Independents ride the wave

Oct. 24, 2006

By Michael Rovito

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - Following what appears to be a rising national trend, two independent candidates are taking on Republican incumbents to represent the Mat-Su Borough in the Alaska Senate and House.

The independents - Jay Cross and Myrl Thompson - are running for office in a political climate that has grown mostly critical of Republicans after years of scandals and alleged corruption in the party at the national level.

Some of that mistrust is spilling over to the state level. With two high-profile ethics lapses in the last two years involving former Attorney General Gregg Renkes and state GOP chief Randy Ruedrich, recent allegations of vote-buying, and an ongoing FBI investigation of involvement between VECO executives and some legislators, the longstanding Republican legislative majority is, perhaps, more vulnerable than usual.

Recently, Republican gubernatorial candidate Sarah Palin rode a wave of grass-roots support to victory in the Republican primary in August, battling not only two other candidates, but what she identified as the growing corruption in the party hierarchy.

Alaska's &#8220red state” status means independent candidates run against seemingly insurmountable odds to oust Republican candidates, most of whom are backed by deep-pocketed campaign contributors and the organizational infrastructure of what some call the &#8220Republican machine.”

Cross, a retired Big Lake resident who said he became an undeclared voter in 1968 and has voted his conscious ever since, said the hardest thing for him this election season is getting the message out to the people when funds for his campaign pale in comparison to those of his opponent.

&#8220You have to rely on individual people,” Cross said, adding that he has been to countless functions and festivals to meet would-be constituents.

Cross is running against Republican incumbent Charlie Huggins, who was appointed to the Senate by Gov. Frank Murkowski in 2004 after Scott Ogan resigned from office ahead of a recall effort.

The Vietnam veteran and Florida native is the chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, and, unlike Cross, has a well-funded campaign war chest.

With four independent candidates running for state office - including gubernatorial candidate Andrew Halcro - the customary partisan tug-of-war is challenged by individuals who do not align themselves with party politics.

But why does a candidate decide to run as an

independent?

&#8220Because they don't want to go through the primary,” said Gerald McBeath, a political science professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

McBeath said running as an independent gives the candidate a &#8220shot in the dark” at winning because they are not backed up by a party that helps them with fund-raising. They also lack an &#8220R” or &#8220D” tag behind their name, losing votes from those who stick to voting along party lines.

&#8220They have absolutely no interest in the political party,” McBeath said, referring to one possible reason independents don't join a party.

Back in the Valley, Thompson is mounting his second independent bid against Republican incumbent Rep. Mark Neuman in a race to represent District 15 in the state House of Representatives.

Both men's campaigns have revealed a general disdain for one another.

Thompson has, in the past, exploited Neuman's use of funds donated by the same VECO executives who were the subject of an FBI investigation, and claimed the one-term representative has allowed his vote to be swayed by large special-interest group donations.

Neuman denies Thompson's allegations. In past interviews, he said he needs the contributions to run a campaign because he doesn't have the means to do it on his own.

Regardless, Thompson is taking on a candidate who is backed by a Republican Party with vast amounts of financial resources and political clout.

That is where name recognition becomes important.

McBeath cautioned that independent candidates must work twice as hard as their partisan opponents to gain a sort of celebrity status in their area, trying to get enough votes from their neighbors to edge out their more widely known

opponents.

&#8220The party is a screening mechanism for people,” McBeath said.

Thompson, who said he has been nonpartisan his entire life, said he doesn't align with the Democrats or Republicans because he sees flaws with both parties.

The former legislative watchdog, who documented what he experienced in the Legislature in opinion columns for the Frontiersman and in a privately circulated weekly &#8220Juneau Report,” said, like Cross, he has hit the same hurdles independent candidates usually face.

&#8220If you don't have a machine behind you, you don't have the funding,” Thompson said.

This may just be the time for independent candidates to begin construction on their own machine. The political climate toward Republicans lately has been testy at best, with widespread media coverage of the Mark Foley sex scandal and a recently released book by Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward revealing alleged shaky handling of the Iraq war.

Across the nation, some Republican candidates are turning their attention to the defense of their party as opposed to campaign issues.

Here in the Mat-Su, Republican incumbents Neuman and Huggins said they still feel confident, even as some people may be jumping to conclusions about their chosen party and their political ties to Ruedrich and VECO executives.

&#8220I was the guy who was fed up with what was going on,” Neuman said. &#8220I'm a new face in Juneau, I'm not the old guard.”

Huggins, who said he is an eternal optimist, touts his credibility as something that will overcome negative views of his party.

&#8220The business of corruption has nothing to do with party politics,” Huggins said.

Alaska will get its answer

Nov. 7.

Contact Michael Rovito at 352-2252 or michael.rovito@

frontiersman.com.