Moore, Neuman battle in District 15

WASILLA — With the primary just two days away, April Moore is optimistic she just might pull out a victory over incumbent Mark Neuman in the race for state House District 15 representing the Mat-Su Borough north of Wasilla.

“I think that it’s going to be a very head-to-head race this time,” Moore said, noting that the last time she ran against Neuman there were three Republicans in the race. “I just feel like I’ve covered the district more thoroughly than before.”

Moore said she sees Neuman’s support among Valley farmers waning.

For his part, when reached via cell phone at the Alaska State Fair, Neuman said he’s confident he’ll win another term to represent the Mat-Su. As to Moore’s claims about his agricultural supporters, Neuman said she’s off base.

“Why don’t you call Kyle Beus or Wayne Brost or any of the farmers and ask them,” he said about his record of supporting local agriculture. “Go right to the source and find out.”

Moore, from the start of the race, has been harping on contributions Neuman received in past elections from oil field services company VECO, the center of a corruption investigation that has resulted in the numerous indictments and convictions of former and current elected officials. Neuman has never been accused of any wrongdoing in regards to the VECO investigation.

“He knew it was dirty,” she said of the contributions Neuman’s campaign took from VECO. “He knew there were strings attached.”

Neuman, as he has from the start of the race, defended the contributions as perfectly legal.

“What April fails to tell you is that virtually everything that VECO wanted, I was on the other side of the issue,” Neuman said, pointing to his stances on the petroleum profits tax and on getting Pete Kott elected speaker of the House. “I used their money against them.”

Neuman said he’s tired of muckraking in politics and thinks Alaskans are too.

“Let’s talk about what we can do for Alaska instead of a bunch of trash,” Neuman said.

On that score, Moore said that one of her top priorities, if sent to Juneau, will be education. She wants to bolster vocational technical training and implement extremely low-interest loans for college and technical education.

On the vocational education issue, Neuman said he’s already been working on that and is quite proud of what he’s accomplished — a plan whereby industry can give tax-deductible donations to specific schools.

“I’m proud to say that in the Legislature I’m really recognized as the person who leads the charge on vocational education,” Neuman said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.