DAY FORTY-ONE - ALYSE GALVIN

Oct 9

Day Forty-one | Alyse Galvin | AK at large
778 Sawbuck Patriots | $8366 pledged today | $381,373 donated overall

Team:

First this:

Thank you, Sawbuck Patriots, for all your help! Your support goes incredibly far here in Montana -- where we have organizers in every corner of the state, having the individual conversations that will make this election. Every single day for the next 27 days is crucial in winning this election, and we couldn't do it without you and your support. Thank you once again, from the Big Sky State!

- Bullock for Senate Finance Director Lily Ross

and now THIS, which answers the question "are we accomplishing anything at Sawbucks?"

And now we return to your regularly scheduled programming.

THE SITUATION: Alaska's three cities, Anchorage, Fairbanks, and Juneau, are adding substantial population over the past two decades. And along with that growth comes change - Trump won Alaska 2016 with the lowest winning percentage in recent presidential election history. For the one House seat in Alaska (it's called an At Large seat, for the technically inclined amongst you), polling has seesawed – while the R incumbent has led for much of the race, the D challenger has nosed ahead at times - it's a fluid situation. Handicappers rate this as Lean Republican.

AND, curiously, it’s super-important if there’s one of those Who Won The Presidency constitutional crises that everyone's chatting about – because the 50 state’s delegations to the House of Representatives will make the final decision if certain things go certain ways, says the Constitution. And with only one rep in Alaska (like Delaware, Montana, North and South Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming), the one House rep in those states could be the difference. (Of course, it it all comes to that, we’re all at the brink of hell. But as grandma always said, when you might be headed on an involuntary trip to hell, you should of course pack carefully beforehand.)

(Narrator voice: "Let's pack.")

THE COMPETITION: Don Young is the dean of Congress (the term for the person who's been there the longest) – he’s 87, and has been in Congress long enough to have witnessed three impeachments. He voted yes on Nixon's and Clinton's, but no on Trump's, because of course he didn't. He's also less popular than he used to be; his last three races, his winning percentage has remained under 54%, the lowest in his long history in this seat, and a low number for a House incumbent - especially such a known quantity.

Don Young is quite literally falling apart. He has made homophobic, anti-semitic, racist and anti-science remarks. He's been declining to attend the majority of the debates in the days leading up to the elections, and his fundraising is weaker than an R incumbent's should be. He called COVID-19 "the beer virus." He’s not above dirty tactics – two years ago, during the handshake at the end of a debate, he decided to crush his opponent’s hand so strongly that she pulled back, yelling, “it hurts!” The physical stuff isn't iolated: look for video of that, AND video from two years previous of Young twisting the arm of a congressional staffer who was doing his job and guarding a door. (The national news story that followed forced Young to publicly apologize.) In ’16, Young told his opponent, “don’t touch me. The last guy who touched me ended up on the ground dead.” And he has threatened to bite a fellow congressman. And he’s head-butted a camera. And so on.

AND he lost his leadership positions in his party after being investigated by the FBI for bribery.

He's a peach.

OUR CANDIDATE: Alyse Galvin is a mom of four. The first of her family to graduate from college, she's been a small business owner and public education advocate. (And teacher!) She ran against Young in 2018, and produced the best showing anyone's made against Young since 1990.

Just like our Senate candidate Dr. Al Gross, she's NOT a Democrat, but rather a registered Independent, and has been since '06. I need to be crystal clear about that, as none of us like surprises and all of us expect Democrats on these emails - but she is representing the Democratic Party in this race, and she would caucus with Democrats, just like Senators Sanders and King do. She is keeping a keen focus on AK stances on various issues – she's headlining climate and health care in her campaign, but in ways that fit well with this more conservative state.

She's doing a fine job in fundraising; she's tireless and tough, and THE MATH SAYS SHE CAN WIN.

Sawbuck Patriots, it's go time: click HERE to send $10 (or more!) to Alyse's campaign. Our collective effort will invest $8366 today.

Thank you!

- Alex / www.sawbuckpatriots.com

Alex Clemens

DAY FORTY-ONE - ALYSE GALVIN

Sawbuck Patriots, it's go time: click HERE to send $10 (or more!) to Alyse's campaign. Our collective effort will invest $8366 today.

DAY FORTY-TWO - JON HOADLEY

DAY FORTY - KAMALA AND JOE (AGAIN)

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