Alaska’s Congressman Still Has Clout (…?)
The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner wrote a post-election story examining the political fortunes of its lone U.S. representative–and, to a large degree, the political fortunes of the state.
Entitled “Alaska’s congressman still has clout,” the article emphasizes how powerful Young had become during Republican domination of Congress. While senior members of the minority party still have great influence (though mainly within the party), the guarantees that Young might have made to Alaska–such as, most famously, the so-called “Bridge to Nowhere,” but also drilling in ANWR–will be even harder to follow through on. As reporter Sam Bishop wrote:
During the past month, Young repeatedly stated that the House would stay under Republican control. He said the incessant media speculation about a Democratic takeover was generated by wishful thinking.Speaking with Alaska reporters in Washington, D.C., before Congress recessed in early October, Young was upbeat about his future options.
“I am in the catbird’s seat when it comes right down to it,” he said.
With the exception of Tony Knowles’s eight years as governor from 1994 to 2002, and Wally Hickel’s Alaska Independence Party governorship (though the first time Hickel was governor, he was a Republican), Alaska has been dominated by Republicans at the state and federal level for the last couple of decades. It is a routine argument told to Alaskan voters that they should keep voting for Republicans if only for strategic reasons: with Republican dominance, why offend national Republicans or risk losing federal dollars by electing a Democratic senator or representative? Essentially, go along to get along.
For more than a decade, Alaska has received the most per capita federal funding of any state. Last year, it was $985 per capita–an amount that fell to $489 this year when Sen. Ted Stevens was rotated out of the Appropriations chairmanship. But that still made Alaska number one. With the new incoming Congress, will Alaska remain on top?
