Senate hopeful stops to stump in Wrangell

Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Dan Sullivan visited Wrangell Thursday as part of a broader tour of Southeast Alaska.

"We're on a pretty big Southeast tour," he explained, visiting Ketchikan and Petersburg before moving on to Fairbanks and Barrow.

Early in the day, Sullivan visited Wrangell's Marine Service Center, which he seemed impressed with during an interview before his evening meet-and-greet at the Stikine Inn restaurant.

"That looks like a really impressive job creator," he commented, saying it was one of the examples of economic progress he sees as cause for optimism in the state.

But his campaign message is not solely one of optimism. As he prepares for his Nov. 4 election bid to unseat Sen. Mark Begich, Sullivan appeared focused on the problems he feels government poses.

"What I always like to talk about, which is something that I think most Alaskans share, is a country that's fundamentally heading in the wrong direction," he said. In particular he points to federal regulations as hindering the state's economic and energy potential.

"It is a common theme that people are just being smothered in regulations and reports."

Favoring a loosening of regulation on the federal level, Sullivan said more of an effort should instead go toward supporting lower costing sources of energy like natural gas by investing in the state's infrastructure and opening up further opportunity to develop those resources.

"It's a bit of an irony that we're such a great, resource-rich state, but in our coastal communities and our rural communities we pay such high, high costs of energy," he observed.

"It's not just spending, it's how long these projects take because of federal permitting that essentially goes on, seemingly forever," Sullivan continued. He cited lawsuits and the US Forest Service Roadless Rule as examples of bureaucratic headaches.

While in Wrangell, the former state attorney general and Department of Natural Resources commissioner made a number of stops, paying visits to City Hall, Wrangell Medical Center, the Chief Shakes Island house and the local public schools.

"To me, a lot of campaigning is certainly giving your ideas and your views and your thoughts," he explained. "But what we did most of today was listening."

Among issues Sullivan said he heard most from voters were those related to federal oversight and national security, including foreign policy.

Regarding local concerns about mining ventures near transboundary waters in neighboring British Columbia, Sullivan said he favors taking a more direct approach.

"To be honest, I think it's an area where I could make a significant impact," citing his experience as an assistant secretary of state for economic and business affairs under former President George W. Bush's administration.

"We should be able to have a role in the permitting of these mines," he said, adding that we ought to expect greater transparency in Canada's permitting process. "Face-to-face advocacy and diplomacy are how you make this stuff happen."