Welcome to Friday in the Sun, our weekly column that’s some combination of ranting, rumormongering and recapping everything that we wish we had the energy to cover during the week.
Just a few days until election day and a week and a few days until we have anything close to a clear picture about how the election turned out nationally or in Alaska. It can’t come soon enough.
What to watch for with election-night results
In case you haven’t heard by now, we’re not going to have a complete picture of how the election went on election night. That’s because, as of today, there’s 89,439 ballots (about 28% of the vote from the 2016 election) cast via by-mail ballots and other absentee voting methods that won’t be counted until a week after the election day.
As long as ballots are postmarked by election day (which isn’t guaranteed if you drop it in the mailbox, so it’s best to plan to drop it off at a drop box or polling location) and received within 10 days after the election, that count will continue to grow.
Another 37,995 ballots cast through Thursday via early in-person voting (which shouldn’t be confused with early in-person absentee voting) at the 11 early in-person voting locations will be part of the election night total.
According to our crunch of the early voting and absentee voting rolls, Democrats have the numbers advantage over Republicans in the absentee ballots cast so far 23,675 to 21,749. Republicans have the numbers advantage in early voting 10,588 to 6,962, but Democrats still account for an outsized chunk of the early votes–about 18.3% of the early votes while they account for 13.5% of the electorate.
In overall votes cast, Democrats are punching far above their registration rate. Democrats make up 13.5% of the electorate but account for 24% of the votes already cast. Republicans account for 24.4% of the electorate and 25.4% of the votes already cast.
In all cases, the important caveat is that independent voters (registered undeclared and nonpartisan voters combined) outpace everyone else in terms of total ballots cast both via early in-person voting and absentee voting.
Though we won’t know the final results on election night, we can go into the night with a pretty good guess on where things might stand based on what we do know: During the primary, conservatives were more likely to vote in-person and that progressives and moderates (including many moderate Republicans) were more likely to vote early and vote absentee, and that it appears to be the case again in the general election.
What that means is we’ll expect to see progressive candidates pick up votes as the absentee votes are counted. An election-night result that’s close or has a progressive ahead will be very good news for that candidate while a blowout result favoring the conservative candidate—akin to what we saw in the primary when several “moderate” Republicans trailed by 40+ points on election night—will be incredibly difficult for the progressive to make up.
The most expensive legislative race
The race between Democrat Liz Snyder and Republican Rep. Lance Pruitt is shaping up to be one of the most expensive legislative races in Alaska’s history, if it’s not already surpassed that mark. Snyder stands atop the legislative field in terms of fundraising with a whopping $172,249.99 to her name according to the seven-day reports filed with the Alaska Public Offices Commission earlier this week.
She has a $42,000 lead on the next closest legislative candidate (Sen. Josh Revak, who’s netted $130,698) and has a massive cash advantage over Republican Rep. Lance Pruitt, who’s raised a respectable-in-a-regular-legislative-race total of $66,154.52.
That’s nearly a quarter million dollars right there but it gets even more wild—precisely $504,926.17 more wild—when you bring in independent expenditures into the equation. Snyder and Pruitt are the target of the highest independent expenditure spending of any legislative candidates this year with a vast majority of that money favoring Snyder and opposing Pruitt.
Progressive groups have spent $324,738.05 supporting Snyder and $132,947.95 to oppose Pruitt while conservative groups have chipped in $41,285.86 to support Pruitt and $5,954.31 to oppose Snyder.
These numbers along with a strong Democratic showing in early votes, an electorate that has more Democrats and fewer Republicans than it did in 2018 and two years of Pruitt propping up Dunleavy (who lost the district in 2018) make this race the top candidate for flipping into progressive hands.
A bunch of charts
As is the case for the usual Friday afternoon in the offices of The Midnight Sun, I’ve spent pretty much the whole day futzing around with numbers. So, let’s get some of the campaign finance stuff out of the way.
