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Palin Files Paperwork to Run in Alaska US House Race

Sarah Palin on Friday shook up an already unpredictable race for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat, filing paperwork to join a field of at least 40 candidates seeking to fill the seat that had been held for 49 years by the late-U.S. Rep. Don Young, who died last month.

Palin filed paperwork Friday with a Division of Elections office in Wasilla, said Tiffany Montemayor, a division spokesperson. The paperwork was being processed by the division, she said.

The field includes current and former state legislators and a North Pole city council member named Santa Claus. The deadline to file was 5 p.m. Friday. A final list of official candidates was not yet available.

“Public service is a calling, and I would be honored to represent the men and women of Alaska in Congress, just as Rep. Young did for 49 years,” Palin said in a statement on social media. “I realize that I have very big shoes to fill, and I plan to honor Rep. Young’s legacy by offering myself up in the name of service to the state he loved and fought for, because I share that passion for Alaska and the United States of America.”

Palin is a former Alaska governor and was the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee. She has kept a low profile in Alaska politics since leaving office in 2009, before her term as governor ended.

Young, a Republican, had held Alaska’s House seat since 1973 and was seeking reelection at the time of his death last month at age 88.

A special primary is set for June 11. The top four vote-getters will advance to an Aug. 16 special election in which ranked choice voting will be used, a process in line with a new elections system approved by voters in 2020.

The winner will serve the remainder of Young’s term, which expires in January. The division is targeting Sept. 2 to certify the special election.

Others who filed Friday include Republican state Sen. Josh Revak; Democratic state Rep. Adam Wool; independent Al Gross, an orthopedic surgeon who unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate in 2020; and Andrew Halcro, a former Republican state lawmaker who is running as an independent. They join a field that includes Republican Nick Begich, who had positioned himself as a challenger to Young; Democrat Christopher Constant, an Anchorage Assembly member; and John Coghill, a Republican former state lawmaker.

Revak, who previously worked for Young’s office and was a statewide co-chair for Young’s reelection bid, said he felt a “strong calling and a duty” to step forward.

He said he was “heartbroken” by the filing timeline, coinciding with a period he said should be focused on remembering Young.

Young lay in state at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday. A public memorial was held in the Washington, D.C., area on Wednesday and a public memorial is planned in Anchorage on Saturday.

Revak said he also plans to run in the regular primary for U.S. House. Palin filed paperwork to run in the special and regular primaries as well, Montemayor said.

The August special election will coincide with the regular primary. The regular primary and November general election will determine who represents Alaska in the House for a two-year term starting in January.

Gross also plans to run in both the special and regular elections. His campaign announced a leadership team that includes several Republicans and independents, as well as Democrats, including former Gov. Tony Knowles.

“We are building a campaign that embodies all of Alaska,” Gross said in a statement.

Wool said he has privately discussed a run for years. He said he looked at the candidates running in the special primary and “wasn’t that impressed. Many of them have never won an election, don’t have any statewide recognition and politically aren’t aligned certainly not with me or what I would think the majority of Alaskans are looking for.”

Wool, from Fairbanks, said he considers himself moderate. He said he has yet to decide whether to run in the regular primary.

Halcro, who has a podcast on which he talks politics, said during the campaign he plans to play up his intent to only run to fill the remainder of the term. He said if the person who wins the special election also is in the November general election, he expects they would spend a fair amount of time campaigning. He said if elected, he would be focused on congressional work.

Meanwhile, a man who years ago legally changed his name to Santa Claus and serves on the North Pole city council also filed with the state Division of Elections for the special primary. Claus, who said he has a “strong affinity” for Bernie Sanders, is running as an independent.

He said he is not soliciting or raising money. He said the new elections process “gives people like me an opportunity, without having to deal with parties, to throw our hat in the ring.”

“I do have name recognition,” he said with a laugh.
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Biden Proposes Raising Taxes on Super Wealthy Americans

In his new budget, U.S. President Joe Biden has proposed a 20 percent minimum tax on households with a net worth of more than $100 million. The proposal highlights the debate over what the government should do about the soaring fortunes of the wealthiest Americans. VOA’s Laurel Bowman reports.
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Trump Son-in-Law Kushner Testifies in Capitol Riot Probe

Former White House aide Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of former U.S. President Donald Trump, answered questions Thursday from the House panel investigating last year’s assault on the Capitol. 

Kushner, the highest-ranking Trump adviser and the first family member to testify so far, appeared in private by video link voluntarily and was not subpoenaed. 

The House of Representatives committee is piecing together a detailed account of the events of the January 6 insurrection itself, but also of efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and the misinformation campaign falsely claiming widespread fraud that led to the violence.  

Kushner was returning from Saudi Arabia on the day of January 6 and did not spend the night at the White House upon his return to the United States.  

Committee member Elaine Luria told MSNBC after Kushner’s appearance that he “was able to voluntarily provide information to us, to verify and substantiate his own take” on the election. 

“It was really valuable to have the opportunity to speak to him,” she said. 

Texts from justice’s wife

Kushner’s testimony caps an intense period of almost daily revelations from the investigation. 

It was revealed last week that conservative political activist Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, sent more than two dozen texts pushing wild conspiracy theories and urging then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to help overturn the 2020 election. 

Kushner’s name appeared in a message from Thomas dated November 13, 2020, when she told Meadows, “Just forwarded to yr gmail an email I sent Jared this am … improved coordination now will help the cavalry come and Fraud exposed and America saved.” 

It also emerged that White House logs given to investigators from the day of the insurrection show a gap of nearly eight hours in Trump’s records of calls, including the period covering the violence. 

The committee is investigating whether it has the full record and if Trump communicated that day through phones of aides or personal disposable “burner” phones. 

The select committee has also asked for testimony from Kushner’s wife, Ivanka Trump, who was in the White House on January 6 and pleaded with her father to speak out against the violence, according to reports.  

No executive privilege

The White House said on Tuesday it would reject any assertion of executive privilege, which allows presidents to keep certain work-related conversations with aides private — from Kushner or Ivanka Trump.   

The committee is approaching the end of its investigative phase and is planning public hearings this spring.   

The parallel but separate Department of Justice probe “has expanded to examine the preparations for the rally that preceded the riot,” including those who “assisted in planning, funding and executing” the event, The Washington Post reported.
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