I’m a Candidate for the U.S. Senate because I’m Running for Alaska

Many of us remember when Alaska was prosperous and safe, and opportunity abounded. That was when my parents moved here. My dad became a union electrician and my mom helped start up Prudhoe Bay. Life was hard at times—my parents were even homeless and living in a tent for a while. But they instilled Alaska values in me, fought their way to the middle class, and changed the course of our family for generations to come.

In the nearly 20 years Lisa Murkowski has been our U.S. senator, our oil and gas jobs have died, our education scores have plummeted, and our crime rates have soared. While Lisa Murkowski has voted with the liberal D.C. insiders, hurting our way of life, we Alaskans have felt forgotten. That is why I am running as a Republican challenger for the U.S. Senate in 2022—I am running for Alaska.

I want to be a voice for the forgotten Alaskans who feel like DC insiders are not listening to them—for the men and women in oil and gas whose jobs are in jeopardy, for the children who are not getting the education they deserve, and for the women and youth who are victims of sexual abuse and human trafficking.

As your next senator, I will rebuild our economy and fight to protect the jobs of the thousands of Alaskans who work in our energy industry. We need a senator who will defend us against the leftists who want to shut down our oil and gas production and destroy our way of life. We must support and rejuvenate our small businesses and give our young people hope that they can find good jobs here at home, instead of leaving to find employment elsewhere.

I will be a strong voice in opposition to illegal immigration and, as the proud descendant of Americans who fought in virtually every major American conflict from the Revolutionary War to the Vietnam War, I will be a tireless advocate for our military and our veterans. I will fight to preserve our 2nd Amendment right to bear arms and, as an unapologetically pro-life Alaska Conservative, I will be a voice for the unborn. And I’m for America first, always.

We Alaskans have seen what happens when politicians get too comfortable and become part of the D.C. establishment – they forget that the seats they hold belong not to themselves but to the people who elected them. Lisa Murkowski’s father, Frank Murkowski, gave her his Senate seat when he was elected governor. As a result, there has been a Murkowski in the Senate since the first year of the Reagan Administration. It is time to replace Lisa with an Alaskan who is not a D.C. insider politico, and who understands she works for and serves the people of Alaska.

Lisa Murkowski has abandoned us, declaring it with every vote and action she has taken against Alaska’s interests. Consider: She enabled Joe Biden’s radical “green” agenda to end drilling and kill Alaska jobs. She voted to allow illegal immigrants to remain in the country, and she voted against commonsense judges who protect constitutional rights. She voted to keep Obamacare in place, leading to higher costs and fewer health care choices for Alaskans.

The last straw for many was her vote to remove President Trump from office, even though his term already had expired. For that particular display of poor judgment, she was censured by Alaska’s Republican Party.

Alaskans will never have to wonder where my loyalties and interests are: They are right here.

I was born and raised Alaskan. I am not a senator’s daughter—I watched my parents struggle to make their mortgage payments for years, much like how countless Alaskans are struggling today. After graduating from Steller Secondary School in Anchorage, I fought to be first in my family to pursue a college degree and attend law school. Then I went to work exposing fraud and abuse in government, improving outcomes and results, and saving taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.

I am grateful to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who appointed me Commissioner of the Department of Administration, where I served the people of Alaska from January 2019 until I stepped down when I decided to run. And I thank God for my wonderful husband, Niki, and our five beautiful children, who strongly support me in this decision.

The coming election presents a unique opportunity to chart a new course for Alaska. We deserve a Senator who remembers us, and who believes the Senate seat she holds is of, by, and for the people of Alaska.

It is time we had a U.S. Senator who represents Alaska to Washington, D.C., rather than one who represents D.C. insiders to Alaska.

