GOP victories chalked up to cash, party leadership

ANCHORAGE - It was 7 p.m. on election night. The polls wouldn't close for another hour. But in a littered back-room office at Frank Murkowski's campaign headquarters, state Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich could smell victory.

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In the hall outside, upbeat Murkowski supporters were eating shrimp and uncorking red wine. But Ruedrich was focused on the legislative races, where victory would mean continued Republican dominance of the Legislature.

"It will be very close," he said, referring to the Fairbanks state Senate race between conservative Republican Ralph Seekins and five-term Democratic state Rep. John Davies.

As the votes poured in, Ruedrich proved correct. Murkowski won big, Seekins defeated Davies and three other close races went Republican. Not since Wally Hickel took office in 1966 has a Republican governor in Alaska held majorities in the House and Senate.

"I'm not a bit surprised," Ruedrich said the next day.

The Republicans' success is due to a cluster of reasons, observers say, including Murkowski's strong campaign and heavy advertising from anonymous pro-Republican soft money groups.

But an undeniable factor is Ruedrich's party.

Ruedrich, a retired Arco oil engineer, took over as GOP boss in June 2000. A former libertarian, he hails from the far right wing of the party. One of his goals, he says, is the most conservative possible Republican for each district.

Following the disastrous Republican campaign for governor in 1998, many people think Ruedrich brought discipline and organization to the party this year. He led efforts in newly drawn legislative districts widely viewed as Democrat-friendly.

"It's the best-organized machinery I've seen in the 10 years I've been in the Legislature," said Rep. Pete Kott of Eagle River, the new Republican House speaker. "Everybody recognized that with Murkowski as governor we had a great opportunity and we went for it."

But Ruedrich is not without detractors.

He has been known to criticize moderate Republicans, such as Anchorage Rep. Andrew Halcro. In pressing the party's agenda, Ruedrich has encouraged a trend toward negative politics in the state, Democrats say.

Party fund raising began almost two years ago and all Republicans in contested races got at least a few thousand dollars from the party, Ruedrich said. In especially tight contests, such as the Fairbanks race between Republican Seekins and Democrat Davies, the party dumped in the maximum $15,000.

Aside from giving Seekins cash, they went on the offensive against Davies with advertisements attacking Davies' support at one time for using Permanent Fund earnings for state government. They followed up with ads questioning Davies' votes against a resolution to ban flag burning and against a bill explicitly criminalizing the spread of AIDS.

The onslaught caught Davies by surprise, he said. He had gotten only $250 from his party. Davies claims the ads distorted his positions.

"If he had beat me on the issues, I'd congratulate him. I don't have a lot of respect for (Seekins) right now," Davies said.

Republicans mounted similar concentrated efforts in four other Senate races, including Juneau's. The Republicans gave at least several thousand dollars to candidates.

"Party money made the difference in a lot of these races," said Kott, the House majority leader.

About two weeks before Election Day, the Republican Party also took a direct role in Murkowski's race for governor by attacking Democrat Fran Ulmer on television and through the mail. Ulmer's campaign manager, Jim Nordland, said the party money hurt.

"Where we got swamped was the Republican Party spending," he said.

Ashley Reed, a Democratic lobbyist who supported Murkowski, said Republican efforts were successful because they dovetailed with other currents in the election.

"This was a star-studded headline for the Republican Party," Reed said. "They played their cards well."

Distributed by the Associated Press.