Hard to get folks outside of Alaska to take Forrest Dunbar seriously, but really, the 30-year old challenger to Don Young in Alaska is rockin' and rollin'.
Forrest was just endorsed by the Juneau Empire, SE Alaska's largest newspaper.
http://juneauempire.com/...
Young and Dunbar aren’t so different despite their party affiliations. Dunbar is an “Alaska Democrat,” and by that we mean in most states he’d be considered a Republican based on his philosophies. Dunbar is pro-gun rights, supports resource development, wants to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, and believes in Alaska’s right to self govern without federal menacing. He’s more of a moderate than most who carry a “D” behind their name.
Dunbar also believes in “meaningful” campaign finance reform and wants to put an end to unlimited Outside dollars being funneled into Alaska to influence our elections. He also believes in setting term limits for those serving in Congress.
Dunbar and Young differ on social issues, namely same-sex marriage and women’s rights. We encourage voters to not get caught up with voting based on these issues. No one in Congress, Democrat or Republican, has made any significant progress on these two issues in a long, long time. The right for gays to marry and for women to have abortions have and will continue to be decided by the courts. Electing a representative based on either of these two things is like voting for an Assembly member because of how they feel about the Juneau Access Project. Sure, they may have an opinion, but that doesn’t change the fact they have little to no power to do anything about it.
During the Empire’s two meetings with Dunbar, we were impressed with his knowledge of Southeast’s issues, from the Big Thorne Timber Sale to the threat of Canada’s transboundary mines. We had hoped to meet, or at least speak, with Young as well. An email to his spokesman this week went unanswered, though we weren’t surprised. In recent months when Young has reached out to Alaska media, it’s often been to apologize for something he said or did.
Dunbar received an Ivy League education, but is also very much a blue collar Alaskan. He spent his earlier years fishing before earning his law degree from Yale and joining the military. He’s also spent time working in the nation’s capital. Dunbar’s experience fishing, serving in the military and work with the federal government more than qualifies him for federal office.
Forrest Dunbar's official website is here.
https://www.forrestforalaska.com/