Diane Benson to Run for Lieutenant Governor!
18 12 2009
No, not even a blizzard could keep me away from the Bartlett Democratic Club luncheon today. Diane Benson was going to be “announcing her intentions,” which means she decided to run for something, or not run for something, and I wanted to be there to see which it was. She ran against Don Young 2 terms ago, and got 40% of the vote with a lot less money, and a lot less name recognition. It was incredibly impressive. Last time she tried again, but couldn’t defeat Ethan Berkowitz in the primary. And Berkowitz couldn’t defeat Young. So there he still is, stripped of plum committee assignments, looming indictments, $2 million in payments to his lawyers, and crooked as a dog’s hind leg… daring the next contender to knock him off. Rep. Harry Crawford threw his hat in the ring and will be giving it a shot in November. Harry’s a good egg, a hard worker, a bridge builder and a great guy. I have high hopes.
Would Diane go for a third attempt at Young? Or maybe something else… I left work very early so I wouldn’t miss it, which was a good thing since I had to drive about 15 miles an hour the whole way and could barely see the car in front of me. I drove past two major accidents, and a couple cars that slid off into the ditch, but finally – Denny’s – the home of the Bartlett Democratic Club’s weekly luncheon!
I had a nice chat with Rep. Pete Petersen who faces a challenge this November from a “Kodiak Karpetbagger” named Gabrielle LeDoux. She’s well funded, and will be a legally qualified resident of district 19 with 10 days to spare. Timing is everything. Pete had a fundraiser recently, and could really use some of your support before the session starts. He can’t take donations after January 15th, so if you want to throw a few coins in Pete’s stocking this Christmas, we’ll ALL be grateful. He can take in-state and out-of-state donations. Pete is a really decent guy, and a great progressive who I actually knew “in real life” before I started blogging and before he ever ran for office. He’s one of those people you actually want to be in government. So, even if he’s not in your district (or your state for that matter), you’ll be adding to the net sum good of the whole process. I just did, and I liked it!
But back to Diane Benson. She started off witha a great talk about women in politics in Alaska. She noted that despite the fact that Alaskan women lead the nation in rates of professional jobs, we elect few women to executive positions and we have never elected a progressive woman to statewide office. We lack a Women’s Commission in the state, and we have no women’s caucus in the state legislature.
She also spoke at length about her own experience after getting dissed by the Alaska Ear on Sunday. She talked about her experience as a mother, managing a home, directing and overseeing a large number of events for the Arctic Winter Games, a NOW conference, and a huge amount of volunteer work. She has been an outspoken advocate on the issue of violence against women, and has been involved in advocacy, teaching, public speaking, holding workshops and being featured in several publications. She’s taught upper division courses at UAA about Native women surviving violence, and women and social action. She served two terms in the Alaska Native Sisterhood, and served on the board of Healing Racism in Anchorage. She also was featured prominently in the PBS documentary “For the Rights of All” where she played the role (brilliantly) of Alaska Native civil rights pioneer Elizabethe Peratrovich.
I know I’ve missed a lot because my fingers were flying trying to keep up with her many accomplishments. She summed it up well by saying, “Leadership comes from many places.”
~Benson getting the mic from KTUU
She talked about Governor Sean Parnell’s recent moves toward addressing the issue of violence against women in the state, and noted that it was well past time that this became a political issue that got some attention. She noted that Parnell’s plan fails to address the cause. “We don’t just need more arrests and more shelters,” she said. “We need it to stop.” This happens through education, addressing the issues in the open and talking about it, supporting drug and alcohol treatment, addressing wage equity, affordable child care, and good mental health treatment. She also suggested that forming a Women’s Commission is in order. What is good for women is good for society as a whole and everyone benefits.
She talked about our former Commissioner of Public Safety Walt Monegan and his great idea about having teams of judges and law enforcement that work together on sexual assault issues. Restructuring into localized teams improves response times and gets help to victims more quickly.
Then she shared a fact that stunned the room. Anchorage right now has forensic rape kits that it has not tested. Victims do all the things they are supposed to do, samples are taken and they are sitting there unlooked at, untested. The city doesn’t even know how many of these untested kits have been set aside. Why are they not being tested? Lack of funds. What does that say about our priorities?
Palin chose to charge the victims of rape to have their evidence examined and their rape kits tested. We don’t charge the families of murder victims for forensic tests. “How is it just to charge a victim, or to just disregard evidence altogether? Do only those with money have justice? If protection of our citizens is not a fundamental priority, then what is?” Benson asked.
