SHOOTOUT: U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski's goal was $100,000 for charity.
WASILLA -- Loading 20-gauge shotgun shells from a pouch in her L.L. Bean vest, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski planted her feet and aimed skyward at the Grouse Ridge shooting range Friday.
"Pull!"
A clay pigeon streaked through a clearing in the trees. Murkowski fired, the blast shattering the disc into orange shards. After a bumpy morning of sporting-clays shooting at her third annual Valley fund-raiser, Murkowski appeared to be heating up.
"Whoa!" said Conoco Phillips Alaska president Jim Bowles, who stood a few feet away, next to a Conoco vice president and the head of an Oregon public relations firm.
"Annie Oakley here," someone added.
The Midnight Sun Shootout pairs politicians, heads of state departments and other dignitaries with business people and lobbying groups whose companies pay thousands of dollars to fire off a few rounds and hobnob with state and federal big shots.
There are other charity shootouts around the country, said Eddie Grasser, Alaska field representative for the National Rifle Association, but Murkowski's event is one of a kind.
"This is the only one predicated upon trying to match corporate sponsors with legislators," Grasser said.
The money goes toward shooting education and sports in Alaska, and there's a lot of it. Friday afternoon, Grasser said this year's goal was to raise $100,000.
Sponsoring a team in the shootout costs as much as $10,000, though groups could pool their money to pay for a spot. Among the contributors were Marrs & Co., which is owned by former chief executive of Cook Inlet Region Inc. Carl Marrs; Houston-based Anadarko Petroleum Corp.; telecommunications provider TelAlaska; and Alaska Airlines, among others.
Funneled through the Friends of NRA and the Hunter Heritage Foundation, the cash goes to outdoor educational programs and clubs, including 4-H and the Boy Scouts, organizer Cherri Ruesch said.
The event, started by Murkowski in 2003, raised $30,000 and $50,000 in the previous two years. A sold-out banquet Friday night was expected to pull in even more cash this year.
Eventually, Grasser hopes to see more U.S. senators and maybe members of the president's Cabinet pick up shotguns at the shootout. Friday, Murkowski was joined by state lawmakers Charlie Huggins, Con Bunde and Eric Croft, as well as Transportation Department deputy commissioner John MacKinnon and Fish and Game Commissioner McKie Campbell.
Jerod Broadfoot, 25, was a member of Murkowski's team. He lives in Oregon and works as an account manager for Pac/West Communications, an Oregon public relations firm. His job includes lobbying and running campaigns, usually on issues related to natural resources or wildlife.
Broadfoot said he ran the public relations campaign to defeat a proposed ban on bear baiting in Alaska last year. He and the firm's president, Paul Phillips, arrived in Alaska last week and attended a fund-raiser for U.S. Rep. Don Young before joining the shootout.
Broadfoot said his company supports hunter education and resources for sportsmen and women -- the things the fund-raiser helps pay for.
But isn't it also nice to have an informal audience with lawmakers?
"Most of the conversation centers around hunting, fishing and recreational opportunities," he said. "But, yeah, definitely there's an opportunity to talk a little bit about business."
Contact reporter Kyle Hopkins at khopkins@adn.com.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story first appeared in Wednesday's Mat-Su section, which is distributed weekly in the Matanuska-Susitna valleys.
