Supports Goode

To the editor:

Jim Colver, a Republican? I was surprised to see Colver running for District 9 as a Republican. For more than a decade, Colver held local offices and I always thought he leaned liberal. I reviewed past Assembly meetings and I still thought he was quite liberal for a Republican candidate. So, I checked his party affiliation and found that Colver was registered as a Democrat until 1997 when he changed to Undeclared. Then in 2012, Colver registered as a Republican. Colver said, “Over the course of my life I have changed my political views.” With that said and the fact that he talked pretty much like a Republican during the campaign, I set my concerns aside.

In the week before the primary, I checked the candidate’s APOC filings and what I saw convinced me that I had been right to be concerned. With total contributions of $61,611, 5 percent came from the candidate. And 53 percent came from an identifiable industry (mostly Unions) including $22,500 in union political action committee contributions to Colver from December through July, and at least 28 percent came from Democrats. I did not recognize contributions from anyone I knew to be conservative or Republican.

I looked at the filings of other Republican candidates and found almost no support from Unions or Democrats. One source said “they’re (Unions) investing more in Colver than in any other candidate in Alaska.”

The top contributors to Colver’s campaign were listed as Operating Engineers Local 302, Alaska Laborers Local 341, Electrical Workers Local 1547, Alaska Public Employees Association, Associated General Contractors, Alaska Public Employees Local 71, Alaska Teamsters, and Alaska State Employees Association.

Then I checked to see which political campaigns Colver supported and found that both he and his wife supported almost exclusively Democrats. Their support went to Obama, Begich, Tony Knowles, Eric Croft, Johnny Ellis, Berkowitz, and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Colver objected to the citation of his wife’s contributions and I would say that might be right. Except, his wife is also treasurer of his campaign and it is quite uncommon for workers in any campaign to actively support the competitive party.

Colver said his support for Begich came after the former Anchorage mayor supported a proposal Colver introduced. This tells me that Colver thinks payback is important. When I look at the people he owes after this campaign, I question if he can possibly represent his contributors and still serve my interests as a true conservative. I do not think he can and I am very concerned that I will end up without representation.

Colver worked as an aide to a Democrat, Nome Sen. Donny Olson, during the 2010 legislative session. He was the only Republican endorsed by Progressive Alaska. Colver will try to justify his records, as he is already doing but anyone who views his records in their entirety will certainly question his sincerity.

We all need to research and think hard before the General Election on Nov. 4. With all that money and help from the Unions and Democrats, Colver garnered 39.5 percent of the votes. That means George Rauscher and Eric Feige together got 60.5 percent. If all the true conservatives who voted for either Rauscher or Feige voted for one person at the election in November, we could still elect a true and honest conservative.

I will be voting for the only conservative on the ballot, Pamela Goode, the Constitutional candidate and hope that you will all join me.

Don’t let the Unions, the Democrats and their money determine our representative. In the end your vote is the only thing that counts. Make it a write in vote for Pamela Goode.

Roberta Mason

Palmer