GOVERNOR: Fairbanks Republican would keep Murkowski substance but not his style.
JUNEAU -- Fairbanks businessman and former state Sen. John Binkley announced Monday that he is running for governor.
Binkley will face former Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin in the Republican primary in August. The rest of the field is up in the air.
Would-be candidates, donors and professional political operatives are all anxiously waiting for Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski to say whether he is running for re-election.
Binkley said last month that he was going to wait for Murkowski's decision. But Binkley said Monday that he has since concluded Murkowski isn't running.
"Any serious candidate would have filed for office by now," Binkley said.
Murkowski spokeswoman Becky Hultberg said Monday that the governor will announce his plans in late January. The governor previously said he wouldn't make up his mind until after he had negotiated a contract with oil companies for the proposed natural gas pipeline to the Lower 48.
Bill Gordon, who was campaign manager for much of Murkowski's 2002 campaign for governor, also said he doesn't think Murkowski is running again. Gordon is helping Binkley organize his campaign.
Binkley said he will remain in the race even if Murkowski decides to run.
"I want to provide the next generation of Republican leadership for Alaska. I think I have the experience to govern," Binkley said.
The 52-year-old Binkley is a third-generation Alaskan. He was a state legislator from 1984 to 1990, representing Western Alaska. He lived in Bethel and ran a tug and barge business at the time. Binkley chose not to run for re-election after rising to the powerful position of co-chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. He said he needed to take time to raise his children.
He lives in Fairbanks now and heads his family's Riverboat Discovery and El Dorado Gold Mine tourism business. Binkley has been chairman of the board of the Alaska Railroad Corp. since 1997. He was the Alaska finance chairman for George W. Bush's 2004 presidential campaign.
Binkley said his experience in urban and rural Alaska will be a strong point. He listed supporters including Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. president Gene Peltola, Cook Inlet Tribal Council president Gloria O'Neill and Orrie Williams, president of Doyon Ltd., the regional Native corporation for the Interior.
Williams said Binkley has maintained his rural ties since his days as a Bethel lawmaker.
"I think he understands ... the issues in rural Alaska," Williams said. "And he certainly understands the business issues in the urban setting."
Binkley in 2002 was mentioned for months as a choice to take over the U.S. Senate seat that Murkowski gave up when he was elected governor. Murkowski ended up appointing his daughter, Lisa, to the seat.
Binkley expressed disappointment at the time that Murkowski didn't pick him. But he didn't criticize the governor or challenge Lisa Murkowski when the seat came up for election. He also offered little criticism of the governor Monday.
"I think the Murkowski administration has made some great changes that would be similar to the direction I would take," Binkley said.
"It is probably more in terms of the style of management, and communicating with the people, and gaining the trust of the Alaskan people that I would do differently."
He did say it was curious that a Republican governor such as Murkowski would propose such a big state spending increase as the governor wants in the coming year.
Palin, who announced in October her plans to run for governor, said she is glad to have the competition from Binkley.
"I would think that those who are looking for someone to continue what Governor Murkowski has done for the state and to the state, they would tend to support John," she said. "For me, I stand firm on my message that Alaskans deserve better and not more of the same."
Binkley has the strength of being personable. He remembers people's names and genuinely seems happy to stop and chat. But Palin also has good people skills and has built up a populist appeal.
Binkley is very well known in Fairbanks. But name recognition could be a challenge for him in some other parts of the state, particularly Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula.
Republican political strategist Curtis Thayer said Binkley knows the right people in the business community across the state to raise money to run for governor. The fact that he's not that well known among the general public in Southcentral can be quickly overcome in the campaign, Thayer said.
"He can walk into an Anchorage Chamber of Commerce luncheon and know half the people there," said Thayer, who is supporting Binkley.
Lt. Gov. Loren Leman has said he will say by the end of the year whether he's in the Republican primary race. Fairbanks Republican state Sen. Ralph Seekins has said he might run if Murkowski does not.
Anchorage state Reps. Ethan Berkowitz and Eric Croft are competing for the Democratic nomination for governor. Former Republican state representative Andrew Halcro is planning to run for governor as an independent. The general election for governor is scheduled for Nov. 7.
Daily News reporter Sean Cockerham can be reached at scockerham@adn.com or 1-907-586-1531.
