Richard Grayson Says That If He Gets To General, He'll Drop Out

The Grayson flyers keep coming.  

I tried to find out more about him and found this interview with Tucson Now from 2024.  He just doesn't sound like a conniving politician trying to sabotage Mary Peltola.  Much more like a court jester playing around with the system

So yesterday I emailed him to find out what his connection with Fair Deal Alaska was.

"Mr. Grayson, 

I'm getting daily flyers touting you on one side and tearing down Mary Peltola on the other side.  As an Alaskan voter and as an Anchorage blogger, I'm curious about these flyers.  They say "Paid for by Fair Deal Alaska, not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee."

When did they contact you to let you know they were doing this?  I've watched a Tucson Live video of you and it seems like all this is a joke for you.  But it appears that Fair Deal Alaska is trying to get you into the top four in the hopes that you will be in the top four and take votes from Mary Peltola as a way to insure Sen. Sullivan gets reelected.  

So my questions are:

1.  When, if ever, did Fair Deal Alaska contact you to let you know they were supporting you?
   
2. How do you feel about the possibility that your campaign will help Sen. Sullivan get reelected?
   

Thanks,"

And this morning, I got this reply:

Steve,

Thanks for your letter and for not cursing me out like most people have.

I have said that unless I hear otherwise from Mary's campaign, in the unlikely event that I do make the Top Four, I will drop out the way Republicans Nancy Dahlstrom and Matthew Salisbury did in the '24 House race (when I ran tenth out of 12). (emphasis mine)

Fair Deal Alaska never contacted me. I learned about it only from the initial story a week ago Sunday evening by Nathaniel Herz in Northern Journal. It's since been reprinted in the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Beacon, etc. It would be ILLEGAL for Fair Deal Alaska or any super PAC to contact a candidate. If you ever wondered, like I did, what makes super PACs super is that they are dark money who cannot have any contact with candidates. Fair Deal Alaska gave $315,000 to Carol "KItty" Hafner and $313,000 to me. Another super PAC, American Democracy Project gave money to another Democrat running, David Leslie. I was the one who told David about that; he didn't know anything about it. I posted a list from yesterday on my blog. If you click on the image, you can see it large enough to read: 

Shady Super PAC "Fair Deal Alaska" Spends $313,431 on the Campaign of Alaska's Green Party U.S. Senate Candidate Richard Grayson

Shady Super PAC "Fair Deal Alaska" Spends $313,431 on the Campaign of Al...According to Capitol Hill Access and our own somewhat suspect mathematical skills the shady, presumably right-w...

Presumably Republicans are behind it, just as Democrats are behind the super PAC, RIght for Alaska, spending money on behalf of a Republican candidate, Gerald "Jerry" Heikes. In the 2024 House race, a super PAC also spent money on behalf of Heikes; it was presumed to be someone supporting Mary Peltola. 

So this is quite upsetting to me. I just assumed that running for Senate in Alaska would be like running for the House was in '24: trying to push Mary to the left (like she wouldn't support Kamala Harris before the primary and really not for a very long time) but getting a hundred or so votes (I finished tenth out of 12) and then endorsing Mary. Because anyone with any sense understands there are only two people who matter in this election. I don't think the mailings will do any good. They will just annoy people, and I am getting lots of annoyed emails and angry phone calls. So I think and hope I will finish far below the Top Four.

If you want to know more about me, you can google my name (or as people who are not elderly like me say, search it up) and "candidate" or "writer." I have been in newspapers since 1979 when I was 28 and running for vice president. I'll link to a couple of things below.

Thanks again. I hope I've answered your questions. Again, thank you for being civil.

Best,

Richard

So our attention should be focused on Fair Deal Alaska.  And everyone should already be suspicious of PACs named with empty feel good phrases like "Fair Deal."  The same goes for campaign ads that promise apple pie but with no recipes for how it will be made.  

 

He attached some of the old references. (Not sure why the images are black, but I'll leave them for now because they're attached to the headlines below.)

In Arizona, No Labels Is Attracting Potential Candidates It Doesn’t Want

In Arizona, No Labels Is Attracting Potential Candidates It Doesn’t Want Sue Halpern The state has recognized the group as a legitimate political party. Why is No Labels so angry?

Marta McCave, "White House Fever," USA Today, October 5, 1983, 2A.

Marta McCave, "White House Fever," USA Today, October 5, 1983, 2A. Clipping found in USA Today published in McLean, Virginia on 10/5/1983. Marta McCave, "White House Fever," USA T...

"Cash and absentee votes shaped elections," Jackson Hole News and Guide, 11/12/14

"Cash and absentee votes shaped elections," Jackson Hole News and Guide,... Clipping found in Jackson Hole News and Guide published in Jackson, Wyoming on 11/12/2014. "Cash and absentee vo...