Eighteen to vie for Valley seats

MAT-SU -- The October primary election promises to be heated this year in the Valley -- more so than in several previous elections. Rep. John Harris, R-Valdez, who is running unopposed, is the only candidate whose district crosses into the Mat-Su, and several incumbents are facing competition from both within and outside their political parties.

Six Mat-Su seats are open in the 2004 election, and a total of 18 candidates will be jockeying for positions in the legislature. Several candidates have run previously, but many names on the ballot will be new. And perhaps what's newest to Mat-Su voters is that the closed-ballot primary race will be a true competition for both Republican candidates and Alaska Democrats.

Bridgette Gallagher, executive director of the Alaska Democratic Party, said the party made some efforts to recruit candidates, but she believes the new crop of candidates are largely people who filed over concerns about the state's fiscal and political future.

"I think the number of candidates we have across the state is a testament that people are interested and excited about state politics," Gallagher said. "I think this is Alaskans standing up for what they think is right."

Gallagher said she's optimistic about the number of people who filed for party candidacy in the Valley.

"Competition is always good for the democratic process," Gallagher said. "The more the merrier."

She added that interest among Valley residents about the Alaska Democratic Party has been on the rise recently, and the Valley caucus held this spring brought in record numbers of attendees.

"We had a fantastic turnout at the Valley Democratic Caucus in March," Gallagher said.

In Valley races, six Democrats are running for five seats. Republican incumbent Lyda Green, R-Wasilla, will be facing either Democratic candidate James Della Silva or Ginny King-Taylor in the general election. Della Silva has run against Green several times in recent years, but King-Taylor is relatively new to the Valley's political scene and got noticed recently when she and others in her neighborhood spoke out against late-night noise and vibration coming from a local dance club and bowling alley.

Two Democrats will face off in the primary for House District 13, the seat Rep. Carl Gatto was recently elected to. Mat-Su Borough School Board President Mike Chmielewski and James "Pooh" Milne, who ran for the seat when it was created in 2002, both filed as Democrats for the seat. Gatto has filed to keep the seat, and will also face James Garhart, an Alaskan Independence Party candidate, in the general election.

Republican candidates will have their work cut out for them in the primary race as well. Nine Republican candidates are vying for the six open Valley seats. Pat Carney is the sole Democrat running for House District 14, now held by Rep. Vic Kohring, but Kohring will have to battle Republican opponent Colleen Sullivan-Leonard for the seat in the primary. Sullivan-Leonard, a former Wasilla City Council member, left the council in January to work as a legislative aide for Gatto in Juneau. She said being in Juneau gave her the chance to watch Kohring in action and left her feeling that Wasilla and the Valley could be better represented. She added that she's already garnered some support among fellow Republicans.

"The people I've spoken with have said they're pleased I'm running and will support me," Sullivan-Leonard said.

At least two Mat-Su candidates have chosen not to take part in the closed-primary race, preferring to compete for votes solely in the general election.

Willow candidate Doyle Holmes said he initially registered as a Republican in the race for House district 15, but chose to withdraw and run by petition as a nonpartisan instead, in opposition to the closed-ballot primary.

"When the Republicans closed the primary ballot, they really limited it to their candidates -- which is why they did it," Holmes said. "In the process, they allowed special-interest groups [in]. When these groups put their pressure to bear, they can be very effective in the primary."

Holmes said he would have remained in the primary election if it were a race between he and Beverly Masek, the district 15 incumbent. But with two other Republicans vying for the seat -- Houston Mayor Dale Adams and Mark Newman, an attendee at the Conference of Alaskans in Fairbanks -- Holmes said he feels he has a better chance in the general election.

"I have a lot more middle-ground supporters," Holmes said.

Holmes is joined by Myrl Thompson, who filed by petition as an independent candidate. Thompson has been active in the recall effort against Sen. Scott Ogan, R-Mat-Su.

Contact Rindi White at rindi.white@frontiersman.com.