Primary voters have plenty of choices Tuesday

MAT-SU — Voters heading to the polls Tuesday will be faced with a pair of ballot measures and a slew of hotly contested races.

In Alaska elections, anyone can vote in the Democratic Primary but only Republican, undeclared and nonpartisan voters can vote in the Republican primary. You can’t vote in both.

Everyone gets to vote on a pair of ballot initiatives. The first is referred to by its supporters as an anti-corruption initiative and by its myriad of detractors as a gag law.

Supporters say a “yes” vote on the measure would create an online database of government contracts, prevent anyone from receiving a no-bid contract and ban publicly funded lobbying.

Detractors say the second piece isn’t really a problem — state and local governments are by-and-large required to use a bid process for anything over $5,000.

The third piece, detractors say, silences a broad portion of the population and greatly hampers government business. It would bar governments from paying for local officials to fly to Washington, D.C., or Juneau to meet with lawmakers and discuss local needs. The same restrictions would apply to school districts and likely even to nonprofits.

Numerous Mat-Su government bodies have passed resolutions opposing the measure.

The second initiative, the so-called Parental Notification initiative, is no less controversial. A “yes” vote would require parents be notified if their underage daughter is seeking an abortion.

Supporters say parental notification is already assumed for things like giving students aspirin at school or for youths wanting a tattoo. Answering concerns of detractors, they point out the law would have safeguards in place to protect girls who are victims of abuse.

Detractors say laws can’t mandate family communication, most teens already inform their parents and that the law therefore seems to target teens who come from homes where communication is impossible. They paint their side as being against government mandates.

As for the candidates, on the Democratic side, at least in the Valley, only the governor, lieutenant governor and U.S. senator races are contested.

Jacob Seth Kern, Scott T. McAdams and Frank Vondersaar are running in the Senate race. Ethan Berkowitz and Hollis French are vying for the governor’s seat. Diane Benson, Jack Powers and Lynette Moreno-Hinz are the Democrats seeking the lieutenant governor’s post. Unopposed Democrats in state and local races on the ballot are Harry Crawford, who is running for U.S. representative; Bert Cottle, running for the Valdez/Chickaloon seat in the state house; and Bonnie Nelson, challenged Bill Stoltze for the Butte/Chugiak house seat.

As is usually the case in Alaska, the real action is on the Republican side of the ticket, which seems to have hot races galore.

In the U.S. Senate race, incumbent Lisa Murkowski is hotly defending her seat against Joe Miller, who has garnered support from the loosely aligned group of conservative insurgents generally described as the Tea Party.

In the U.S. House race, longtime incumbent Don Young is facing a pair of challengers in his own party — retired Navy man John Cox of Anchor Point and former communications executive Sheldon Fisher of Anchorage.

In the governor’s race, Sean Parnell is facing five Republican challengers. There’s “Singing” Sam Little, a musician and truck driver; Merica Hlatcu, an Anchorage Republican; and Gerald Heikes, a Palmer resident. The most heat, though, seems to be coming from attorney Bill Walker and travel industry executive Ralph Samuels. In most media outlets in the state, the race is seen as a three-way contest between Samuels, Walker and Parnell.

In the lieutenant governor’s race there is no incumbent. Republicans in the race are Mead Treadwell, most recently a member of the Arctic Research Commission; Jay Ramras, a hotel and restaurant owner and state representative; Eddie Burke, a former radio talk-show host; and Bob Lupo, a veteran active in the veterans’ community.

Three Republicans have drawn no opposition in their runs for Valley seats — Wasilla’s state House representative Wes Keller, Chickaloon’s Sen. John Coghill, and Wasilla’s Sen. Charlie Huggins.

In the race for the Greater Palmer seat, incumbent Carl Gatto is squaring off against pilot and telecommunications project manager Don Benson.

In the race to represent Willow, Knik, Houston, Big Lake and points north, Mark Neuman is facing former gas station manager Stephen Jacobson.

The Valdez/Chickaloon race has three Republicans: Eric Feige of Chickaloon, Pete Fellman of Delta Junction and Don Haase of Valdez.

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