With elections at the state and national levels set for November 8, candidates have been busy making the rounds, meeting with constituents and engaging in public debates on policy directions.
In the race for House District 36, Wrangell voters may already be acquainted with sitting Rep. Dan Ortiz and Republican challenger Bob Sivertsen, both of whom were scheduled to debate in town on Wednesday evening. Interviews with the two have already run in the preceding two issues of the Sentinel.
A third candidate is joining them on the ballot this year, with Ketchikan resident Kenneth Shaw running on the Constitution Party ticket. The party is one of the six designated by the state Division of Elections as political groups, as opposed to officially recognized parties. The threshold for the latter designation is to have received at least three percent of votes cast in the last statewide election.
“In a nutshell it’s pretty simple,” Shaw explained of his party. “It’s what I used to think of the Republican Party 60 years ago. We’re a very conservative group that hasn’t given on the issues. We believe in the traditional family, right to privacy, defend what’s essential to liberty.”
A resident of Alaska for the past 14 years, this campaign is Shaw’s first time running for public office.
“I don’t have a lot of political experience, other than I did work for the Republican Party for a while,” he explained. His primary reason for starting a campaign is due to the Legislature’s handling of the budget.
“My biggest reason for running is because we’re not getting what I consider real representation. I’m not talking about just getting what we can for our district, I’m talking state-wide,” he explained. “The two big parties – it’s all party politics anymore, I think – I think people are being left out.
“I thought it was just time to get in there and get people a better choice. To start trying to build up this party that still has strong values and is willing to stick with it, instead of bending with the wind like what I consider the Republican Party and the Democratic Party to be doing right now.”
At a debate held between the local House candidates in Ketchikan last week, Shaw disagreed with their approach to reducing the deficit.
“Both of them are naturally only talking about income taxes now and dipping into the PFD,” he said. “They’re trying to convince people this is the only way to fix this problem. And I do not agree with that. There is another way to deal with it, and that is a little more stringent, actual cuts to the budget, even if it’s total, across the board.”
Shaw wasn’t able to provide a specific amount, but had some ideas on how to bring state spending into line without the addition of new taxes. On the revenue end, he felt there were already plenty of incentives for oil and gas production, but would be supportive of encouraging mining and timber development opportunities.
“I’d like to see all of our resources used; instead of just worrying about whether oil’s going to come up another $10 a barrel so we can survive. That’s crazy,” he said.
“Between a good budget, some across-the-board cuts, and pulling some money from the earnings reserve and inflation-proofing, I believe that would get it under control enough so we can start fine-tuning it. It would give us time to get ahead of the game and move on,” said Shaw. “I’m more willing to do something like that than to do an income tax and take people’s PFDs.”
One of the points of
contention in the campaign between the unaffiliated
and Republican House candidates is whether representation in the ongoing budget negotiations would be more effective within the House Majority or Minority caucuses. Currently, Ortiz caucuses with the Minority.
If elected, Shaw said he expected to caucus along with the Republican Majority, as its views fit more closely with that of his own party. Three other candidates are running this year for House seats on the Constitution Party platform, and Shaw hoped gains between them would help better establish the party in the state.
Shaw chairs the party for District 36, and the campaign is largely self-organized. Due to resource constraints, he said he has not yet been able to visit Wrangell, but would like to before the election.
Summarizing his candidacy, Shaw explained: “I don’t have outside, practical experience in politics. So I’m at a disadvantage there, I’m not going to argue that point. But aside from a really good understanding from having taught it to my own kids for many years, that’s all I really have to work with there,” he said. “I’ve taught so much government and physics, and lived it, and practiced it every day. That’s the only real experience, which I think is really good experience. To be able to say that I know enough about what’s going on and I see the problems well enough, I think that’s going to be really helpful to me.
“I’m really stuck on just the problems that I’m seeing with the budget, and the way it’s being handled, and the attitude of the big parties. The fact that they’re not willing to discuss any serious cuts, reasonable cuts, worries me,” he said. “If they’re not willing to do it, I am. I’d love to get in there and show that it can be done.”
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