In the 2008 election, she was advised not to talk about these things because she’d be considered a “one issue candidate.” The election cycle before, she was accused of being a “one issue candidate” about veterans’ issues. She was accused of being a “one issue candidate” about the war. All of these are important issues and we need to talk about them.
She talked about how progressives need to really get out there and support women candidates. More than just weighing resumes, we need to find and support sensible, intelligent, thinking women to run for office.
As we neared the end of our time, she confessed, “I wanted Don’s seat so bad, and I still do. I wanted to win that more than anything, and we had a chance. We came close.” But at this point, she noted, she doesn’t have the personal wealth it takes to survive the lengthy campaigning for office for that position. “As much as it pains me, I won’t be seeking to unseat Don Young in 2010.” She noted that Don Young has called her several times since the 2008 election. She also told about how she and Young’s late-wife Lu had become friends. He would say, “Uh-oh. My wife and Diane Benson are friends. Should I be worried?” Then she told us that Don Young had said to her that if she had won the primary, she might very well be sitting in his seat today.
And then, the moment we’d all been waiting for. “I’ve given this a lot of thought,” she said. “People have been saying I’m ‘too green’ in every sense of the word.” With a twinkle in her eye she said, “They think I’m one of those Native women who cares too much about the land and the people.” Then she asked the question, “Would anyone be interested in seeing me as the Lieutenant Governor? Are you willing to step up and put money on the table to see me there?”
The room erupted in applause, and everyone stood. She got almost a full minute of enthusiastic clapping. “I’ll take that as a yes,” she said, smiling.
Welcome to the ring, Diane Benson!
~Diane Benson (D) Candidate for Lt. Governor and Bob Poe (D) Candidate for Governor. If these two end up in office together, we will totally win the “Battle of the Teeth” competition with Governos and Lt. Governors of other states. OK, well… we should start one.
December 18th, 2009 at 5:49 AM
They look nice together. I would contribute to their cause.
December 18th, 2009 at 6:13 AM
this sounds fantastic.
December 18th, 2009 at 6:26 AM
Gabrielle LeDoux?? Sounds like a dancer from a strip bar.
December 18th, 2009 at 6:35 AM
Exciting times in Alaska politics – now you have your work cut out for you. Good luck!
December 18th, 2009 at 6:46 AM
After the gross mis-management of SP, I hope everyone in Alaska understands how important it is to have decent people in government. I have great hopes for Diane and Bob, and will be contributing from here in Texas (if they can accept out of state funding). Bravo!
They can accept a certain amount of out-of-state donations. I don’t think either one is close to the limit. If they go over, those donations would be returned. Thanks for thinking of your fellow Americans on the Last Frontier! :0) AKM
December 18th, 2009 at 6:54 AM
Oh wow. Now THIS is a woman who talks the talk and walks the walk – I don’t see any quittin’ in her resume.
I will happily contribute when I have a few more “pennies” in my wallet.
December 18th, 2009 at 7:02 AM
here’s hoping the people of Alaska get a break and elect good government for their state. and may the folk in the other 49 states get a clue and do the same.
December 18th, 2009 at 7:34 AM
It’s exciting to see Diane run for Lt. Governor. She could do a really good job in this role. I’m not aware of any elected role that Diane has ever been in, so that may hurt her chances at success here, though. Her commitment and involvement in so many important causes and groups helps compensate for that, and hopefully the electorate will recognize those things as pertinent parts of her political resume.
December 18th, 2009 at 7:40 AM
wanted to comment on the Bartlett Democratic Club, too, while we’re at it.
I started attending last summer, and really enjoyed it. The weekly topics are generally very interesting, and informative, and the group of people who attend are really good progressive people who care deeply about social justice. I highly recommend it to everyone in the area. If it’s a really hot topic, the room can fill up too quickly, and they have to close it due to fire codes, and you can be turned away. If more people came regularly, they might need to move it to a larger venue. This one is nice in many ways, because it’s centrally located in midtown, the price of lunch and/or coffee is reasonable, and it’s a casual atmosphere where everyone should feel comfortable. I urge you all to give it a try: Thursdays from noon to 1 PM at the Denny’s at Bragaw & DeBarr. Hope to see you there sometime!
December 18th, 2009 at 7:42 AM
I hope Diane and Bob get to serve the good (and not-so-good) people of AK. Once again, I’m dismayed by the rape kit info. In many states, rape is investigated by homicide detectives; in others (as seen on TV!), sexual assault has its own investigative unit. Either way, it’s taken very seriously. I don’t know what dots need to be connected, but in Republican-dominated states with large populations of native peoples (South Dakota comes to mind instantly), prosecuting sexual assault doesn’t get much priority. Health and peace to all.
