We Found the Worst Candidate in Alaska!
Goodness knows, Alaska is a veritable banquet table of bad Republican entrees this cycle. But we think we may have found the worst – the Jell-O salad with liverwurst of candidates.
David Nelson May Be the Worst Candidate Ever
Just have to say. This 23-year old recent Florida transplant, who has lived in the district the exact minimum amount of time necessary to run for office, is lacking in just about everything but gall.
Let’s start here:
Lying about military service
The Official Election Pamphlet (OEP) is mailed out by the Division of Elections before every election and includes information about all the candidates. Not being included in the OEP is BAD because it’s the main source of information for a lot of voters, and it also means you couldn’t get your first homework assignment turned in on time.
When you look at the OEP and open to House District 15 (East Anchorage/Muldoon/JBER), you’ll see candidate Lyn Franks on one side, and… just a map on the other side. That’s because David Nelson missed the deadline.
Here’s where it gets interesting.
Nelson is fond of boasting that he’s had “77 days of active duty in the National Guard.” He mentions it all the time.
The law says you can’t campaign for office and be on active duty at the same time. So Nelson sent out a ‘cover his butt’ mailer to the district claiming that he missed the deadline to get in the pamphlet only because it fell during his “77 days of active duty” and he wasn’t allowed to campaign.
One problem with that giant whopper^^.
The deadline was July 22. But Nelson’s own Facebook shows him traipsing around town, putting up signs, and doing videos as he walks his district, campaigning. And they were posted all throughout June and July. Do the math.
He wasn’t on active duty at all – he just blew the deadline and blamed his military service to cover it up. Here’s a visual explainer:
Not cool for someone whose constituents live on and around JBER. The military generally frowns on lying about military service to cover your own ineptitude.
But wait, there’s more! Now, Nelson has sent ANOTHER mailer that puts the lie at the center of his campaign!
“Service before Politics?” Really? David Nelson literally put politics before his service, and lied about it.
If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. And again. And again…..and again?
David Nelson can’t seem to get anything right. When it comes to election ads, Facebook keeps track of any advertisements which are removed from Facebook and tells us why.
Back in May, David Nelson had a problem. He got the mandatory disclaimer that goes at the bottom of political ads wrong.
Oops. Lesson learned, right?
Nope. Nelson proceeded to make that same mistake again in June.
Surely, this time…
Nope. July.
Twice.
And twice more in August.
And in September.
Aaaaaand yes, October. A lot in October.
I know what you’re thinking, and it’s NOT “Hey, this guy really has his act together! Let’s send him to Juneau to make laws!”
Deer in the Headlights
And if you need a third strike to call this guy out, his performance in the TV debate on Alaska Public Media is now a classic. Asked basic questions about the budget, about whether we ought to find out more about the governor’s cover-up of the (now former) Attorney General and his harassment of a junior staffer, and about everything else he should know, his answer was a resounding. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
This video pretty much sums it up.
If you’re a glutton for punishment and want to watch the full half hour of awkward, here’s the link. But one of the highlights is this:
When asked how he would close the more than $1 billion budget deficit in the state, which would rise to almost $2.5 billion if a full PFD is paid out, and given one minute to respond, his complete answer was:
“I’m not going to take anything off the table. I’m going to take a deep look at all the departments in Alaska.” … (that’s it)
Nothing like a candidate who can really dive into the weeds on important issues.
It’s kind of amazing this guy can even tie his shoes. And remember – the last Republican in the district has now been charged with felony voter misconduct! This district needs a break.Don’t Muldoon and JBER deserve a representative who has some integrity? We think so.
Pruitt Blewit
Speaking of beleaguered East Anchorage, House Republican Minority Leader Lance Pruitt seems to be unravelling at the seams. Not only did he blow off the Running debates rather than have to answer questions, he shared this tweet the other day.
Looks like it’s ‘opposite day’ in East Anchorage again! Either that or Lance Pruitt is somehow unaware of the very Twitter account he used to post this. Because a couple days before that^^, he created and posted this little gem.
Yep, he has more than once stalked his opponent’s house taking pictures of her campaign bus (and her family) to share on social media with creepy comments. Good, clean campaign? Not so much.
You’d think since his wife, MaryAnn Pruitt (who’s making a cool $15k a month as the governor’s communications person) would mean he was getting better advice about how to behave.
But boy oh boy, the Alaska Twitterverse let him have it!
And this guy stands to be Speaker of the House if the Republicans take the majority this election.
Fortunately this East Anchorage district has a great candidate too, and her campaign has been a fundraising and enthusiasm juggernaut. Check out Dr. Liz Snyder’s website HERE. Time to give Lance Pruitt his long overdue walking papers!
The C Team Strikes Again!
Meanwhile in House District 23, right-wing Kathy Henslee who won her primary by only a few votes is running against long-term stalwart Democrat Chris Tuck and would like you to believe she’s the candidate who can handle our budget and financial woes.
If you were hiring someone for the job, would you trust a candidate who purports to know about fiscal management when they can’t even spell ‘fiscal?’ The Republicans are really rolling out the C Team this year!
‘CHINA!’
And just in case you missed it, the same week we found out about Donald Trump’s secret Chinese bank account, we learned that Dan Sullivan has his own China ties in the form of manufacturing in China done by the Sullivan family’s toxic chemical company. Seems that Sullivan has been using his senatorial clout to push and vote for policies that help Republic Powdered Metals’ bottom line, while simultaneously owning $5 million in stock in that very company.
And this week we wonder how he’s going to vote on the upcoming Supreme Court appointment of Amy Coney Barrett after saying this (below) in 2016.
Let’s see how fast Dan Sullivan abandons his “principles” to prop up Donald Trump.
THE KOCH BROTHERS ARE IN ALASKA
We’re in the last two weeks before election deadline, and if you think your donation won’t matter any more, think again! As a matter of fact, the Koch Brothers’ main political group has just dumped a bucketload of money ($150,000) into state campaigns INCLUDING THE ONES ABOVE. I kid you not. David Nelson, Lance Pruitt, Kathy Henslee, plus Mel Gillis and Sara Rasmussen have all received the money they weren’t able to raise themselves, and are now paying people to do what they couldn’t find volunteers to do.
Notice a theme? These are all Anchorage Republicans who are WAY far out of the mainstream for their districts – and we have great candidates running against them who could use a little boost in these last days.
If you want to fight back and keep these train wrecks out of Juneau, donate HERE to help digital campaigns and get-out-the-vote efforts, or fill out a volunteer form HERE. Every day is important and the last 2 weeks matter a whole lot. The Koch Brothers know it and so do we!
*This article is reposted with permission from the AK Democratic Party