblical principles,” he said, further explaining that the Constitution Party believes in biblical principals and that faith should be part of the public debate.

“The constitution derives much of its content from that heritage and so we want to promote that,” he said.

But the Constitution Party is very much in favor of limited government.

“In Alaska, and just in general, we don’t believe that the government should be the economic engine that drives commerce or anything of that nature,” he said. “The government is there to create a safe and secure environment where people can then interact through free association to thrive and prosper.”

He said that he is in favor of fiscal reform.

“We’re talking about possibly over a $2 billion deficit just this year now with oil prices going down,” he said. “It’s burning through our reserves and once that happens where is the money going to come from to pay for it?”

He said that of all the alternatives to solving that problem — a raid on the Permanent Fund Dividend, the institution of a state income tax or a state sales tax — cutting the budget is the most palatable.

“We’re going to have to really look at all capital expenditures and most projects are going to have to be put on hold or stopped altogether,” Myers said.

Myers is president of the Alaska Counseling Association and works as a counselor in Haines, working for a community mental health organization.

In addition to the issues, he had a lot to say about the election in general. He was appalled by the post-primary shifting of candidates; from Democratic Party gubernatorial candidate Byron Mallott shifting to an independent Lt. Gov. running alongside Bill Walker, to Alaska Independence Party candidate Vic Kohring dropping out of the U.S. Senate election, to the Libertarian Party winner — Thom Walker — dropping out in favor of Mark Fish.

“We have five statewide candidates that won their nominations that are now not going to be on the ballot,” Myers said. “Why are the people of Alaska footing the bill for these political parties? I would like to see the abolition of publicly financed primary campaigns.”

He also weighed in on the ballot measures. He’s opposed to both.

“I’d like to see outright decriminalization and I would also like to see the hemp industry in Alaska as a viable economic pursuit, agricultural pursuit, because there is a great potential for that,” he said of the so-called marijuana initiative. “I think that the status quo is better than what referendum 2 would leave us with which is government intrusion into something that has been essentially legal in Alaska for almost 40 years.”

As for the minimum wage hike, he had this to say: “I think it should be best left up to the individuals and their employers… I have to come out against the increase of the minimum wage but that doesn’t mean I’m insensitive to the economic realities I just think there are other ways to address them.”

Running as a third party candidate isn’t easy but Myers seemed to have relatively modest goals. A win would be great but even 3 percent would be a victory, as that is the state’s threshold for discerning between a political group — whose candidates have to petition to be included on the ballot — and a political party — whose candidates don’t.

“We need to get at least 3 percent of the vote to establish our party,” Myers said. “If we can get our three percent or greater now it will carry us forward into 2016.”

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.