04/10/2022
It was not my plan to run for the assembly this year, but when faced with an election where it appeared a person who had lived in our town for less than two years could easily walk into our assembly seat, I couldn’t come up with another plan other than to take one last foray into politics. I wasn’t alone. Volunteers came forward and Team Gretchen took on the challenge.
Joining at the last moment, we were behind on fundraising. We did what we could with what we had. Camilla volunteered to be treasurer even though her life was already full. We dug out and brushed off signs from the last election. Stephany, Vijay, Joe and my nine-year-old grandson built sign frames with used lumber and hardware.
Camilla, Chelsea, Debbie, Kerry, Stephany and I walked icy roads to knock on doors in Muldoon and Eagle River. A postal carrier saw me taking baby steps up a hill. She pulled over, dug through her truck and pulled out a pair of ice cleats. “They’re kinda small, but you can stretch them…”
We met people who had never had anyone visit them - and that made a difference. I wish we could have knocked on all of the doors in the district - an impossible task to reach 48,000 people at 15,000 doors in 8 weeks. I credit Chelsea and Debbie for keeping the rest of us moving. “One more street, 20 more minutes, let’s keep going.”
BreeAnn, Cheryl, Deb, Jo Ann, Lisa, Rick, Sherry, Paul, Roger and the rest of the team promoted our fundraisers, door knocking events and phone bank events over the internet. A few generous people donated enough that we could send one mailing to everyone. When we received more donations we went to digital advertising.
One of the other candidates received thousands of dollars from realtors in Anchorage. Most of his large donations came from Anchorage. We couldn’t compete with the money (or his ability to send out many mailers) so we did what we could.
We called voters. Jo Ann called hundreds of voters. She talked to a 90-year-old woman who had her ballot, but had not one to help her get it turned in. Jo Ann searched until she found a number for the woman to call for a special ballot to be brought to her in person.
I attended every forum and debate and filled out countless questionnaires.
We waved signs. Hundreds of thumbs up, honks and words of thanks gave us hope.
As of Friday, three thousand, three hundred and fifty people cast their ballot in hopes to bring dignity, experience and kindness to our assembly. That’s more than three and a half times the population of Chugiak High School, more than could ever fit in the gym, four times the number who could fit in the auditorium. It nearly matches the number of households in Chugiak. Over one third of the voters chose to cast a vote for our community. That is significant.
If you are one of the 3350, don’t let it end here. Hold our elected officials accountable by sending an occasional email when they do a good job, reminders when something needs their attention and strong messaging when they slack.
I am personally grateful for these people who jumped in for the sake of our community. They sacrificed time, money, family events and Friday nights to give this campaign a shot. We were committed to the cause. We had hope. We became closer friends.
We wanted to make sure that people understood how unique, hardworking and strong this community is. That CER is not representative of a few angry officials. It wasn’t easy by any means. But we can say we did all we possibly could with what we had. It may not have been enough to win the seat, but we made a mark. We made it a race and we made a difference. I can live with that.