According to a rough rundown from APOC figures, candidates who’ve made it to the general election have raised about $3.75 million this year and have spent about $2.78 million so far. Independent expenditures on both the ballot measures and the legislative candidate races sits at nearly $30 million.
None of this even begins to touch the amount that has been raised and spent on the congressional races, where candidates Al Gross and Dan Sullivan nearly equal the entirety of the fundraising on in-state races. Sullivan’s cash advantage evaporated this summer when the bear doctor got a wave of national attention. (Note that most of these numbers are from earlier this month.)
Gross now holds a commanding fundraising advantage with $16,812,922 raised to Sullivan’s $9,656,005.
Outside spending almost doubles the cost of the race with an additional $27 million pouring in.
According to the breakdown by Open Secrets, a whopping $14,121,565 has been spent opposing Sullivan, $3,985,481 has been spent supporting Gross, $8,711,428 has been spent opposing Gross and a paltry $135,342 has been spent supporting Sullivan. [Sad Ohio noises]
The cash enthusiasm has also been pouring into the congressional race where Alyse Galvin raised $4.3 million to Don Young’s $1.7 million. Outside spending hasn’t been quite as heavy with about $1.7 million being spent on both candidates, mostly in opposition.
Anyways, here’s some charts for the legislative races:
| Name | District | Party | Total Raised | 30-day Raised | Total Spent | Cash on Hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bart LeBon | House 01 | R | $54,076.40 | $4,704.55 | $33,981.44 | $20,094.96 |
| Christopher Quist | House 01 | D | $34,920.06 | $18,552.00 | $34,672.94 | $247.12 |
| Steve Thompson | House 02 | R | $20,050.00 | $1,750.00 | $8,660.29 | $11,389.71 |
| Jeremiah Youmans | House 02 | D | $2,600.93 | $405.00 | $1,759.58 | $841.35 |
| Mike Prax | House 03 | R | $2,250.00 | $1,250.00 | $1,277.00 | $1,250.00 |
| Grier Hopkins | House 04 | D | $61,348.14 | $3,686.00 | $53,520.86 | $9,074.08 |
| Keith Kurber | House 04 | R | $52,265.74 | $4,549.43 | $39,205.04 | $13,060.70 |
| Adam Wool | House 05 | D | $62,306.46 | $5,825.00 | $48,107.65 | $14,900.01 |
| Kevin McKinley | House 05 | R | $41,115.70 | $3,220.00 | $37,975.46 | $3,140.24 |
| Julia Hnilicka | House 06 | D | $84,642.03 | $19,929.84 | $74,406.08 | $10,235.95 |
| Mike Cronk | House 06 | R | $30,227.75 | $8,936.00 | $19,942.73 | $10,285.02 |
| Elijah Verhagen | House 06 | U | $20,412.15 | $3,246.50 | $18,871.12 | $1,541.91 |
| Deborah Williams Riley | House 06 | NA | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Christopher Kurka | House 07 | R | $28,282.17 | $1,980.03 | $24,398.15 | $3,524.02 |
| Jamin L. Burton | House 07 | U | $9,053.00 | $350.00 | $6,094.54 | $2,958.46 |
| Kevin McCabe | House 08 | R | $44,840.19 | $2,477.00 | $40,698.65 | $4,141.54 |
