Eastman, Rauscher make big splashes

WASILLA — Tuesday night’s primary was no doubt a wave election, and in the Mat-Su Borough, two rode it to the crest, knocking off a pair of known incumbents.

David Eastman, a firefighter from Wasilla, and George Rauscher of Palmer, won going away in their contests with sitting house members Wes Keller and Jim Colver, respectively.

“We were talking with a lot of people about the caucus system and my opponent’s loyalty to it over a long period of time. That was a big factor, as was my opponent’s response to constituents,” Eastman assessed of his 762-548 win over Wes Keller, with former Wasilla City Council member Steve Menard placing third with 258 votes. “We didn’t necessarily have a numerical advantage — we didn’t have the benefit of outside interests or PAC’s… The numbers were on his side, but connecting was not their strong suit.”

It was just the beginning of what figures to be a busy week for Eastman, whose wife Jennifer is expecting their third child to be born on Saturday.

“My wife worked her tail off to make this happen,” Eastman said. “She was the one driving me around door-to-door. She was thoroughly invested and it’s not an easy effort on her part. It was very rewarding to be there with her until the results were pretty much final.”

Rauscher won his battle with Colver by less than 100 votes, 1219 to 1124. He did it with the backing of the Alaska Republican Party, which had soured on Colver after his two years in Juneau.

It was the third straight election Rauscher had run in, after finishing third in a three-way race in 2014 and second to eventual winner Eric Feige in 2012.

“I just was not happy with the way we’re headed as a state,” Rauscher said of his decision to enter politics. “I’m not sure people actually understood the issues… so I did the hard work going door-to-door and bringing those issues forward. I think the attendants during events in the community, we gave them a little more assurance that they were going to be listened to.”

Rauscher still faces a general election challenge from Constitution Party candidate Pam Goode on Nov. 8.

Rauscher owns his own business doing maintenance on log cabins, and said that shouldn’t be affected too much by obligations in Juneau because he doesn’t do much maintenance work in the winter anyway.

The House District 11 Republican primary came down to a battle between fellow Palmer city officials in outgoing mayor DeLena Johnson and sitting councilman Richard Best.

Johnson strode to a 55-44 percent, or 1,161-934 win to head to the general election, where she’ll meet unaffiliated, and inexperienced, candidate Bert Verrall.

“I think it was just running a solid, positive campaign and meeting a lot of people,” Johnson assessed. “People knew my record in Palmer, and I don’t know if there was one thing that really did it, but obviously, going out and talking to people, spending a lot of time door-to-door. I never thought I’d win without working for it.”

Johnson said she hopes to do Palmer proud in Juneau.

“I think they’re just happy to see Palmer’s representation be as strong as it is,” Johnson said. “I think people are starting to get the idea that we can move forward, even though the budget is a huge issue.”

She credited Best with running a strong campaign.

“Obviously, Richard worked hard,” Johnson said. “I had a good feeling going it, but I never took it for granted. I tried to finish with a sprint… I never underestimated my opponent.”

In other races with Mat-Su ties, a pair of Wasilla City Council members neared seats in Juneau, as David Wilson surprised many by knocking off sitting house member Lynn Gattis 52-48 percent, while Colleen Sullivan-Leonard held off Brandon Montano, 58-41 percent.

In House District 8, Mark Neuman held his seat, besting Mike Alexander 63-36, and for Senate F, sitting House member Shelley Hughes survived a tough race to hold off newcomer Adam Crum, 48 to 41 percent. Running a strong third was Steve St. Clair, who took down better than 10 percent of the vote and added to an excruciating, but all-the-more rewarding win for Hughes, who said the tough campaign made her not only a stronger candidate, but a stronger leader.

“To be handed something on a silver platter, you don’t have the same respect for it,” Hughes said. “The obstacles I overcame this time, especially considering how many incumbents lost sizeably this time around, I think that puts me in a good position in the Senate.”

Hughes said she plans to try to mentor two brand new Senators coming into the fold — Wilson, and Natasha Van Imhof, who won a three-way race in Anchorage-based District L.

First things first, Hughes has yet to secure her spot in Juneau. In November, she’ll take on Democratic candidate Samantha Laudert-Rodgers, who ran unopposed and clocked 745 votes. Hughes got almost three times that many, even with two candidates running against her.

“I go in as someone who knows the ropes, and it puts me in a good place to work for the Mat-Su area in the Senate,” Hughes said. “To be honest, too, it’s time to pull together as conservatives before the November election… We’ll have to see what’s going to happen in the general election. I think the Republicans will hold the majority.”

At the top of Tuesday’s ballot, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski cruised to victory in the Republican primary, taking 72 percent of the vote to 15 for Bob Lochner. On the Democratic side, Ray Metcalfe earned the honor of taking Murkowski on in the general election, getting 50 percent of the vote in a three-way race. Edgar Blatchford was second at 33 percent, and Cean Stevens, running as a Libertarian, took 17.

Don Young stayed on course to retain his seat. The longest-serving Republican in the House of Representatives, held off three challengers to take 72 percent of the vote and top Stephen Wright, of Wasilla, with 18 percent.

He figures to get a stern challenge in the general election from Steve Lindbeck, who took 56 percent in a five-way race to grab the Democrats’ nod.