Kelly Tshibaka

Anchorage, AK

To all members of the Alaska House and Senate

The Alaska Coalition for Justice (ACJ) is a statewide network of advocacy organizations, direct service providers, and nonprofits formed in the summer of 2020 in response to ongoing police brutality. We are collaborating to transform Alaska’s public safety system by ending racial and systemic injustice, seeking accountability, and eradicating harm from our criminal justice and policing systems. We are Alaskans with decades of knowledge and experience in criminal justice, health and wellness, and community organizing working to end systems of oppression impacting Black, Indigenous, people of color (BIPOC), and other marginalized communities. We are writing to express our opposition to Treg Taylor’s confirmation as Alaska’s Attorney General.

ACJ is following up on a letter we sent to Governor Dunleavy when his administration’s first Attorney General, AG Clarkson, resigned in disgrace due to sexual misconduct. At the time, we urged the Governor that, in order to adequately address the high rates of sexual assault in this state as well as within the highest levels of his administration, he should appoint a woman and/or person of color as Attorney General.

Instead, the letter to the Governor went unanswered and he appointed Ed Sniffen, who has since resigned due to sexual misconduct with a high schooler.

In the House Judiciary Committee on March 15th, Mr. Taylor claimed that Mr. Clarkson was “a good friend” and “an honorable man”. In the same Committee on March 19th, Mr. Taylor again defended Mr. Clarkson, claiming that none of us should be judged on our worst day.

In doing so, Mr. Taylor plainly announced complicity with sexual predators. Mr. Clarkson did not send 558 text messages in one day–rather, his actions demonstrate patterns of abusing power and sexual exploitation. Rather than hold Mr. Clarkson accountable, Mr. Taylor has boldly sought to cover up his former colleague’s actions.

On Tuesday, March 16th, a white supremacist killed six Asian-American women, and Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Jay Baker said that the mass murderer’s excuse was that he was ‘having a bad day’. This type of rhetoric is used to absolve and forgive predators, murders, and white supremacists in positions of power, while women, communities of color, and other marginalized communities are left to bear burdens of violence without ever seeing accountability.

While defending sexual predators, Mr. Taylor has announced his so-called sincere desire to prioritize addressing the sexual violence crisis that Alaska faces, without any concrete plans of how to do so. He is either unable or unwilling to make the connection between his former colleagues predacious, harmful behaviors that share the same root as the current sexual violence crisis that Alaska faces.

In addition to Mr. Taylor posing a threat to Alaskans vulnerable to sexual violence through his inaction and complicity, he is unfit to serve as the State’s top legal officer, as his conduct while in the Department of Law has not been honorable or ethical.

Mr. Taylor has actively colluded to circumvent ethics statutes clearly detailed in Alaska’s laws as they relate to written waiver mandates for certain conflicts of interest and Mr. Ben Stevens. From his testimony, Mr. Taylor seems to not understand the law, though it is quite clear. Indeed, Mr. Taylor admitted in his testimony that Stevens would likely encounter issues during his tenure that would pose a conflict. It is exactly for this reason that individuals leaving state service, even in other cases with far less potential for serious conflict, are either required to wait two years or to affirmatively demonstrate–with their department head (in this case, Governor Dunleavy) and AG’s approval–why their new position would not pose a conflict through a written waiver.

This process is key to ensuring that particular State employees are acting in the public’s best interest, and not being influenced by financial prospects of a lucrative job–and not creating market imbalances through their use of privileged and confidential information.

Before serving as acting Attorney General, Treg Taylor was copied on a secret memo from Ben Stevens, suspending AG Clarkson and granting Ed Sniffens the power of the AG—something Stevens did not have the authority to do, and an action that was kept secret from the public for a month, with Governor Dunleavy then claiming he had not heard about Clarkson’s sexual misconduct.

Treg Taylor has only proven that he is fit to serve the individual interests of the Governor and his inner circle, and is willing to do so to the active detriment of the public interest. Governor Dunleavy has failed to restore public trust in government, and failed to adequately address the pressing issues of sexual violence faced by Alaskans. Therefore, we strongly oppose Treg Taylor’s nomination as Attorney General–and any nomination by Governor Dunleavy, until they are a woman and/or a person of color with a commitment to combatting sexual assault.

Alaska Coalition for Justice

Example: 9075434113