| Alma Hartley | House 08 | D | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Bill Johnson | House 09 | D | $33,736.00 | $5,735.00 | $23,547.49 | $11,902.01 |
| George Rauscher | House 09 | R | $2,500.00 | $2,500.00 | $2,093.52 | $406.48 |
| David Eastman | House 10 | R | $42,028.08 | $3,120.65 | $35,397.75 | $6,630.33 |
| Monica Lynn Stein-Olson | House 10 | D | $765.00 | $765.00 | $4,115.50 | -$3,350.50 |
| DeLena M Johnson | House 11 | R | $18,196.29 | $550.00 | $11,806.14 | $6,439.16 |
| Andrea Hackbarth | House 11 | D | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Cathy L. Tilton | House 12 | R | $22,067.00 | $470.00 | $10,850.29 | $12,716.71 |
| James Allen Canitz, Sr | House 13 | D | $11,471.01 | $320.00 | $2,068.84 | $9,402.17 |
| Ken McCarty | House 13 | R | $3,550.00 | $3,550.00 | $1,412.11 | $2,137.89 |
| Kelly Merrick | House 14 | R | $44,792.97 | $2,925.00 | $17,744.85 | $31,560.58 |
| Mike Risinger | House 14 | NA | $4,453.08 | $325.00 | $3,570.28 | $882.80 |
| Lyn Franks | House 15 | D | $47,579.08 | $14,814.76 | $28,461.09 | $19,335.69 |
| David Nelson | House 15 | R | $27,938.00 | $5,595.00 | $29,786.32 | -$1,848.32 |
| Patrick McCormack | House 15 | D (Write-in) | $89.22 | $89.22 | $89.22 | $0.00 |
| Ivy A Spohnholz | House 16 | D | $70,228.50 | $10,118.50 | $56,856.85 | $13,699.45 |
| Paul Bauer | House 16 | R | $4,581.19 | $700.00 | $2,793.81 | $1,787.38 |
| Scott A Kohlhaas | House 16 | L | $2,749.00 | $345.00 | $2,377.96 | $371.04 |
| Andy Josephson | House 17 | D | $21,067.41 | $650.00 | $5,551.63 | $18,073.91 |
| Harriet A. Drummond | House 18 | D | $11,405.00 | $675.00 | $8,801.22 | $7,603.78 |
| Geran Tarr | House 19 | D | $2,750.00 | $2,750.00 | $1,482.13 | $1,267.87 |
| William Z "Zack" Fields | House 20 | D | $21,994.26 | $1,950.00 | $7,142.76 | $12,655.01 |
| Matt Claman | House 21 | D | $107,000.08 | $6,180.00 | $62,458.06 | $47,024.86 |
| Lynette Largent | House 21 | R | $0.00 | $0.00 | $104.38 | -$104.38 |
| Sara Rasmussen | House 22 | R | $92,410.31 | $9,469.31 | $50,291.35 | $42,118.96 |
| Stephen Trimble | House 22 | NA | $62,569.06 | $15,296.78 | $40,232.51 | $21,336.55 |
| David Nees | House 22 | AI | $0.00 | $0.00 | $1,200.00 | -$1,200.00 |
| Kathy Henslee | House 23 | R | $42,283.01 | $14,103.00 | $27,463.21 | $14,819.80 |
| Chris Tuck | House 23 | D | $35,961.92 | $15,620.00 | $23,054.98 | $14,007.49 |
| Timothy R. Huit | House 23 | AI | $1,523.79 | $475.77 | $1,523.79 | $0.00 |
| Tom McKay | House 24 | R | $56,462.70 | $4,016.00 | $54,286.07 | $2,181.63 |
| Gloria Susan Levi | House 24 | D | $5,478.46 | $5,478.46 | $2,261.11 | $3,217.35 |
| Calvin Schrage | House 25 | NP-D | $114,491.35 | $17,041.00 | $97,323.48 | $17,167.87 |
| Mel Gillis | House 25 | R | $78,167.49 | $7,675.00 | $57,779.59 | $20,387.90 |
