Contributed by Bruce Cain
Secret votes by representative leaders should raise questions from constituents. It looks to me like House District 9 Republican Committee Chair Carol Carmen is trying to pick the Republican candidate for House District 9 without letting the voters have our say. It also looks to me like she is trying to cover it up. On June 5th, she led a pre-primary endorsement of George Rauscher by secret vote. Where is the accountability of district representatives with a secret vote? This should have some light shed on it.
Occasionally, I publish a Bruceism. Here is Bruceism #319: “Your opinion of light depends on whether you are trying to change a tire or trying to steal a tire.”
What is George Rauscher afraid of? Ask the question. Does Mrs. Carmen know that the district committee has a fiduciary responsibility to the members in the district? When does a responsible representative get the right to a secret vote? What about the right of constituents to know how the district committee voted? Is this the only way Representative Rauscher can be elected? What is wrong with an open primary debate where the voters hear from all the candidates on a level playing field and make our own choice? What concessions in the party rules does Representative Rauscher make by using this method? Will he be forced by party rules to sit in the minority again and get very little done while the House organizes around him? In my opinion, every resident of House District 9 lost effective representation last session. Are we going to stand by and let it be happen again? With a secret vote?
By the way, who counted the secret votes and who checked the vote? How secret is that? I heard that the district chair has called for resignation of anyone on the committee who does not support Representative Rauscher. How participatory is that? Who gets the right to look inside the soul of committee members who have opposing views and enforce it?
This isn’t just about registered republicans. According to the Alaska Constitution, the representative-elected represents everyone in District 9. Everyone. Man, woman and child too young to vote. Registered voter or not. Republican or not. How can a vote this important to everyone be kept secret? Whose idea was this and who voted for this endorsement anyway? I want to know. Why does the district chair want to hide this? We should all want to know.
Why does the committee feel like it has to endorse one candidate over others without letting the voters have their say first? What is there to be afraid of? Frankly, I am ashamed of what the District 9 Republican Committee Chair is trying to pull off.
Here is a President Abraham Lincolnism. He was a Republican: “You can't fool all of the people all of the time.” I have every confidence that the very capable voters in District 9 will think for themselves and go find out. What is the big cover up about?
Bruce Cain is a registered Republican and lives in Glennallen, Alaska. He is a former vice chair of the Republican Committee for House District 9.