Grassroots Grunwald: Rookie candidate reflects on her first campaign

WASILLA — How did a candidate with no experience in elected office come within eight percent of the second highest office in the state of Alaska?

Edie Grunwald received support for her candidacy for lieutenant governor statewide, receiving more than 18,000 votes and more than a quarter of the votes cast for lt. gov. While she fell short of being elected in her first campaign, it has not stopped her from the objectives she set out to complete when she decided to run one year ago.

On September 11, 2017, Edie Grunwald took a selfie at her mailbox. Over the next year, she would run the gamut of the process of trying to become an elected official in the state of Alaska, meeting with neighbors, attending chamber of commerce meetings and crime forums, and even traveling as far as Naknek to try to get her message out there. Grunwald had two goals. She wanted to inspire people with her campaign and get information out there about what she feels is a government in need of reform.

“I figured that a lot of people that knew what I had been through would say, if she can do it then I can surely do this,” Grunwald said.

Grunwald’s extensive military background helped prepare her for the campaign trail, where she was not outmatched in debating the issues. While her experience helped her communicate her message to the voters, she had a lot of learning to do along the way.

“I’d never been in politics before, I just watched from the outside and you think you know stuff on the outside but once you get in there and start running, it’s pretty surprising,” Grunwald said. “Some of the first words of advice I got was don’t trust anybody and that really bothered me.”

Grunwald said she ran for the office of lieutenant governor so that she would not just be able to have in impact and influence over one district, but be able to effect change throughout the entire state. She decided that when the list of candidates was announced and that all three running for lieutenant governor had voted for SB91, she would get in the race.

“I couldn’t believe it. I looked at my husband and said I should run,” Grunwald said. “Little did I know he’d already been talking to people about it.”

Grunwald attended meetings on crime and called into legislative hearings prior to announcing her candidacy for lieutenant governor. She has degrees in management, business, and technology. She also graduated from gunsmithing school, and enjoys the reaction of people who hear that news for the first time. She had nothing divisive to say about her fellow candidates. She had known Kevin Meyer and his family for years, and met Lynn Gattis and other candidates along the trial. She spoke highly of Stephen Wright.

Following the events of a November night in 2016, her son was killed. Three of the teenagers accused still await trial. A fourth, Erick Almandinger, has been convicted and will be sentenced in March of 2019. After the explosion of news coverage, she said she would be recognized but people did not know how to react. Grunwald shook hands and smiled with potential voters along the campaign trail, adapting to extroversion, and working to try to win the office of lieutenant governor. She said that has helped with her day to day interactions.

“Now when people see me they’re more comfortable with me,” Grunwald said.

Grunwald is fed up with SB91.

“We were scammed, we were suckered,” Grunwald said.

She was unhappy that she continued to hear words from legislators’ mouths that they were remorseful, but continued to see a lack of action. Her campaign did not receive many large donations from mega-donors, but got contributions from people who wanted to see her elected and believed in her cause.

“That’s what a grassroots effort is all about. You have people that have never donated to a campaign before, that right there was a true blessing,” Grunwald said.

While her extensive military expertise helped her to be prepared for dealing with the issues and speaking about them at forums and debates, the political process varies greatly from that of the military.

“If I’m going to tell you all about the Alaska military missions, that’s a little bit different than me trying to sell you Alaska's missions,” Grunwald said.

Grunwald’s dedication to trying to get elected led her to question how politicians in Juneau can get things done. She did not like seeing Valley legislators ostracized from decisions and wanted to get the most out of her campaign. She struggled with members of the political establishment who understood and resonated with her message, but did not like that she was a wild card threatening the status quo. She firmly believed that the office of lieutenant governor would be the best place for her to make a difference. She has no current plans to run for office again, but did not rule it out in the future if she continues to see legislators fail to get the job done.

“I already talked to two prior Lt. Governors to get an idea of what the job was and what I could do. It’s really what you make of it. I’ve done that my entire career,” Grunwald said. “If anybody could get in there and take that division and do something with it was me. I mean seriously, nobody else has what I have. I’ve run not only state level but national level programs.”