| Laddie Shaw | House 26 | R | $31,947.92 | $1,250.00 | $7,606.37 | $29,341.55 |
| Liz Snyder | House 27 | D | $172,249.99 | $13,674.58 | $168,268.79 | $8,194.53 |
| Lance Pruitt | House 27 | R | $66,154.52 | $16,112.00 | $54,043.04 | $12,656.78 |
| Suzanne LaFrance | House 28 | NP-D | $80,242.51 | $31,515.00 | $49,987.72 | $33,881.09 |
| James Kaufman | House 28 | R | $74,621.13 | $13,366.00 | $52,411.05 | $22,210.08 |
| Adam S. Lees | House 28 | D | $2,399.36 | $0.00 | $2,330.94 | $68.42 |
| Benjamin Fletcher | House 28 | NA | $0.00 | $0.00 | $660.34 | -$660.34 |
| Paul D. Dale | House 29 | NP | $54,653.45 | $7,785.00 | $51,074.30 | $3,579.15 |
| Ben Carpenter | House 29 | R | $20,279.55 | $6,825.00 | $10,772.59 | $10,037.33 |
| James Baisden | House 30 | NA | $30,542.40 | $4,300.00 | $24,206.79 | $6,012.81 |
| Ronald Dale Gillham | House 30 | R | $14,630.00 | $1,100.00 | $18,634.32 | -$4,004.32 |
| Kelly Cooper | House 31 | NA | $113,968.50 | $24,610.75 | $95,145.54 | $18,822.96 |
| Sarah L. Vance | House 31 | R | $68,234.75 | $10,899.25 | $51,028.07 | $17,206.68 |
| Louise B Stutes | House 32 | R | $20,868.33 | $2,650.00 | $2,293.46 | $18,574.87 |
| Sara Hannan | House 33 | D | $15,109.48 | $2,050.00 | $3,761.55 | $14,555.64 |
| Andi Story | House 34 | D | $60,569.04 | $9,722.00 | $47,676.86 | $12,892.18 |
| Edward King | House 34 | NP | $18,556.93 | $4,383.00 | $19,441.31 | -$878.38 |
| Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins | House 35 | D | $63,383.14 | $4,251.10 | $30,904.23 | $34,174.63 |
| Kenny Skaflestad | House 35 | R | $1,800.00 | $1,000.00 | $1,495.59 | $304.41 |
| Leslie Becker | House 36 | R | $81,529.93 | $6,370.00 | $61,460.98 | $12,915.80 |
| Dan Ortiz | House 36 | U | $74,059.95 | $14,699.00 | $63,995.07 | $12,439.88 |
| Bryce Edgmon | House 37 | U-D | $18,130.00 | $1,325.00 | $5,160.43 | $17,610.87 |
| Tiffany Zulkosky | House 38 | D | $30,961.00 | $5,170.00 | $14,561.72 | $21,399.28 |
| Neal Foster | House 39 | D | $20,741.01 | $2,925.77 | $29,483.29 | -$3,742.28 |
| Dan Holmes | House 39 | R | $4,888.97 | $1,000.00 | $5,827.14 | -$138.50 |
| Tyler L Ivanoff | House 39 | AI (Write-in) | $1,438.00 | $119.00 | $1,036.07 | $290.93 |
| Elizabeth Ferguson | House 40 | D | $57,098.60 | $7,690.00 | $45,461.73 | $11,063.85 |
| Josiah Aullaqsruaq Patkotak | House 40 | NA | $12,474.21 | $6,438.40 | $3,890.83 | $8,583.38 |
| Marna Sanford | Senate B | NA | $107,191.71 | $20,200.00 | $90,744.09 | $16,447.62 |
| Robert H Myers Jr | Senate B | R | $47,275.15 | $15,020.00 | $14,806.19 | $32,468.96 |
| Evan A Eads | Senate B | NA | $31,940.29 | $200.00 | $10,378.39 | -$225.00 |
| Dan Mayfield | Senate D | NP | $49,713.32 | $15,325.00 | $47,987.61 | $4,050.53 |
| David S. Wilson | Senate D | R | $46,283.82 | $3,250.00 | $34,380.49 | $16,911.98 |
| Stephen Wright | Senate D | R | $7,117.25 | $795.00 | $6,877.21 | $18.37 |
