AM 890 and kbbi.org: Serving the Kenai Peninsula
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

GOP primary voters back candidates who they say will ‘unseat Seaton’

Shahla Farzan/KBBI

Voters across the state and political lines will cast their ballots in several primary elections Tuesday. The Republican primary is the only contested race in House District 31. For the first time in 16 years, the party will have a new nominee, and among the many issues Republican voters are weighing is which candidate has the best chance to defeat incumbent and former Republican Paul Seaton.

Seaton is a former Republican, but he’s running unopposed as a non-partisan candidate in the Democratic primary this election cycle.

Local and state Republican Party leaders have targeted Seaton and two other Republican lawmakers in the House since they joined a bipartisan coalition made up of mostly Democrats in 2016.  The move took away control of the House from Republicans, and now the local party hopes Republican voters will reflect its dissatisfaction with Seaton this fall.  

“That was a big win on our part to get him to run on another ticket,” Nona Safra said, chair of the local Republican Party.

She said each of the three candidates running in the primary have a chance to “unseat Seaton,” the party’s new moto this election season.

“The peoples’ needs have changed from 16 years ago when Seaton was first elected. The PFD issue has changed, the budget has changed, oil has changed,” she said.

Besides Seaton joining the coalition, the local party has mainly taken aim at his support for a statewide income tax and reducing the PFD to pay for state government.

“So, him running it the way that he has been has not addressed the changing needs of the people in our district,” Safra added.

Henry Kroll, John Coxand Sarah Vance are all vying to be the party’s nominee. Cox and Vance are likely to be the most competitive candidates. Both are running on reinstating the old formula used to calculate PFDs, repealing SB91 and cutting the budget.

Both argue that they have the best chance to carry out the local party’s goal of defeating Seaton, and Voters in both camps are weighing those odds.

Some voters in the district will be familiar with Cox. He ran against U.S. House Rep. Don Young twice and lost to Seaton in the 2016 Republican primary.

He’s campaigned heavily on his experience as a business owner. Ruth Jones attended one of his campaign events earlier this month, and she thinks his business experience will appeal to voters in the general election.  

“He knows numbers. He’s sharp on the numbers. That’s exactly what drew me to him. Because the excess spending in this state is out of control,” Jones added. “We have to have somebody that’s willing to rein all that in. It’s hard to do. Nobody wants to be the bad guy, but somebody has to be that person, and I feel like he’ll do it.”

Beyond his ability to win the general election, other supporters say Cox will follow through on his campaign promises.

You will hear the same argument from Vance supporters. Happy Valley resident Chris Platter attended a meet and greet event with Vance last week, and he likes what he calls her down-to-earth approach.

“A lot of those in political power start lacking that common sense. They quit being common. They start being aristocratic. I really don’t see that happening with Sarah, I just don’t,” he said. “If she can get through the primary, I absolutely believe the people around her, the good people in the south peninsula here are going to rally behind her.”

This is Vance’s first run for state office, but Homer voters will be familiar with her name. She was the spokesperson for a political action committee that pushed for the contentious recall of three Homer City Council members last year. After that campaign failed, Vance unsuccessfully ran for one of two seats on the council.

Without any polls, it’s hard to say which candidate has attracted more voters to their camp. But one thing is certain, both Republican party leaders and party loyalists are excited about having a new nominee for the first time in over a decade.

Aaron Bolton has moved on to a new position in Montana; he is no longer KBBI News Director. KBBI is currently seeking a News Director, and Kathleen Gustafson is filling in for the time being.
Related Content