Meet The Unknown Alaska Man Who Might Give Dems' A Chance For November

[ProSense]

McAdams wins Democratic nomination for US Senate

By BECKY BOHRER / Associated Press Writer

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Small-town Alaska mayor Scott McAdams has won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.

But the tough part will lie ahead, with McAdams facing a tough bid to upset the Republican winner, either upstart Joe Miller or incumbent U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

McAdams entered the race late - June 1 - after Democrats struggled to find a candidate they considered viable against the well-known incumbent. His fundraising, so far, has been limited.

While many of the candidates were gathering in Anchorage for the election results, McAdams was in his southeast Alaska hometown, Sitka, presiding over an assembly meeting.

He says he's only missed on regular meeting in eight years, and wasn't going to make an exception Tuesday.

Meet The Unknown Alaska Man Who Might Give Dems' A Chance For November

Christina Bellantoni

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.

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Scott McAdams for United States Senate

[The Northerner]

1. In Alaska? I'm somewhat skeptical

It seems really difficult for a Dem to prevail in an election over there unless the Repub candidate did something or is accused of something shameful as Ted Stevens was over corruption allegations and Murkowski was over allegations of nepotism.

I don't know...

[ProSense]

3. You're skeptical of what?

That he can beat another unknown person?

[tularetom]

2. "Small town Alaska mayor" is enough to make me think twice

But even a small town Alaska mayor is a better choice in this case. Well, except for one particular "former" small town Alaska mayor that is.

[ProSense]

6. Here's his likely opponent,

from the OP piece:

Miller wants to ban all abortion rights, repeal the entire Affordable Care Act, including measures protecting consumers with pre-existing conditions.

McAdams (Democrat) or Miller (teabagger)?

Nothing to think about as far as I'm concerned.

[Blue_In_AK]

7. For what it's worth, Sitka is NOT Wasilla.

It's one of the more progressive towns in Alaska, and from what I've heard of Scott McAdams, he is well-liked down there. The issue is to expose him to Alaskans up here in the main part of the state. Sitka is way down on the Panhandle, off the road system, and not really "connected" to the population center of Alaska (i.e., Anchorage).

[LiberalFighter]

12. Campaigning state-wide is a difficult process in Alaska.

[Blue_In_AK]

14. Yes, it is.

Difficult and very expensive. Plane fare from Anchorage to Juneau is more expensive than plane fare to Seattle, and there's no other way to get there. Scott will need lots of cash, but if Joe Miller is the candidate I for one will dig very deep.

[tularetom]

13. I've actually been there back when the cruise ships stopped there

And I was impressed with the whole atmosphere.

But you're right. Boy, is it isolated.

[w4rma]

4. The best defense is a good offense. Besides, he's got to be better than the DLCers that are playing

defense here in the mainland.

[Supersedeas]

15. bingo

[Blue_In_AK]

5. From what I've seen, Scott McAdams is a good man,

a hard worker, and a positive and innovative thinker. What he lacks is exposure and name recognition up here on the Railbelt. He'll need a good infusion of money to counteract the Tea Party's millions. But anything is possible up here, and a contest between two virtual unknowns could be interesting.

The bad part about Miller is that he's Sarah Palin with brains. He is a West Point graduate, has a Yale law degree, is a veteran of the first Iraq War and was a magistrate in Fairbanks, I believe. The resume looks impressive, but his ideas are all messed up. If he ends up being the Republican candidate, we're going to have to fight hard to defeat him.

[Bitwit1234]

8. The big laugh here is Palin is being given credit by CNN of course

for endorseing the guy who is beating or has beat Murkowski. Murkowski before she even ran for re-election was not very popular and people were talking about voting against her. So, what does Palin do, right before the primary, after making sure Murkowski is way way down in the polls picks her opponent. DAMN ANYBODY CAN DO THAT. But not according to CNN, she's a wizard. She picks one out of 50 to 60 to win and they call her a wizard. That's the mentality over at CNN...

[Blue_In_AK]

9. I know of some independents

who pulled an "Operation Chaos" here, reasoning that McAdams would have a better shot against a Tea Bagger than against Lisa. November will be interesting.

[catgirl]

16. Fingers crossed n/t

[Blue_In_AK]

10. Please do peruse McAdams' website here

http://www.scottmcadams.org/

[BrklynLiberal]

11. That wuld be very cool......

[ChiciB1]

17. IN ALASKA?? Now THAT Would Be Something!! Alaska??? n/t