| Stephen Wright | Senate D | R | $7,117.25 | $795.00 | $6,877.21 | $18.37 |
| Shelley Hughes | Senate F | R | $52,485.37 | $12,143.00 | $43,731.69 | $8,753.68 |
| Jim Cooper | Senate F | D | $39,255.00 | $21,889.00 | $37,784.89 | $1,470.11 |
| Gavin Christiansen | Senate F | L | $820.00 | $0.00 | $704.00 | $116.00 |
| Bill Wielechowski | Senate H | D | $47,633.06 | $5,830.00 | $28,866.23 | $18,766.83 |
| Madeleine Gaiser | Senate H | R | $23,365.00 | $4,055.00 | $21,520.45 | $1,844.55 |
| Tom Begich | Senate J | D | $51,342.21 | $1,825.00 | $20,865.17 | $30,482.11 |
| Roselynn Cacy | Senate L | D | $15,448.57 | $2,069.51 | $13,435.06 | $3,677.40 |
| Natasha Von Imhof | Senate L | R | $5,250.00 | $5,250.00 | $33,991.74 | $39,024.84 |
| Stephen J. Duplantis | Senate L | R (Write-in) | $2,041.00 | $0.00 | $1,441.47 | $599.53 |
| Josh Revak | Senate M | R | $130,698.00 | $15,565.00 | $97,024.26 | $37,739.36 |
| Andy Holleman | Senate M | NA | $76,817.50 | $28,225.00 | $53,690.82 | $28,126.68 |
| Carl Johnson | Senate N | D | $70,654.51 | $26,154.51 | $40,745.33 | $20,811.29 |
| Roger Holland | Senate N | R | $64,712.20 | $13,090.00 | $38,649.71 | $26,062.49 |
| Carolyn "Care" Clift | Senate N | U | $10,922.24 | $650.05 | $11,387.42 | $372.06 |
| Lynette Moreno Hinz | Senate N | D (Write-in) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Gary Stevens | Senate P | R | $25,950.00 | $6,650.00 | $13,141.88 | $14,854.12 |
| Dr Greg Madden | Senate P | AI | $10,003.14 | $5,535.00 | $7,939.37 | $2,217.69 |
| Bert Stedman | Senate R | R | $40,625.00 | $5,400.00 | $32,502.47 | $9,111.97 |
| Michael D. Sheldon | Senate R | R (Write-in) | $6,844.00 | $574.00 | $7,660.69 | -$746.14 |
| Donny Olson | Senate T | D | $15,050.00 | $4,250.00 | $12,439.36 | $4,256.19 |
| Donny Olson | Senate T | D | $15,050.00 | $4,250.00 | $12,439.36 | $4,256.19 |
| Thomas Ikaaq Baker | Senate T | R | $6,209.00 | $2,000.00 | $3,085.44 | $2,273.86 |
| Thomas Ikaaq Baker | Senate T | R | $6,209.00 | $2,000.00 | $3,085.44 | $2,273.86 |
| Calvin Donald Moto II | Senate T | R | $20.00 | $20.00 | $0.00 | $20.00 |
And here’s the spending on candidate-specific independent expenditures:
| Name | Total | Supports | Opposes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liz Snyder | $330,692.36 | $324,738.05 | $5,954.31 |
| Lance Pruitt | $174,233.81 | $41,285.86 | $132,947.95 |
| David Nelson | $143,081.26 | $136,865.37 | $6,215.89 |
| Kelly Cooper | $131,438.82 | $130,537.33 | $901.49 |
| Sarah L. Vance | $79,486.55 | $10,459.55 | $69,027.00 |
| Sara Rasmussen | $73,437.40 | $1,655.04 | $71,782.36 |
| Susan M (Sue) Carney | $69,755.13 | $31,719.13 | $38,036.00 |
| Stephen Trimble | $67,339.94 | $66,308.70 | $1,031.24 |
| Marna Sanford | $63,450.76 | $62,634.74 | $816.02 |
| James Kaufman | $61,218.11 | $8,494.54 | $52,723.57 |
| Robert H Myers Jr | $60,294.64 | $60,294.64 | $0.00 |