December 18th, 2009 at 7:52 AM
Bob Poe and Diane Benson are true Alaskans. They will serve Alaska, and its residents intelligently. Wow! Unfortunately, the Prevo crowd is the one to reckon with. We need to get more people registered, and voting. If everyone helped register one new person and took them to the polls, that could double our efforts.
December 18th, 2009 at 8:03 AM
I don’t even live in AK, but I know more about AK politics now than I do about my own state …. and I care. I think I would contribute to the candidacies of these two people. Good luck Alaska. And what a nice Christmas present this is to know that these two are running for Gov/Lt. Gov.
December 18th, 2009 at 8:10 AM
Diane is an impressive candidate for Lt. Governor- I hope other states pick caring, informed candidates also. too.
December 18th, 2009 at 8:15 AM
On KINY online news:
“LeDoux denied a chance to run as Democrat for Anchorage House seat
Alaska democrats are happy to not have a candidate running in East Anchorage.
The State Division of Elections this week found that Gabrielle LeDoux is not eligible to run for state house in District 19 in Muldoon.
LeDoux previously served as a republican representative from Kodiak. She gave up her seat after she ran in the Republican Primary for U. S. House last year.
The Division of Elections concluded that she did not meet the residency requirements for the Anchorage district.
The Alaska Democratic Party issued a statement saying the decision was appropriate.
Incumbent Democrat Pete Peterson is running for a second term in District 19.
LeDoux, a former Kodiak borough mayor, was a Democrat before switching parties and running for State House in 2004.”
Is this correct?
Gabrielle Le Doux will have to wait until after May 15 to file. The deadline is June 1, so she makes it with a couple weeks to spare. She cannot file NOW, but she will be filing then. AKM
December 18th, 2009 at 8:47 AM
Excellent! I’m excited and will donate immediately. Thanks for the update!
December 18th, 2009 at 9:09 AM
So sorry, LeDoux …
LeDoux denied bid to represent Muldoon
She’ll be able to re-file… See above. AKM
December 18th, 2009 at 9:09 AM
As a born and raised Alaskan Village rat, it is of great honor to see Diane enter this light gov race. This fanatic berry pickin Alaska Native Woman feels represented. And from a larger perspective, she bridges another representive group, the urban Alaskan women. Face it, Alaska has a lot of independent female urban dwellers and has for a long time. Ah, lets not forget, Alaska has the most female motorcycle riders in the nation. LOL… They can relate!
As a Native women, Diane and my trails have crossed more than once. I’m totally loving the reality check this “trails have crossed” experience is giving me.
It is going to be a rewarding 2010 political season in Alaska. It is about darn time!
December 18th, 2009 at 9:12 AM
As for LeDoux: I believe she moved here from Kodiak for several reasons. Fundraising and the east Anchorage house she moved into was a Republican operative… I’ll find more about this east Anchorage house she occupied and then filed to run for office…
December 18th, 2009 at 9:21 AM
It sounds as if there may be a strong progressive Democratic ticket here. Kudos to Diane and Pete for ‘progressing’ the state. This would be an excellent change from the current and most recent administrations. Good luck to you both!
December 18th, 2009 at 9:45 AM
i wish them good luck to
December 18th, 2009 at 9:56 AM
Mo–yes, it’s true, including the part about being a D before she was an R. She’ll prob. refile just after she’s hit the 1 year residency mark. I think she was hoping Div. of Elections would overlook that residency requirement so that she could start fundraising now. Too bad, so sad…
December 18th, 2009 at 10:59 AM
Bob Poe may have been at the luncheon, but he’s not the nominee. He might find that aligning himself to Benson at this early date is not a wise thing to do (but they do complement each other – neither has ever been elected to any public office).
December 18th, 2009 at 12:33 PM
With Shannyn’s radio and tv show in place and with the Alaskan Blogger sites receiving recognition and respect for quality info, you are in a good position to make this happen. And $P’s legacy will be helpful ! I just love the vibe coming from these two candidates. I’m sure ” fired up and ready to go” probably about says it all for everyone up there . If there’s something I can do to help, I will !
December 18th, 2009 at 12:35 PM
do we like LeDoux? if so. why?
December 18th, 2009 at 2:02 PM
I hope all the out of state types talking about contributing to Bob Poe will hold off for a while. There is going to be a primary battle, and Poe is the most conservative candidate in it. He is pro-Pebble Mine and seems to be basically a socially liberal republican from what I have seen.
It would be great to get some support to help get a progressive governor elected up here next year, but there are better candidates in the race already. If Poe wins the primary I would fully endorse giving him a donation, but it’s too early now.
