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What a shock- a Russian-Ukrainian billionaire who made his initial fortune from dubious stock shares eminating from the breakup of the Soviet Union has been sending big, fat checks this year to establishment Republicans and Democrats who aren't too uppity re. foreign policy.Of course, most billionaire Russians who are part owners of huge Russian mining/energy companies over there are KGB/FSB and/or mafia-connected... just like Putin And London resident Leonard Blavatnik is a typical pro-Putin oligarch, getting rich off looting the Russian state then utilizing that ill-gotten fortune to spread Russian influence around the globe. In this case, Blavatnik made almost 20 BILLION from the Russian oil/mining industries...

Alaska is one of seven states which have a Democratic-held Senate seat up this year and which voted for Mitt Romney in 2012. Nate Silver of 538 and Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post's The Fix rate the seat, held by former Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, as the least likely Republican turnover of the seven; 538 rates Begich's chances at 55 percent. Stuart Rothenberg rates it as toss-up/tilt Democrat, while Charlie Cook, slightly more bearish on Begich's chances, rates it as one of five pure toss-ups.Others may move in that direction given the latest polling from Rasmussen Reports. It shows...

Alaska Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell (R) has parted ways with his Senate campaign manager and top consultant following months of campaign struggles. ADVERTISEMENT Treadwell, once the front-runner for the GOP nomination to face Sen. Mark Begich (D), has posted weak fundraising totals quarter after quarter and has been eclipsed in the GOP race by former Alaska Department of Natural Resources Director Dan Sullivan (R). "I have had to make one of the toughest decision to this point in our campaign, I parted ways with Adam Jones, Campaign Manager. Rick Gorka, part of the communications team is also leaving," Treadwell said...

The familiar Washington narrative on the scrum for the U.S. Senate has been rinsed, recycled and delivered once again: Republicans are primed to pick up the six seats necessary to capture control of the upper chamber. The midterm atmosphere sure looks ripe, the polling appears favorable but, as it did in 2010 and 2012, the most competitive batch of races will likely come down to candidate quality. It’s the key component that stifled GOP chances before, and could very well again. .... .... A closer look at the most competitive contests demonstrates why a Senate majority in 2014 is again...

At least one candidate for the U.S. Senate wants to make it known that he stands with Sen. Ted Cruz’s effort to defund Obamacare. “I fully support any attempt to defund and repeal Obamacare,” Lieutenant Gov. Mead Treadwell of Alaska told The Daily Caller Wednesday as Texas Republican Cruz was winding down his 22-hour quasi-filibuster. “I applaud Senator Ted Cruz and the principled members of the Senate as they fight for the American people to get rid of Obamacare. When I am elected in November 2014 I will stand and work with Senators like Ted Cruz and Mike Lee.” Treadwell...

There's a lingering sense in Alaska that the field of GOP Senate candidates isn't done growing yet. But we won't know for sure until after Labor Day at the very earliest, when the latest potential candidate returns from military deployment to Afghanistan. Alaska Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan, a Republican, will spend the next six weeks in Afghanistan on military duty, the Associated Press reported Monday night. Sullivan is in the Marine Reserves and deployed to Central Command twice in the last nine years, according to his office biography. Sullivan's most recent assignment means he will be out...