| Calvin Schrage | $48,067.60 | $45,952.79 | $2,114.81 |
| Suzanne LaFrance | $44,747.47 | $44,434.98 | $312.49 |
| Mel Gillis | $43,724.64 | $10,651.00 | $33,073.64 |
| Elizabeth Ferguson | $36,015.34 | $35,105.21 | $910.13 |
| Adam Wool | $35,944.18 | $35,072.53 | $871.65 |
| Kevin McKinley | $32,123.43 | $32,123.43 | $0.00 |
| Katherine J Henslee (Kathy) | $24,664.60 | $24,664.60 | $0.00 |
| Daniel H Ortiz (Dan) | $24,563.47 | $13,340.78 | $11,222.69 |
| Bart LeBon | $23,592.00 | $4,900.00 | $18,692.00 |
| Lyn Diane Franks | $17,010.42 | $15,681.32 | $1,329.10 |
| Chris Tuck | $10,729.53 | $662.93 | $10,066.60 |
| Andy Holleman | $8,493.35 | $7,956.87 | $536.48 |
| Julia Hnilicka | $5,899.51 | $5,539.94 | $359.57 |
| Roger Holland | $5,817.41 | $0.00 | $5,817.41 |
| Romano D. DiBenedetto | $5,588.63 | $5,588.63 | $0.00 |
| Carl Johnson | $5,563.47 | $4,843.07 | $720.40 |
| Christopher Quist | $4,859.63 | $4,500.06 | $359.57 |
| Tracey Wollenberg | $4,320.72 | $4,320.72 | $0.00 |
| Matthew Casey Christian | $4,086.98 | $4,086.98 | $0.00 |
| Leslie Becker | $3,600.00 | $0.00 | $3,600.00 |
| Yvonne Lamoureux | $3,144.87 | $3,144.87 | $0.00 |
| Josh Revak | $2,704.91 | $100.00 | $2,604.91 |
| Ben Carpenter | $2,500.00 | $2,500.00 | $0.00 |
| Ivy A Spohnholz | $1,985.37 | $918.74 | $1,066.63 |
| Bill Wielechowski | $1,774.97 | $1,238.49 | $536.48 |
| Leslie Dickson | $1,444.71 | $1,444.71 | $0.00 |
| Harriet A. Drummond | $1,342.39 | $925.74 | $416.65 |
| Andrew L. "Andy" Josephson | $1,321.74 | $905.09 | $416.65 |
| Elijah Verhagen | $1,278.50 | $1,278.50 | $0.00 |
| Matt Claman | $1,239.76 | $816.75 | $423.01 |
| Grier Hopkins | $1,187.50 | $827.93 | $359.57 |
| Geran Tarr | $1,160.54 | $743.89 | $416.65 |
| William Z "Zack" Fields | $1,160.54 | $743.89 | $416.65 |
| Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins | $1,148.46 | $788.89 | $359.57 |
| Tom Begich | $1,103.47 | $743.90 | $359.57 |
| Andrea "Andi" Story | $1,103.46 | $743.89 | $359.57 |
| Sara Hannan | $1,103.46 | $743.89 | $359.57 |
| Tiffany Zulkosky | $1,103.46 | $743.89 | $359.57 |
| Gloria Susan Levi | $967.98 | $901.38 | $66.60 |
| Keith Kurber | $580.00 | $580.00 | $0.00 |
| Michael Franciosi | $530.51 | $530.51 | $0.00 |
| Jeremiah Youmans | $359.57 | $0.00 | $359.57 |
| Mike Risinger | $359.57 | $0.00 | $359.57 |
| Paul D. Dale | $359.57 | $0.00 | $359.57 |
| George Rauscher | $100.00 | $100.00 | $0.00 |
| Paul A. Roetman | $50.00 | $50.00 | $0.00 |
| Natasha Von Imhof | $2.60 | $0.00 | $2.60 |
Not just a great system, the best system
You’ll notice that not all the people being targeted by independent expenditures are legislative candidates. Near the top is Alaska Supreme Court Justice Susan Carney, who’s been the target of about $69,755.13 in spending: $38,036.00 from conservative groups opposing her retention and $31,719.13 from those supporting her retention.
