I suppose I wasn’t surprised to see the endorsement by Gov. Bill Walker of candidate Chris Dimond. Although both Walker and Dimond profess to be independents, the support of Dimond by local Republican leaders would certainly make him more attractive to Walker, who was a Republican before he ran as an independent.
A quick scan of Dimond’s Alaska Public Offices Commission campaign finance report shows that the current chair of the Republican Women of Juneau is a Dimond supporter, as is the GOP’s current state finance chair and a plethora of highly-placed members of the Alaska Republican Party (check it out at http://www.doa.alaska.gov/apoc/).
When interviewed by Juneau Empire reporter James Brooks, Dimond was asked if he was a “shadow Republican.” He said “emphatically no,” and said leaned “center left.” Hard to believe someone who leans left would appeal to so many well-known Juneau Republicans.
As an active and committed Democrat, I will cast my vote for Sara Hannan, a Democrat who supports education, civil rights for all Alaskans, a defined benefit retirement system for public employees, and good jobs for working people.
I know where Hannan stands. It’s not with a Republican-led House majority. We desperately need a backstop to Republicans who support doing away with Medicare expansion and who are happy to slash education funding in favor of road-to-nowhere projects. And Hannan will follow in the footsteps of women legislators Fran Ulmer and Beth Kerttula who have done Juneau proud.
I urge everyone in District 33 to vote for Sara Hannan, someone whose political persuasion is not in question.
Kimberly Metcalfe,
Juneau
• My turns and letters to the editor represent the views of the author, not that of the Juneau Empire.