Dan's Dispatch

It has come to my attention in recent days that groups from outside our district and outside Alaska have started to send out negative ads against me. Judging from where this effort is coming from, I take it in stride.

As your state representative, my only goal is to be your

voice in the legislature. Residents of District 36 know that I actively request input from every side of every issue, and I listen to everyone.

My goal has never been to appease big oil or the Railbelt, especially when their desires are in conflict with the needs of Southern Southeast. That being said, I am curious as to how these outside groups could possibly know what’s in the best interest for Southern Southeast Alaska.

This smear campaign is bankrolled by the Accountability Project, an Anchorage PAC funded by the oil industry and Washington, D.C. This is not the first time they have spent money in Southeast: in 2012, they went after our Republican Senator Bert Stedman. Scott Hawkins, Treasurer of ‘Southeast Voters’ for Sivertsen and chair of the Accountability Project, went as far as to characterize Senator Stedman as part of the “far left crowd” (Mauer, http://www.adn.com/alaska-news/article/dc-super-pac-delivers-big-anchorage-business-group/2012/11/02/).  It’s no wonder then that he also claims I lean left, despite the fact that I refuse to vote for unbalanced budgets or blank checks for oil companies: in my time as your legislator my voting record is very similar to Senator Stedman’s. In fact, the American Conservative Union rates me higher than any other Representative from southeast, including Cathy Munoz, a Republican.

There is no baiting,

and no switching, despite what my opponent has stated and these negative mailers have reiterated. I have been and will continue to be honest and transparent with you, because this job is not meant to be done behind closed doors. I represent District 36 and all of its residents. I will always take your call, and my office has always kept an open-door policy for the residents of District 36.