The conservative pushback is just the latest attempt to attack the independence and integrity of Alaska’s judicial system. Conservatives have long chafed at Alaska’s system of appointing and retaining judges, driven by the nonpartisan Alaska Judicial Council that uses a merit-driven system to evaluate potential judges and recommend whether they should keep their seats.
The Alaska Judicial Council recommends voters retain Carney this year, along with every other judge on the ballot. And let’s be clear here, Alaska’s judicial system is not just far better than other states, it’s considered the best. Alaska ranks at the top of the country when it comes to judicial accountability from the Center for Public Integrity.
We’re probably preaching to the early voting choir here, but we recommend voting to retain every judge, including Justice Carney.
What do they even care about anyways?
That’s all I could think about this week as the U.S. Senate—Alaska’s Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan included—voted to confirm Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barret and then adjourn, leaving town without passing another much-needed round of covid-19 aid.
That’s what I thought as Gov. Mike Dunleavy praised the move and continued his unconvincing mission of claiming the covid-19 pandemic is no big deal as the daily rate of cases has exceeded 300 with the positivity rate spiking into scary territory throughout the state. Alaska’s done a great job protecting the most vulnerable, he claimed as the state announced new cases in the Alaska Psychiatric Institute, joining other high-risk facilities like the Alaska Pioneer Homes, McLaughlin Youth Center, state prisons and homeless shelters.
The virus is hitting minority populations at a rate far higher than the national average.
Alaska is poised to be deeply scarred by covid-19 as decisions made today become unreversible tomorrow.
We wrote about it last week after talking with economist Mouhcine Guettabi and the general takeaway is that it’s much easier and much less costly to do preventative measures now rather than later. It’s easier and cheaper to keep people in their homes, keep businesses open and people away from bankruptcies.
Alaska’s in desperate need of just an ounce of leadership from its state leaders, but we’ll need to wait until next week to see if the governor can be bothered to push to renew the state’s disaster declaration.
Instead, it’s Anchorage Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson who’s stepping up with a clear message that compassion is what’s needed to help Alaska through this and that it’s not some false choice between individual health and a healthy economy. Wear a mask so everyone can stay open, she argues.
Meanwhile, Dunleavy is using his statewide platform to wonder if masks really work, claiming that the truth is somewhere between the virus is real and the virus isn’t real. “It is real in the sense that it does exist,” he said.
It also should be noted that only a small fraction of the economic downturn can be linked to government intervention. Consumers’ voluntary decisions to avoid potentially risky situations, stay home and save money is a much larger contributor to the problem and not something that will be fixed by lifting the existing public health measures. Economists worry lifting them, especially with cases on the rise, would only contribute to the worsening economic pain.
Or, as fellow economist Kevin Berry said at a briefing this week: “Human life has value.”
If only our current elected leaders could understand that.
Guest comics!
Thanks to reader TiGer, who sent along a bunch of editorial cartoons this week:
2021 session
The Legislative Council voted this week to renew the health procedures they had at the end of this year’s session for the start of the next session. It limits access to the capital to only legislators, staff and media in the building. It would also require masks or face shields for folks in the building.
It’s a reminder that, oh yeah, we have a legislative session coming up just as cases are getting bad but it also comes with a big ol’ asterisk that all of this planning is 100% reliant on the new slate of legislators approving it.
Happy Halloween, everyone
David Rose strongly supports better candidates, increased accountability and more power put in the hands of Alaskans. Join him in voting Yes on Ballot Measure 2. pic.twitter.com/LGidEyMmJi
— Andrew Halcro (@AndrewHalcro) October 30, 2020
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