IBEW Local 1547 (Anchorage AK) Struggles Against Republican Attacks Against Alaskan Workers

Key Republican, known for honesty and integrity, Supports Democrat for Alaskan Electric Coop Board

From the Anchorage Press Flashlight Column of March 17-23, 2005

... Strange bedfellows came out from under the covers in Wasilla this week when former Wasilla mayor Sarah Palin lent her voice to radio advertisements for Peter Burchell, a candidate for the Matanuska Electric Association board. Throughout the 1990s, the MEA board has been regarded as the Mat-Su's Republican playground. Palin has been something of a state GOP star, at least until she blew the whistle on state Republican chairman Randy Ruedrich's shenanigans on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Burchell's a registered Democrat who said he is courting support from the IBEW, the union that represents a huge segment of MEA employees and serves as a punching bag for conservative candidates during co-op elections. Palin was traveling this week and not available for comment. Burchell said he doesn't know if Palin's gotten any flak for the ads, but he suspects she might. He also said his candidacy was spawned by the recent flap over power lines planned through a popular greenbelt, not his pro-worker politics. MEA, he said, “is a co-op. It's not a private company that owns thousands of acres of private property with which we can do whatever we want.”