December 18th, 2009 at 2:37 PM
bubbles–NO, we do not. She was a D, switched to R to run for the State House in Kodiak (one of the biggest flakes around, as far as I can tell). LOST the R primary to Yon Dung, in spite of everything, and is now trying to carpetbag into Anchorage to run against a great D for State House.
December 18th, 2009 at 3:02 PM
thanks injuneau. sounds a whole lot like joe lieberman in drag.
December 18th, 2009 at 3:06 PM
Diane in that speech is overlooking former two term Lieutenant Governor and present UAA Chancellor Fran Ulmer.
I still regret that the dumb voters chose the talentless Frank Murkowski over her for Governor seven years ago, Alaska would be a much more progressive friendly place if she were finishing up her second term as Gov instead of the people we have had to endure.
December 18th, 2009 at 3:23 PM
Best Wishes….let us all know what we can do to help.
December 18th, 2009 at 4:07 PM
these 2 have my vote
from Juneau!
December 18th, 2009 at 4:19 PM
Hmmm…how about a Diane Benson PAC?
December 18th, 2009 at 4:20 PM
Hey—Good job reporting. You summarized the event accurately.
I didn’t realize you were there or as “one of your boots on the grounders” I would have said hi. I was sitting across the table from Pete Petersen but a little to his right. Next to the guy from the Valley with suspenders, who said he was a Democrat from Wasilla. I told him I didn’t think there were any Democrats left up there. He said, oh yea, in fact they have almost as large a turnout as the Bartlett forum does.
December 18th, 2009 at 5:03 PM
A PAC could raise money for Diane’s campaign?
December 18th, 2009 at 5:07 PM
A little OT, except for the first couple pictures here. Kudos to AKM for navigating those “18 inches of fresh powder” to get to the meeting and back.
December 18th, 2009 at 5:19 PM
I’m not sure Poe’s position is that firm re Pebble. I love the idea of a Poe benson ticket. I recognize this is a thread about benson, but they might be a team.
For the sake of clarity then, I’m copying and pasting from Poe’s site, re Pebble:
Pebble Mine – I oppose the plans for a 900 ft. tailings dam above the richest fishery in the world. We must protect the Bristol Bay fishery, and the risk of Pebble development as envisioned appears too great. The more I learn about Pebble, the more concerned I become about its potential impacts.
However, I believe the developers of Pebble should have the right to propose a mining plan for possible permitting. As a past Director at the Department of Environmental Conservation I know many of the state employees responsible for reviewing permits and believe in their ability to properly protect Alaska. As Governor I will support them in doing what’s right.
December 18th, 2009 at 5:28 PM
Question: If there should be new and honest blood in Office, will it be in time to turn over the emails and start some investigations into Palin’s shenanigans?
December 18th, 2009 at 6:45 PM
Response to Dave at 2:02 PM – Anyone wanting to know more about Poe’s positions should go instead to http://www.bobpoe.com for his Pebble mine position. He is NOT pro-pebble and it’s not too early to contribute to a terrific candidate for Governor. BTW, he was first to announce for Governor last January, long before his opponents. Contribute at the website.
December 18th, 2009 at 7:03 PM
#24 Dave-
I agree but for different reasons.
I was not impressed with Bob’s comment on rural fishing issues some months ago on an Anonymous Bloggers write up.
I hear, privately, some good things about him but wonder if he is still trying to play both sides of issues to gather votes and is not REALLY committed to issues.
Personally I care less about the party than I do about their issue “history”, the talent they surround themselves with, how they gather info and go about making decisions.
Although I am less and less happy with ANY particular party as a whole I still look to see how people actual perform before I vote a straight party ticket.
I look forward to seeing how Diane gathers support and presetns her ideas.
December 18th, 2009 at 7:07 PM
I have to confess, you lost me at this: “[W]e have never elected a progressive woman to statewide office.” Are we saying Fran Ulmer wasn’t progressive enough, or woman enough or something enough? It’s disappointing to see a promising candidate announce her candidacy with an untruth.
I was at a Poe “friendraiser” recently, and observed Diane obliviously insult the hostess. I give money to progressive candidates, mostly women, whom I can believe will apply the levers of power to the causes I believe in. I haven’t yet seen anything in Diane that leads me to believe she can be one of those progressive women. Fran? I gave her money in every campaign — because she demonstrated that she knew how to get things done in the political system we have.
I still need to be persuaded that Diane is about more than just Diane.
