Thanks to an old-fashioned political upset, Sitka, Alaska Mayor Scott McAdams is about to get a lot more ink.
McAdams (D) will face the winner of the Republican primary between Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Joe Miller, though we may not know for sure if Miller unseated Murkowski until next month. National Democrats tell us privately the Alaska Senate race wasn’t even on their radar, until today when Miller’s showing stunned Washington.
Murkowski could still win, of course. With 97.9 percent of precincts in, Miller’s margin over the senator has tightened. As of this writing, Miller was less than 2,000 votes over Murkowski: 45,909 for him to 43,949 for her. If it’s close in either case, expect lawyers to be on the scene.
Democrats tell me that at this point they don’t expect to spend money or devote resources to Alaska given they are on the defense in states that are likely to be far more competitive this fall. But don’t forget, winning Mark Begich winning statewide in Alaska in 2008 at one point seemed like a pipe dream. Anything’s possible.
As for McAdams, his campaign Web site has focused entirely on Murkowski, suggesting she is too tied to special interests. We have interview requests out to his campaign and will update when we hear back.
McAdams is prominently featured on the home page for the city and borough of Sitka, which he says enjoys being “blessed with an island culture.” From his welcome note to the city: “Sitka is, by many measures, one of the greatest places on Earth.”
“Ours is a good life. We are blessed with a disproportionate concentration of talented people who choose quality of life above seeming urban opportunity, and I am bullish on our future,” McAdams writes.
He also directs citizens to his personal blog, but that link is no longer working.
McAdams won his own primary last night, earning 49.6% of the vote above three challengers, the closest of which earned 19.4%. Hotline on Call reported this week McAdams had no real competition since Jacob Kern (D) and Frank Vondersaar (D) were perennial (losing) candidates.
In interviews earlier this week, operatives for both parties on the ground told me that McAdams was far down the Democratic bench for the race. The party sought several better-known candidates, who all declined to jump into a race against Murkowski.
