Endorsing Donald Trump for president

As governor of America’s largest state, my responsibility is to advance the interests of Alaskans. That’s why I’ll be voting for President Trump on Tuesday.

In many ways, elections are about personalities. Talking heads spend thousands of hours analyzing the president’s demeanor; countless words are written dissecting his latest tweets. I choose to focus on Donald Trump’s record.

Since statehood, no president has done more to create jobs and opportunity in Alaska than President Trump. In a declining oil state where little economic progress has been made since development of the Prudhoe Bay oil field began in the summer of 1969, Trump has offered Alaskans hope simply by giving responsible resource development a fair shake.

Many Americans would be surprised to learn that Alaska produces less than 4% of the nation’s oil. The Tongass National Forest produces only one-third of the timber sustainably harvested in Rhode Island – a state that could fit into the Tongass 17 times. Our shores and rivers contain more hydro potential than the rest of the nation combined, yet Alaska’s electricity costs are the second highest in the nation.

The impact of half-a-century of missed economic opportunities has been predictable. Many areas of our state suffer from poverty and unemployment rates that more than double the rest of the country. Suicide rates among subsets of Alaska’s population exceed 10 times the national average. Entire regions lack viable options for those seeking full-time employment.

In just four years, Trump has advanced projects that have laid dormant for decades. Approval of a road to the Ambler Mining District, an area so rich in strategic minerals that access was mandates by Congress 40 years ago; potential lease sales that would allow for 2,000 acres of development in ANWR; approval of a gold mine that aims to change the lives of those living in Western Alaska; an expansion of development in the National Petroleum Reserve – these are just a handful of the projects moving forward under the Trump administration’s watch.

At the national level, Americans have benefited from the president’s focus on tax cuts and minority unemployment. Undeterred by rioting that began in Portland just after election day, questionable FBI investigations, and a partisan impeachment coup that went nowhere, President Trump’s agenda remains one of economic opportunity and prosperity for all Americans.

On the international front, the doomsday predictions about new wars have proven laughable. The president has confronted attacks by Iran and provocations by North Korea with stern diplomacy in stark contrast to his warmongering predecessors. Our relationship with Israel has never been stronger thanks to the long-overdue embassy relocation to Jerusalem. The recent peace deals brokered between Israel and several Gulf states represent a crowning achievement for any president.

National security has likewise benefited from record military funding. While many have decried the president’s increased pressure on China, his attempt to disentangle our supply of minerals from hostile powers undoubtedly makes America a safer place. Alaska, a state containing 30 of the 35 critical minerals required for our national defense, stands ready to capitalize on the president’s recent executive order to bring these jobs back home.

Four more years of President Trump will ensure incredible opportunity for our nation and my state. In a subcontinent that is at risk of becoming a 600,000-square-mile national park at the expense of its inhabitants, we have finally found a president willing to take up our cause.

A strong Alaska benefits the entire nation. Our resource projects are some of the best-regulated and cleanest in the world. With a deep-water port and one of the busiest airports in the world, we serve as a gateway to Asia-Pacific markets – even more so as the Bering Strait becomes increasingly passable. Our rare earth minerals and resources like copper and zinc are desperately needed as America turns to clean renewable energy to power the future.

But first, Americans must recognize that it is policies, not personalities, that hold the key to our country’s future. It is policies that will create shining opportunity or profound despair for our fellow Americans and the generations that follow.

In that spirit, I join scores of Alaskans in standing behind the one candidate whose policies promise the opportunity we so desperately need: Donald Trump.

Mike Dunleavy is the 12th governor of Alaska.