December 18th, 2009 at 7:33 PM
Wow. Can we expect more silent commercials about dog poop again? Alaska has become enough of a laughing stock with our previous clowns in office. Diane has already had one commercial make Leno’s “dumbest commercials.” I hope that doesn’t continue and she will actually speak about her qualifications and what her positions are instead of just scoopin’ poop
December 18th, 2009 at 7:37 PM
I have supported Diane’s campaigns for Congress in the past, and support her entry into the Lt Gov race, but I too would like to correct the record about AK “never” electing a progressive woman to a statewide office–former Lt Gov Fran Ulmer fits that bill.
I hope that was just an oversight on DB’s part.
December 18th, 2009 at 9:15 PM
Diane tried to censor a UAA professor. Luckily the Chancellor stood up for free speech. We progressives can do better than Diane.
December 18th, 2009 at 11:08 PM
I went and looked at Bob Poe’s resume. and you just dont get those positions easily. I need to know more about Bob Poe. From what Diane has done i dont feel i have to be afraid of who she is or speaks from. I would ask all to look further before making any desicion. We have ALOT at stake here in Alaska. And we are a bit gun shy at this point!!!!
December 18th, 2009 at 11:35 PM
I’ve met Diane’s husband – seems to be a decent guy.
I’m glad to learn more about her.
December 19th, 2009 at 2:35 AM
@ #25 Dave Says:
December 18th, 2009 at 2:02 PM
I hope all the out of state types talking about contributing to Bob Poe will hold off for a while. There is going to be a primary battle, and Poe is the most conservative candidate in it. He is pro-Pebble Mine and seems to be basically a socially liberal republican from what I have seen.
- – -
I was very interested in Bob Poe, he seems to be well spoken, well educated & involved, and his Wife is (I believe) one of the First People.
When AKM was so nastily ‘outed’ though, Poe posted a thread saying that Doogan was a long term friend of his. Basically seemed to be pleading on Doogan’s behalf and Poe was almost lecturing AKM that she was better off being ‘outed’. Later I learned that he was a Republican that had switched to being a Democrat.
Okay, so water under the bridge. It is true that AKM is doing very well being out in the Public and we love seeing her Shine.
But that whole episode left me wondering, so I’m not jumping into the donating realm for his candidacy yet.
December 19th, 2009 at 12:29 PM
Diane Benson is just overflowing with integrity and true grit. Kudos to her.
As for governor candidates on the Democratic side, there are three good ones out there. Take your time. Ask a lot of questions about what’s important to you.
December 19th, 2009 at 2:29 PM
I have had a couple of long discussions with Bob Poe about Pebble and development in general since he has announced his run for Governor. He was pretty well spoken, pretty informed and very pro-Pebble. It wasn’t until it started becoming clear that being pro-Pebble could be a liability in the primary that he started hedging.
Michelle said “BTW, he was first to announce for Governor last January, long before his opponents. ” Who cares when he announced? What does that have to do with anything? He could have announced 5 years ago and I still wouldn’t vote for him.
December 19th, 2009 at 8:48 PM
Kath the Scrappy I have to agree with you i remember that post of his and I had to look him up to make sure he was not a republican.Everyone should wit a mite and listen and learn then donate to the person who you think best serves not only your interest but the interest of the majority of the state.
December 21st, 2009 at 1:57 PM
Well I guess I should jump in to clarify a couple things here. First I was registered non-partisan prior to announcing my run for Governor in January of 2009, 54% of Alaskans are non-partisan, I was not a Republican prior to announcing. And since only about 15% of registered voters in Alaska are registered Democrats, isn’t it a good thing I wanted to register as a Democrat?
With regards to Pebble, the thought of a 900 ft. tailings dam above the richest fishery in the world is alarming and could be disasterous if it failed. I support due process, meaning that the companies working on this mine project should have the same access to the permitting process as a fish plant or a land development. Since I have actually worked at the Department of Environmental Conservation, I have first-hand experience with the well-qualified state employees who would review things like the water and air permits. Further I will support the state regulating agencies in their decisions and do what I can as Governor to keep politics out of the decision. Lastly, should some version of the mine be permitted, I believe strongly it is time for mining to pay its way similarly to the way the Red Dog mine has. My views on the mine have evolved over the last year, that came from listening to Alaskans – that’s what a Governor is supposed to do.
With respect to rising to the defense of AKM when Representative Doogan outed her, it was not a piece in support of him, but in support of AKM. I merely examined what might have been his motivation, and in retrospect AKM is doing well and I consider her a good friend. I did not feel then, nor do I feel today that Doogan was justified in what he did.
Lastly, I would like to wish Diane Benson great success in her pursuit of Lt. Governor and wish all mudpuppies a great new year!