Publisher’s Notebook: 'I didn’t just parachute into the Republican Party in January'

Randall Kowalke discusses his odd relationship with the Republican Party, the State Budget and Political Martyrdom.

Randall Kowalke wants to be the next State Senator representing District E. He’s finding it a tough row to hoe without support from the Republican party leadership. This is not new territory for Kowalke. He has been a stranger in his own party dating back to when he ran for the Mat-su Borough Assembly. “I’ve been a Republican since I chaired my county teenage Republicans for Barry Goldwater. We thought it was pretty cool back then because we could spell his last name with the periodic table.” he looked back fondly. “I’ve been out there I haven’t just parachuted in last January.”

In 2015 Kowalke ran against local Willow businessman Doyle Holmes to fill the Mat-Su Borough District 7 Assembly seat. To say it was a contentious race would be an understatement. The two had a history of disputes that ended in a lawsuit. According to Kowalke during that race Holmes had such a reputation with local labor unions that the unions were calling Kowalke and begging him to take their money. “It (Union support) was as long as I promised to listen to them and I accepted that. I promised nothing else than they would have my attention when they called.” His opponent and those with party influence then labeled Kowalke as bought and paid for by the unions. “That and I wouldn’t allow Carol Carmen (Chairperson Republican Party District 9) to tell me what to do on a daily basis.”

Kowalke says he recognized the error in accepting union money and has accepted no union money in this campaign. “I’ve been working in this (political) world and I am one of the assemblymen who voted against the union contract for the borough because I thought it was too rich.”

He also attributes his reputation in the party as an “in the bush left winger” to Larry Devilbiss who was the sitting Mat-Su Borough Mayor and at the time facing Vern Halter for the Borough Mayor seat in 2015. “Devilbiss supported my opponent in the election and he’s running against Halter for Mayor who supported me. Halter is not a Republican. So what am I suppose to do when the sitting Mayor is supporting my opponent and the man who had been the Assemblyman for this district for six years is supporting me. Who (Mayor candidates) would have more interest in this district and might do more for it than the challenger (Halter)? It so irritating because I have been here since Goldwater.”

Kowalke had called himself a centrist which rubbed party leadership wrong. “Carol Carmen had been beating me up with that and I had hoped I could explain what I meant. She wouldn’t allow it because I wasn’t far enough to the right. She called me three times and said I wouldn’t ever get elected if I didn’t withdraw my name (When Governor Walker picked him to replace Dunleavy for the District E Senate seat) because she wanted George Rauscher.”

At the District 9 Republican Party convention Kowalke was introduced and allowed to speak. “Well I think you might consider me a centrist and to me that means that I’m going to work with various people. I would describe myself as a Reagan Republican.” Is what he said that night. “That’s all she heard. You’re not a conservative if you are a centrist. She then raised her hand during the question and answer period and asked me why I allowed a pot business in Talkeetna. Well the irony of that question is that it’s a matter of personal property rights. The guy had purchased and developed a piece of property according to borough regulations to go into a business. Whether I agree with it or not, I defended him because the borough had screwed it up time and time again and he had done everything he was supposed to do. I grandfathered his conditional use permit because another group of the true conservatives was trying to stall enough to get the Talkeetna Community Council to work against him. I’m protecting a guy’s property rights and Carol Carmen is trying to cut my (political) throat for that and as well as my comment about being a centrist. I’m a centrist to the degree that I want to go to Juneau, work with the coalition, get something done, be collaborative. I’m not going to sign on to please elect me so I can go sit in a broom closet for the next four years with no staff and no lunch.”

Does this mean Kowalke would be a part of the Caucus?

“It would be my intention to join a caucus until I had a reason not to join a caucus. To go to Juneau and they say well if you join our caucus we’re expecting you to support our budget. Then for me to say well okay I’m not going to join your caucus. I don’t know what the budget is and I don’t want any part of helping to construct it. I’ll go to my corner room and not get dinner tonight. This is not helpful. The borough doesn’t have a caucus because of open meeting laws. I’ve had to work with some progressive members and some conservative members. I’ve had to work in a collaborative way to get anything done. Unlike our friends in Juneau we can’t operate by spending with a deficit. We’ve had to actually pass a budget that funded the school district so they have some view over the horizon. I worked very hard on that with Assemblyman Ted Leonard. I have been working with my fellow assemblymen. Unlike our friends in Juneau where we’ve had to work together and we haven’t been allowed to Caucus. I’ve been knocking on doors in our district and telling them I want to go to Juneau and work for you rather than I will fight for you. Going to Juneau and looking at the legislature through the prism of being at war is not particularly useful.”

Does the Mat-Su legislative delegation tend to martyr themselves?

“I would agree with that. In a nonpartisan view of the world my responsibility today is the Mat-Su Borough and its residents. The borough has hired a lobbyist, John Harris. John Harris and I communicate and Harris says. ‘How do you expect me to get anything done down here when only one of the nine legislatures is in the majority?’ That would speak to affirmation about martyrdom. That’s what concerns me about, I’m going to stand up and get sent away without have any influence. I don’t see how that benefits the citizens of the Mat-Su.”

What would Kowalke’s approach to the State Budget be if elected?

“We need to have a right sized government. I will request a departmental audit and a program audit and their entirety. We need to see where the money is. I’ve been going to Juneau since the 80’s and I would ask exactly where the money is going. Of course, with hundreds of millions or billions of dollars being spent it’s not a trick question. Where is it? How come this is happening? What’s going on? I haven’t been able to get coherent answers. Former Senator Dunleavy has asked for a budget audit and I support that in its entirety. We need to know where the money is going. To parachute in and say well I’m going to support a zero growth budget or I’m going to do something else in a vacuum is irresponsible.”

“I asked, for example, what union contracts are out there and how much growth in the next three year, four year, five year period and my opponent says I’m going to Juneau and do a zero growth budget and you got union contracts. Maybe you didn’t make those and others made them ahead of you. Those are legacy issues. If you’re going to do a zero growth budget and you have growth in employee wages and growth in Medicare where are you going to cut? Are you going to keep us non-competitive for hiring troopers? And make that situation worse. I’m serious about wanting all the answers. My neighbor lost $20,000 in stolen property. She doesn’t see us as having saved money with the passage of SB91. We need to get our troopers back up in staffing. The folks that I have talked to want to see that happen before we embark on a boroughs sheriff’s department.”

What about the Permanent Fund Dividend?

“I want constitutional protection. I believe that puts Senator Shower, Senator Dunleavy and I all on the same space. When I interviewed for the senate seat I told the Governor one of the most regressive taxes I ever seen was this permanent fund grab. My $1,000 I’m not so much wrapped around the axel with but we have grandchildren whose permanent fund was going into the college savings plan. When you start taking candy away from babies. The imagery isn’t so wonderful. That needs to get fixed.

“We need facts before we start making promises that aren’t going to be met.”