Anchorage Daily News

Elbows are flying among Alaska's U.S. House candidates as the primary election looms.

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Alaska Congressman Don Young and those seeking his seat debated Monday night, some three weeks before the Aug. 26 party primaries. Young has two Republican primary challengers, Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell and Kodiak Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, while two Democrats are also running for their party's nomination.

Parnell came out swinging against Young in his opening statement at the KTUU/League of Women Voters debate in Anchorage. "We're tired of being the nation's symbol of excess and greed," Parnell said.

But Parnell didn't have a direct answer when moderator Jason Moore asked him to list five Alaska earmarks Young obtained that he finds objectionable. Parnell brought up Young's controversial Coconut Road earmark in Florida, but didn't list any others.

Moore then asked Parnell to list three earmarks Young obtained for Alaska that he doesn't like.

"It's not a particular earmark in Alaska I'm concerned about right now, it's the abuse of the process," Parnell replied.

Moore asked Young why he's spending more than a million dollars of his campaign money on legal fees stemming from the federal government's investigation into the congressman's fundraising activities. Young answered that it's expensive to have lawyers cooperate with the federal government and he doesn't have money of his own.

Moore pressed him on precisely what's being investigated.

Young said he's made it clear he can't comment on the specifics (he has said that is at the request of his lawyers and the Justice Department) but expects to be exonerated.

Young went after Parnell for claiming his campaign contributions come from individuals, not special interests. Young said $115,000 -- about half of Parnell's campaign money -- came as bundled contributions through the Washington, D.C., anti-earmark group Club for Growth. The group is also funding its own ads against Young.

"How can you truthfully claim that you're not taking special interest money when this group is financing almost half of the campaign against me?" Young asked him.

Parnell replied that those are contributions from individuals who believe in limited government, lower taxes and less government spending. "That's what I stand for," Parnell said.

Young charged that the Club for Growth is "one of the most extreme groups in Washington, D.C.," and wants to cut funding for veterans, seniors and Alaska Native education.

LeDoux also targeted Parnell for supporting the governor's plan to give a license and $500 million state subsidy to TransCanada to pursue the natural gas pipeline.

"I wouldn't say that giving $500 million to a Canadian company is getting government out of private enterprise," she said.

Parnell defended the plan as having inspired pipeline competition and Alaska's chances to get the project done. He said he expects TransCanada will end up joining with the oil companies who hold the gas leases to make it happen.

LeDoux, when asked about her experience compared to the 18-term congressman and the lieutenant governor, said she would bring a fresh perspective.

She also said she's a second-term state legislator and served three terms as Kodiak Island Borough mayor. She said she wants the job because she's a fighter.

"I'm tenacious, I'm methodical, I'm focused and I will not give up," LeDoux said in her closing statement

Parnell said in his closing statement he wants to restore trust and make sure the next generation isn't saddled with a deficit.

"Frankly, I just want to be a light and make a change, make a difference in Congress," Parnell said.

Young said, "I'm running because I'm the best person for the job. I've got the experience, the knowledge, the connections that are necessary to get this job done."

DEMOCRATS GO AT IT

The two candidates who are competing in the Democratic primary for the House seat, Ethan Berkowitz and Diane Benson, also took shots at each other.

Benson came after Berkowitz on campaign contributions, charging him with receiving money over the years from sources including big tobacco, Veco executives and lobbyists.

Berkowitz said Benson is attempting to "make something out of nothing." He said he hasn't received any Veco contributions since 2000 and fought the company's influence when he was the minority leader of the state House.

"I stood up to them on the House floor, as you recall, I was the one who said, 'This is our floor, no lobbyist is supposed to tell us what to do," ' Berkowitz said.

Benson countered that was after the corruption had taken root and the FBI was already in Juneau.

"Wouldn't it be more meaningful to stand up when it's the right thing to do instead of when it's the most politically expedient thing to do?" Benson said.

Berkowitz' "this is our floor" speech was in May 2006 -- months before the raids on legislative offices that made the FBI investigation public, his campaign said later.

Berkowitz, for his part, asked Benson if she regretted running for governor on the Green Party ticket in 2002, taking votes away from Democrat Fran Ulmer and electing Frank Murkowski.

Benson said she didn't regret it. "I learned a lot but I certainly didn't influence the outcome of that race."

Berkowitz responded that "you should have some regrets about helping to elect Frank Murkowski."

Murkowski beat Ulmer in that 2002 race 129,279 votes to 94,216 votes. Benson brought in 2,926 votes, according to the state Division of Elections.

One question the moderator asked the two Democrats, but not the three Republicans, is if they'd ever smoked marijuana. Both Benson and Berkowitz said they had, but it had been a long time.

Benson and Berkowitz differed from the Republicans (who all agreed that specifying a withdrawal timeline is a bad idea) in saying the U.S. needs to get out of Iraq soon.

"I support an immediate planning for withdrawal. ... It is in our best interest and the Iraqi people's best interest to withdraw," Benson said.

Berkowitz said staying indefinitely in Iraq only draws down the strength of the military and costs the nation. "Our soldiers and sailors and airmen and marines have fought hard, and fought valiantly, and they've won a victory," he said.

Find Sean Cockerham online at adn.com/contact/scockerham or call him at 257-4344.

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