As the primary election for Alaska’s lieutenant governor approaches, candidates are traveling around Alaska to drum up votes. Another Democratic candidate recently visited Dillingham, and KDLG’s Chase Cavanaugh has more.
Candidate Bob Williams visited Dillingham on Tuesday for a campaign meet and greet. He is the son of a logger in Palmer and has worked as a teacher for over 20 years becoming the state’s 2009 teacher of the year. Currently, he is opposing state senator and fellow democrat Hollis French in the race for lieutenant governor. Setting up an office in Dillingham’s Sifsof building, he spoke to voters about different issues, such as the Pebble Mine Project. Williams supports mining but doesn’t believe Pebble is a sensible project.
“To give you an example, I was up in Fairbanks a couple days ago campaigning and there’s the Fort Knox mine there. Very big, large, open pit mine, but it’s not killing any salmon, whereas Pebble Mine, no matter what happens, you’re going to be damaging the salmon habitat of the world’s best red salmon fishery, and if something goes wrong, you could absolutely ruin it. It’s just a mistake. You ask yourself what’s best for all Alaskans, I’m here in Dillingham looking at the vibrant economy, all this activity, all these people that depend on a great fishing industry and we need to protect that.”
One of the responsibilities of Lieutenant Governor is overseeing the state’s division of elections. When asked if he would make any changes, Williams said he would emphasize early voting.
“I live in MatSu, an urban area, and I can go in and vote well in advance, it’s like I’m playing baseball, I have 8-9 times I can swing the bat, where a lot of rural communities, it’s very hard for them to swing the bat once. As lieutenant governor oversees the division of elections, I’m going to do absolutely everything I can to make sure absolutely everyone who is eligible to vote can vote, I want to increase access to early voting, and I want to make sure that everyone, when they step into that voting booth, they feel like they’re valued, welcomed, and respected.”
As for oil taxes, Williams is more of a moderate. While he opposes Senate Bill 21, he doesn’t think ACES is perfect policy.
“I have a degree in petroleum engineering, and worked for two summers as a roustabout and am working on a Ph.D in public policy. When you dig down into SB 21, I feel that it gave way too much away to oil companies without accountability. I do feel that ACES, when the price of oil is high, takes too much, but I do feel there has to be something between ACES and SB21, so I’ll be voting yes on the proposition, because it gave too much away and at the same time we’ve been flat-funding public education.”
Williams had no specific comment about the fisheries nor the push towards annexation of the Nushagak fishing district. However, he said his goal was to represent all Alaskans, regardless of background.
“I’ve run into many people who don’t feel their state government represents them, respects them, or cares about them. As lieutenant governor, I’m going to do absolutely everything I can so all Alaskans, whether you’re in rural Alaska, urban Alaska, no matter what your ethnicity, that all Alaskans feel like they’re valued, respected, and welcomed, and that the state government is working with them."
Williams now continues his campaign for lieutenant governor. The primary for this race will take place on August 19th of this year.
