Politics

Demboski mayoral campaign evolves, expands over eight months

When Amy Demboski unveiled her campaign for Anchorage mayor in August, it was a homespun enterprise, built out of a close-knit group of family members and friends from Chugiak-Eagle River and South Anchorage.

Eight months later, that's still the case, Demboski said -- her campaign manager is her dad. But in the weeks before and after the April 7 election that propelled her into next month's runoff, her circle expanded, reflecting a more experienced cast of conservative Republican strategists and activists.

"The family is still there," Demboski said in a recent interview before an Anchorage Assembly meeting. "But we definitely have had professional help to link everything together."

With fewer than three weeks to go before the May 5 runoff, that professional help now includes Jerry Gallagher, who was former Gov. Sean Parnell's campaign manager until about two months before the November election. On Wednesday, Gallagher, who also worked as legislative director for Parnell and former Gov. Sarah Palin, began work as an office manager and scheduler for Demboski.

Since early March, Demboski's campaign team has included Matt Johnson, the campaign manager for Joe Miller's Senate election last fall; and David Boyle, executive director of the Alaska Policy Forum, a conservative think tank.

The gradual evolution of Demboski's campaign staff contrasts with the quick, organized pace that marked the start of the mayoral run of her runoff opponent, Ethan Berkowitz. Berkowitz, a former Democratic state legislator, launched a late but polished campaign in February with already-made "Ethan Berkowitz for Mayor" signs and a communications officer to distribute statements to the media.

Berkowitz also hired an experienced campaign manager, Susanne Fleek-Green, who most recently managed former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich's 2014 re-election campaign.

ADVERTISEMENT

Meanwhile, Cale Green, the former political director for Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, went from being a paid "campaign management" official for Demboski at the start of the year to a volunteer, Demboski said in late March. Earlier in March, Johnson took a paid position with the campaign as a volunteer coordinator.

By March 25, Boyle, who also served as the Alaska chairman for the McCain-Palin presidential campaign, was the Demboski campaign's press contact.

'They don't get how I tick'

In addition to changing the structure of her campaign, Demboski in the final month before the election built up strong backing from social conservatives energized by her outspoken opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage. Alaska Family Action, a conservative advocacy group, ran a radio ad supporting Demboski.

Demboski, a first-term Assembly member from Chugiak-Eagle River, also attracted support from conservatives who were frustrated by mainstream Republican Party politics, including the Alaska Republican Assembly, a Palmer-based statewide organization, and the Anchorage Tea Party.

But Demboski did not have the support of the state's Republican Party establishment in the general election and she wasn't shy about saying so. In a Feb. 19 interview, Demboski said Alaska Republican Party leaders had contacted her to ask her to withdraw from the race. She said she refused: "They don't get how I tick."

The day after the April 7 election, Demboski said she "extended the olive branch" and walked into the state Republican Party headquarters in Anchorage.

"I said, 'Is there a way we can just move together?'" Demboski said. "We all believe in conservative principles, limited government, responsible fiscal policy."

She walked out with an endorsement. This week, the Alaska Republican Party sent out a mailer that included a letter from Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan that called Demboski a "proven budget hawk."

On Friday, Alaska's other well-known Dan Sullivan, the U.S. senator, was scheduled to attend an Anchorage campaign fundraiser for Demboski.

Americans for Prosperity support

In an interview, former Lt. Gov. Treadwell, who became a Demboski supporter after considering his own mayoral run, said it's normal for Republicans to join forces after the first round of an election.

"It's good to see the Republicans get together," Treadwell said.

Treadwell also recalled that during the 2010 gubernatorial race, Gallagher, Demboski's new campaign team member, came on board after the primary to help Parnell and Treadwell successfully defeat Berkowitz, then the Democratic candidate for governor.

Demboski may also receive indirect help from Americans for Prosperity, the national group founded by the billionaire Koch brothers that opened an Anchorage office in August. The group, which doesn't disclose its donors, ran radio and Internet ads tying Berkowitz to President Barack Obama just over a month before the April 7 election.

Jeremy Price, director of the group's Alaska chapter, said Americans for Prosperity plans to be engaged in the runoff and is working on a strategy. But Price said it would be an effort to "educate" voters about Berkowitz, without explicitly supporting Demboski. He said that as a rule, Americans for Prosperity does not endorse candidates, making it able to avoid reporting financial information to campaign finance agencies like the Alaska Public Offices Commission.

Price said the group has been knocking on doors and making phone calls to ask voters a loaded question about what they think about Berkowitz's support for a state income tax -- in 2002, Berkowitz voted in the Alaska House for a bipartisan fiscal plan that included a proposal for a state income tax -- but is still strategizing beyond that.

Meanwhile, unions that have declared their support for Berkowitz are beginning to ramp up campaign efforts. On Monday, a radio ad produced by the Anchorage firefighters union hit the airwaves, with union president Mike Stumbaugh talking about shortfalls in police staffing and encouraging listeners to vote for Berkowitz.

The Alaska Democratic Party has also worked to boost Berkowitz, sending out robocalls, emails and social media posts on his behalf. Spokesman Travis Smith said the party is conducting its own door-knocking and phone-banking efforts.

ADVERTISEMENT

'A very hard turn right'

In an interview on April 8, third-place finisher Andrew Halcro made two observations: first, that Berkowitz, as the sole registered Democrat among the frontrunners in the first-round election, benefited from immediate access to a well-established Democratic Party machine with technological and fundraising capabilities.

Halcro also noted that Demboski enlisted Johnson's help and rolled out endorsements from prominent conservative politicians like Joe Miller and Sen. Bill Stoltze, R-Chugiak.

Then, in the final two weeks of the regular campaign, Halcro said his organization sensed she took "a very hard turn right." He said Demboski's tone changed, and she started to refer to him as "Halcro," instead of by his first name.

To Halcro's campaign, that was significant.

"The last two weeks really turned into (being) about ideology rather than issues," Halcro said.

Demboski said in the interview, however, that her campaign has attracted support from across the political spectrum, and more so since the general election.

"Yes, they tend to be conservative," Demboski said of her supporters. "But they're definitely -- it's not one voice, let's put it that way."

Devin Kelly

Devin Kelly was an ADN staff reporter.

ADVERTISEMENT