Déjà vu: Kohring on ballot

WASILLA — Vic Kohring’s attempt at a political comeback is underway.

The former seven-time state House District 14 representative who was convicted of soliciting and accepting money from a former VECO oil services company executive wants to revive his public service career on the Wasilla City Council.

“I’m asking people for a second opportunity to trust me,” Kohring told the Frontiersman Friday afternoon after filing his application to run for Seat F in the Oct. 1 general election. “My experience serving in the state House for seven terms gave me a lot of opportunity to learn and … I understand how it works in Juneau to get things in the area of capital projects. I can still play a role in helping people and be a go-between for residents and city hall.”

Kohring was one of a handful of state lawmakers indicted in May 2007, accused of taking bribes from former VECO CEO Bill Allen. He resigned shortly thereafter in June 2007, and on Nov. 1, 2007, was convicted by a federal jury of accepting money from Allen. In June 2009, he was released from federal prison when his conviction was vacated as part of the backlash from the connected prosecutorial misconduct in the criminal case involving former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens.

Rather than face a new trial, in October 2011 Kohring entered a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit extortion and attempted extortion under color of official right and bribery.

That upheaval aside, Kohring said he made mistakes and that he understands another run for a public office opens him up for more scrutiny and criticism.

“It’s certainly an unknown and a scary proposition,” he said. “I’m definitely sticking my neck out and subjecting myself to criticism. Regardless of the devastation (the trial and conviction) caused me, I still have a lot to give.”

Count Wasilla City Council Seat F incumbent Brandon Wall said he is among those surprised by Kohring’s attempt to resurrect his political career.

“To be honest, I was very surprised when I heard,” Wall said. “I had heard rumors about this for about a month and I asked Vic about it a month ago. He said he wasn’t running.”

Asked if Kohring’s past would be an issue in the campaign, Wall said, “I’d really like for it not to be.”

Looking at the race logically, however, Wall said running against Kohring is likely to be more of a circus than a campaign.

“Unfortunately, this campaign is going to be about being Vic’s comeback tour instead of the issues we need to address,” Wall said. “We have a sports complex that’s not performing financially, our commercial growth has slowed down.”

Although Kohring professes a love for his community and sense of responsibility to serve, Wall said the erstwhile legislator could better serve Wasilla by standing down.

“I can urge him to withdraw and not bring more drama to the city of Wasilla, if he really cares about the city of Wasilla,” he said.

Although Kohring has name recognition and is a veteran of politicking, Wall said he’s confident squaring off in the election against him.

“Well, Vic’s never lost a race, so I’m looking forward to introducing him to it,” Wall said, adding that because of the nature of Kohring’s fall from grace as a state lawmaker, his behavior while in office is definitely something voters should consider.

“There’s a big difference between that and what somebody does in their private life,” he said.

Kohring said his run for city council comes at the urging of many friends and residents.

“A lot of folks thought I was washed up, but I don’t feel that way,” he said. “A lot of people understand I was treated terribly by my government. My case was very similar to Ted Stevens.’”

More candidates

The Kohring/Wall race for Wasilla City Council Seat F may have the most name recognition, but it isn’t the only race on the ballot. Also filing to run for office by the Friday deadline is Gretchen O’Barr, who will run unopposed for Seat E, which is being vacated by term-limited incumbent Dianne Woodruff.

For the council’s Seat A, a trio of hopefuls has filed for the seat, which was vacated last month when councilman Steve Lovell died in a heavy equipment accident. They will vie to serve the remaining two years on Lovell’s term. They are Holly Herrick, David Wilson and Glenda Ledford.

Mat-Su Borough races

What was a fairly sparse listing of candidates for Mat-Su Borough Assembly and Mat-Su Borough School Board seats saw a flurry of filings before Friday’s 5 p.m. deadline.

For assembly District 1, incumbent Warren Keogh announced he won’t seek re-election. By end of day Friday, a quartet of borough residents had filed paperwork to be on the ballot. They are Douglas Glenn, Jim Sykes, George Rauscher and Glenda Smith.

In assembly District 2, Matthew Beck will challenge incumbent Noel Woods.

On the school board, Seat C is the only uncontested borough race in this election, with incumbent board president Susan Pougher running unopposed.

The same isn’t true for Seat F, where incumbent Neal Lacy has drawn a trio of candidates seeking his seat: Donna Dearman, Stephen Jacobson and James Tapley.

The final borough race, for school board Seat G, has incumbent David Cheezem facing off against Ray Michaelson.

Palmer races

Palmer mayor is another local contest that looks to be an interesting. In that race, incumbent DeLena Johnson faces a challenge from councilwoman Linda Combs, who also is the wife of former long-time Mayor John Combs.

Johnson said she’s worked well with the current council and is running again because there are a lot of projects in the works she’d like to see through.

“We have a lot of project money and we have a number of projects that are funded, and we need to make sure those get done and they get done well,” she said. “That (is a priority), along with making sure we stay the course on our spending. We have a big do-do list and it needs to be done.”

Johnson also said she doesn’t anticipate a controversial campaign with Combs. “My intent is to run for the office, not necessarily that I’m running against someone.”

Combs said she’s learned a lot in her two years on council, and during the six years she spent as the city’s first lady.

“I said yes to this for the same reason I said yes to run for city council,” she said. “Community service has a bit of a price to pay, but it’s also very satisfying. I just love Palmer. There’s nothing hugely bad wrong, there’s just a lot of work that needs to be done.”

Both Combs and Johnson said they support the effort to restore train service to Palmer. Combs also said she likes the idea of preserving Palmer’s feel as a “boutique village.”

“A majority of people in Palmer want to keep it that way,” she said.

Along with the race for mayor, Palmer residents will choose from four candidates to serve two three-year terms on the city council. They are Edna DeVries, Katherine Vanover, Elden Tritch and Steven Carrington.

Houston candidates

In Houston, two of that city’s three council seats up for election Oct. 1 are uncontested. For Seat F, Paul Stout is the only candidate, and for Seat G, Kathleen Barney also is running unopposed.

The race for council Seat E will see James Johansen face off against Ron Gaffney.

Contact Greg Johnson at 352-2269 or greg.johnson@frontiersman.com.