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This is going to be an -- if you can't beat them, then beat them over the head with their own stick commentary. And by "them," I mean the Parnell ankle-bitters in the Alaska Legislature, Alaska in general and the Left in Alaska who think it cutesy to come up with a political "hail mary" that would cut into Governor Parnell's large lead over his competitors. The stick I am going to use is actually a stick with three branches. One branch on the stick is the Alaska Constitution Article II, Section 5: No legislator may hold any other office...

ov. Sarah Palin on Sunday appointed former Mayor Dennis Egan to represent Juneau in the Alaska Senate, after the community has been without representation for more than half of the 2009 legislative session. Senate Democrats met in a secret meeting an hour before Palin’s announcement and “unanimously and enthusiastically” confirmed Egan to the position. The appointment also won quick praise from Reps. Beth Kerttula and Cathy Munoz, Mayor Bruce Botelho and Juneau Democratic Party Leaders. Palin praised Senate Democrats, who under state law must approve her appointment, for working with her to name former Sen. Kim Elton’s replacement. Earlier Palin...

JUNEAU, Alaska - Gov. Sarah Palin on Monday made a little known college administrator her second choice to fill a vacant Juneau Senate seat, again bucking Senate Democrats. The nomination of Joe Nelson, an Alaska Native, is the latest move in a jousting match between Palin, who has the authority to pick the replacement, and the Senate Democrats, who must confirm it. Democrats in a private meeting last Wednesday rejected Palin's first choice of legislative aide Tim Grussendorf. When Palin balked, citing legal concerns about their closed door procedure, seven of the nine Democrats signed a letter on Monday urging...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 09-73 Governor Requests Public Vote on Senate District B April 3, 2009, Juneau, Alaska – Governor Palin Thursday called for an open vote by the Senate on her appointment of Tim Grussendorf to the Alaska Senate. Concern has been expressed that a vote of the entire chamber on this appointment would be contrary to the practice and desires of political caucuses in the legislature. “My primary objective is to respectfully request the Senate to take this matter up and vote on it in public session,” Governor Palin said. “The Alaska people and particularly the people of...

GRUSSENDORF: Party plans to give slate of 3 new names to governor. JUNEAU -- The Alaska Senate Democrats on Wednesday rejected Gov. Sarah Palin's appointment of legislative aide Tim Grussendorf to the state Senate. The decision came during a two-hour closed-door meeting in the office of Senate Majority Leader Johnny Ellis, an Anchorage Democrat. Around 50 people -- legislators, lobbyists, and news media -- jammed into the Capitol hallway outside Ellis' office when word came out that a decision had been made. The Democrats were tense and tight-lipped as they left the office, referring all questions to Ellis -- who...

Gov. Sarah Palin today announced Tim Grussendorf, a legislative aide from Juneau, is her a choice to replace Kim Elton in the Alaska Senate. Grussendorf is chief of staff for Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel. Now he must be approved by a simple majority of the nine Senate Democrats currently seated. In picking Grussendorf, Palin is rejecting Rep. Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau, the only name recommended to the governor by southeast Democratic leaders after Elton resigned to take an Interior Department position with the Obama administration in Washington, D.C. Earlier this month, Palin invited other applicants to apply, saying she thought there...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 09-49 Governor Palin Receives, Solicits Applications for Vacant Senate Seat March 9, 2009, Juneau, Alaska – Governor Sarah Palin is encouraging registered Democrats who reside in Senate District B and would like to serve in the Alaska State Senate to submit a letter of interest to the Office of the Governor. The seat, which represents the Juneau area, is vacant following the resignation of Democrat Kim Elton last week. The Office of the Governor has already received more than two dozen unsolicited recommendations and applications for the seat. “We know there are many qualified Alaskans who...

The results of the investigation into Sarah Palin's firing of Walt Monegan, her Commissioner of Public Safety, are out. (pdf) Here is what Investigator Stephen Branchflower wrote: As Flap noted in his post on the report, Sarah Palin's abuse of power stems from her INACTION, meaning she did little or nothing to stop her husband Todd from pushing the issue. However, a sworn affidavit, Todd Palin says Sarah told him to "drop it": In his sworn statement to legislative investigators, released yesterday, Mr Palin is unapologetic about his efforts to get Mr Wooten fired, but denied his crusade had anything...

(FAIRBANKS) – In response to the political turn taken by the Legislative Council's inquiry into Walt Monegan's removal from office, today Christopher Huffman, a Fairbanks small business owner, filed an Alaska Freedom of Information Act request with Senator Kim Elton, Senator Hollis French, Stephen Branchflower, and Walter Monegan. The request seeks "all documents pertaining to the Alaska State Legislature inquiry" into the Monegan matter, including all documents related to the hiring of Stephen Branchflower and the evaluation of any other candidates for the position; all communications between Mr. Branchflower, Mr. Monegan, Sen. Kim Elton, or Sen. Hollis French and other...