Response to my dad being a conservative

Dad’s opponents occasionally question my father’s conservatism. They don’t know him very well. I have to thank Larry Wood for his most recent piece in the Frontiersman which gave Dad credit for his business experience, but it gets things wrong when he suggests Mead Treadwell won’t stand up for Alaska, conservative principles, protecting our liberties. That’s what he’s done his entire life.

Dad’s mentor was Wally Hickel. Dad co-authored the book, “Going Up in Flames: the Promises of Alaska Statehood under Attack.” After Hickel took office, Wally sued over the Statehood Compact. We lost. Dad’s committed to making up that loss, getting our compact recognized legally with those of other states, and getting more control over our land. He led a blue-ribbon group that has a plan, already shared with the Trump White House, to get us more control. Washington is wondering why Alaska –which is happy ANWR can now be opened – isn’t asking for more.

The day Ronald Reagan was shot, in 1981, Dad was waiting near the White House for a meeting with then press secretary Jim Brady. Jim had asked Dad to come work in the Reagan White House as an assistant press secretary, and Dad had turned him down. To be discussed that day, when Jim was shot, was working there that summer. Dad said he might, but that his goal was to live in Alaska with Reagan as President. He did return to that White House many times, though, and helped Reagan decide on the freedom for Alaska to export its oil and gas into world markets. Later, Dad spent ten years – in Alaska – helping lead the fight for missile defense that brought billions of dollars of investment to our state, hundreds of jobs, and the realization of Ronald Reagan’s missile defense policy. Don’t tell me Dad hasn’t made conservative principles work! There’s no one in Washington who would say Dad doesn’t stand up for Alaska – and its statehood rights, its rights to drill for oil, its rights to access state and federal land – every time he’s there. In fact, many of Donald Trump’s staffers on these issues and more have been mentored by Dad over the years.

Primary elections are about vetting the best Republican candidate to go forward and beat Bill Walker and Mark Begich this fall. Mead Treadwell is that candidate.

Mead Treadwell is a 40-plus year veteran of Alaska politics. He keeps on working to make Alaska a better place because he loves this state, and he raised us to do the same. Throughout his entire life he has taught us as children to make an impact in civics, in government, and in business, as every Alaskan should. That’s why I returned home to volunteer full-time to make sure Mead Treadwell is our next Governor.

Alaska does need to act now to resolve the budget, and all Alaskans do need to pitch in. As Republicans, the cornerstone of our family’s campaign is to reduce government spending, cut taxes, and deregulate to grow the Alaskan economy. If Alaska wants to pay full dividends, balance the budget, and avoid income taxes, we need a CEO that will springboard the economy to bring in new revenues.

New revenues does not mean new taxes and user fees. New revenues means growing the economy, filling the pipeline and getting more revenues from the taxes we have on the books. Bill Walker has let four drilling seasons pass by without keeping our promises to the new explorers that came to Alaska because of tax incentives Dad pushed for when he was Lt. Governor. We need to get at least $13 billion in private funds committed to fill the pipeline with oil finds that have been discovered but not developed.

Hiring Dad is like hiring a CEO to implement Trumponomics in Alaska. He wants to quit exporting jobs! New revenues means bringing in value-added businesses, getting our gas to market, opening the Alaskan Arctic for business, standing up to Russia’s monopoly in the Arctic, and encouraging an entrepreneurship revolution. Alaska’s politicians have suffered from a lack of creativity, where it’s thought that the only way to raise money is to introduce new taxes, like on commercial fishing as Senator Dunleavy actually proposed. Mead knows better. He knows that you can make money by growing the pie, and that’s exactly what his economic plan (link) will do.

As Alaskans we live in a place known for being cold, dark, and distant. Bill Walker’s climate change group proposed a new carbon tax that is a phantom tax on oil production and a real tax on every Alaskan. Dad blew the whistle on that in the first debate with Begich and Walker. Does he understand climate science? Yes. Does he want Alaskans to be taxed to change the weather? Hell, no.

We are fortunate that Alaska is an ownership state where we own the land and resources, and where we are able to pay for government by developing our resources and not tax citizens. When Alaskans elected a Governor who did not keep his promises, we became a state that did not pay its bills, and industry lost trust. We lost four drilling seasons, and badly-needed state revenue. To be able to pay for government, Alaska needs a CEO who industry trusts to develop our lands and resources and pay our bills on time.

Larry also doubted that Mead would not put Alaska first in any dealings with the federal government or outside interests. If you have any doubt, just take a look at Mead’s history. Mead Treadwell has spent 40 years fighting the federal Government for Alaska. When Alaska was excluded from the nation’s missile defense umbrella, Mead raised hell to get us out of a treaty and to bring interceptors to Fort Greely. When other nations were encroaching on our waters, Mead was fighting for the 200 mile limit to control our fisheries. When the federal government was preventing us from exporting our oil and gas from Cook Inlet and the North Slope, Mead went to the White House to fight for control, getting the bans lifted and letting more oil than ever flow through the pipeline. He even chaired the Alaska State Lands Advisory Group, which studied and produced a major report on the failures of the federal government to adequately manage Alaska’s land.

Mead has friends, across the country, across the world, and yes, across the aisle. That doesn’t make him any less of a conservative. It does make him a far more effective one. You can doubt my father’s credentials all you want, but his record doesn’t lie.

Will Treadwell is the son of Mead Treadwell.