Conservative groups back Miller campaign

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner ^ | July 15, 2004 | SAM BISHOP

[Jet Jaguar]

Seven conservative groups have endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Mike Miller, his campaign announced Wednesday.

Miller, a former state senator from North Pole, bills himself as the conservative alternative to Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who he is challenging for the Republican nomination in the Aug. 24 primary election.

According to a news release from the Miller campaign, the endorsing groups will provide money and momentum to his campaign. They are:

* The Concerned Women PAC, a political action committee supporting candidates "who embrace parental rights and defend the institution of marriage," Miller's campaign said. The PAC's founder is Beverly LaHaye, who also started the 500,000-member group Concerned Women for America.

* The Eagle Forum PAC, which is headed by Phyllis Schlafly and promotes strong families and less government.

* Former presidential candidate Gary Bauer's Campaign for Working Families, which promotes "conservative values such as the defense of the traditional family, and the promotion of individual liberty and free enterprise."

* The Virginia-based Madison Project, which raises money for conservative candidates.

* The Home School Legal Defense Association PAC, which supports candidates who support home schooling options.

* The Free Congress PAC, founded by Paul Weyrich, who earlier this year wrote on his Web site that he didn't think Murkowski could beat Knowles, Miller's campaign noted.

* The Dallas-based Republican National Coalition for Life, which raises money for congressional candidates who oppose abortion.

--Sam Bishop

Knowles raises nearly $1 million

Tony Knowles raised $919,000 for his U.S. Senate campaign in the three months ending June 30, about $38,000 more than rival candidate and incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

The big effort helped draw his campaign nearer to Murkowski's in the vital category of "cash-on-hand" as the general election loomed just four months away. Knowles reported about $977,500 in cash, while Murkowski said last week she had $1.25 million.

"For the third quarter in a row, our quarterly totals topped those Sen. Murkowski," Knowles said in a news release. "This success is due to taking our campaign to Alaskans from Metlakatla to Barrow; from Fort Yukon to Savoonga, and the people of Alaska have responded."

Knowles has collected 6,800 individual donations since he began campaigning just one year ago. Of those, 67 percent came from Alaskans, the campaign said.

Knowles has raised $2.7 million for his campaign; Murkowski's total was $3.3 million on June 30.

Knowles' campaign noted that it bested Murkowski, despite the incumbent's second-quarter fund-raisers with stars as Vice President Dick Cheney, first lady Laura Bush and White House political adviser Karl Rove.

Murkowski campaign spokeswoman Kristin Pugh said the Cheney fund-raiser in Anchorage earned $80,000 for the campaign. The First Lady's event in Washington, D.C., earned $145,000, of which $60,000 came from Alaskans who attended.

Detailed descriptions of the campaign donors and expenses are due at the Federal Election Commission today.

--Sam Bishop