Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:
Ethan Berkowitz surged to a decisive win over opponent Amy Demboski in the Anchorage mayoral runoff election Tuesday night.
With 98 percent of the vote counted, Berkowitz had more than 59 percent of the vote to Demboski’s 41 percent, a margin that was insurmountable.
Berkowitz had held a commanding lead over Demboski throughout the evening. As of 11 p.m., 122 of the municipality’s 124 precincts had reported.
Berkowitz will take over the mayor's office from Dan Sullivan on July 1.
As his lead over Demboski held strong, Berkowitz stood on a chair at his campaign party in a downtown restaurant to wild applause and waving signs. He asked his supporters to continue to help when the night’s celebration was over, asking them to work on unifying Anchorage and heal the divisions that marked the final days of the campaign.
“There is a better way,” Berkowitz said. “It doesn’t matter if you're a Republican, a Democrat, a Libertarian, an independent or you don’t even vote. This is our Anchorage!”
As the applause and screams almost drowned him out, he continued, “It doesn't matter if you’re a Muslim, a Jew, a Christian, a Buddhist or something else. This is our Anchorage! It doesn’t matter if you’re straight or gay or lesbian or transgender.”
Yes this is our Anchorage, and fortunately the combined efforts of the Koch brothers and Jerry Prevo were not able to change that.
I want to thank every Anchorage visitor to IM who voted for Ethan in this election. As I am sure you know this city desperately needs somebody like him to help us repair the damage done during the Sullivan administration.
Ethan Berkowitz is a hard worker, and a man who really cares about the people of this city.
I could not have asked for a better start to my day today.
Morality is not determined by the church you attend nor the faith you embrace. It is determined by the quality of your character and the positive impact you have on those you meet along your journey
Showing posts with label Amy Demboski. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amy Demboski. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 06, 2015
Tuesday, May 05, 2015
I think election day is the appropriate time to remind Anchorage voters of this.
You have to admit, the comparison is more than reasonable.
Get out and vote people.
Remember the Koch brothers just bought the Senator that they wanted, don't let them get the mayor they want as well.
Get out and vote people.
Remember the Koch brothers just bought the Senator that they wanted, don't let them get the mayor they want as well.
Labels:
Alaska,
Amy Demboski,
Anchorage,
election,
mistake,
politics,
Sarah Palin
Monday, May 04, 2015
Andrew Halcro decides he cannot keep quiet any longer, endorses Ethan Berkowitz for Mayor of Anchorage.
Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:
Former Anchorage mayoral candidate Andrew Halcro has offered a last-second endorsement of Ethan Berkowitz, one of the two candidates in Tuesday’s runoff election.
Halcro, a centrist Republican who used to lead the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, placed third in the initial round of balloting last month, behind Berkowitz, a Democrat, and Republican Amy Demboski, the other candidate in Tuesday’s runoff.
The top two finishers stand in the runoff if neither reached 45 percent of the vote in the first round. The election is officially non-partisan, but both Demboski and Berkowitz have received partisan backing.
Halcro, who got 21.5 percent of the vote last month, initially said he would not endorse either Berkowitz or Demboski. But in a Facebook post late Sunday, Halcro encouraged his supporters to vote for Berkowitz, saying he was worried about Demboski’s honesty, integrity, and maturity, “and her decision to allow the most extreme elements of the Republican Party to lead her campaign.”
Halcro said that the catalyst for him was Demboski's ugly attacks against Berkowitz:
“After the last week, it was like, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t bite my tongue any more,’” Halcro said. “To watch this campaign degrade over the last two weeks into this personal attack at Ethan was just way too much.”
"At any point in time, Amy could have stopped this," Halcro added.
There are a lot of reasons to disagree with Halcro politically, but he is clearly a man of integrity.
Remember if you are a resident of Anchorage, it is imperative that you get out and vote tomorrow.
Because trust me, Jerry Prevo is going to have his followers bussed to the polls in support of Demboski if need be.
Former Anchorage mayoral candidate Andrew Halcro has offered a last-second endorsement of Ethan Berkowitz, one of the two candidates in Tuesday’s runoff election.
Halcro, a centrist Republican who used to lead the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, placed third in the initial round of balloting last month, behind Berkowitz, a Democrat, and Republican Amy Demboski, the other candidate in Tuesday’s runoff.
The top two finishers stand in the runoff if neither reached 45 percent of the vote in the first round. The election is officially non-partisan, but both Demboski and Berkowitz have received partisan backing.
Halcro, who got 21.5 percent of the vote last month, initially said he would not endorse either Berkowitz or Demboski. But in a Facebook post late Sunday, Halcro encouraged his supporters to vote for Berkowitz, saying he was worried about Demboski’s honesty, integrity, and maturity, “and her decision to allow the most extreme elements of the Republican Party to lead her campaign.”
Halcro said that the catalyst for him was Demboski's ugly attacks against Berkowitz:
“After the last week, it was like, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t bite my tongue any more,’” Halcro said. “To watch this campaign degrade over the last two weeks into this personal attack at Ethan was just way too much.”
"At any point in time, Amy could have stopped this," Halcro added.
There are a lot of reasons to disagree with Halcro politically, but he is clearly a man of integrity.
Remember if you are a resident of Anchorage, it is imperative that you get out and vote tomorrow.
Because trust me, Jerry Prevo is going to have his followers bussed to the polls in support of Demboski if need be.
Saturday, May 02, 2015
Alaska Dispatch tackles the Amy Demboski divorce story, but now I am left with more questions than answers.
As I begin this post I first must confess that I personally never went through the Dempsey/Hyatt divorce file myself down at the courthouse.
Instead, as I reported, I received a call from Bill Fulton about this case, who then sent me the documents that I shared on IM.
It was he and others who did the actual legwork (Except for some internet sleuthing that I did on my own later.), and it was they who decided that I should be the person to take point on the story.
Bill has been a very reliable and honest source of information for me going back a few years now, and I have come to trust him.
We of course realized that once the story was posted that other news sources would do more digging, and invariably come up with information that we did not know. And that's indeed what has happened.
Yesterday the Alaska Dispatch followed up on the story and found some interesting facts.
For instance they learned that Demboski, then Amy Lynn Hyatt, was also in the Air Force when she got married.
Now that is interesting because Demboski was described by her father as "The most military kid that he knew." However she never mentions her service to her country in the biography at her own website:
I graduated from Chugiak High School in 1994 and went on to attend UAA. While working full time, and raising a family, I earned Bachelor’s degrees in Justice and History. I subsequently obtained an MBA, with an emphasis in Finance, from Columbia Southern University. I have spent the majority of the past 20 years employed in the private sector right here in Alaska. My responsibilities included building and managing multi-million dollar businesses. Currently, In addition to representing the Eagle River area on the Anchorage Assembly, I am responsible for the overall management, business development and operations of a business with multiple locations in Alaska.
See? No mention of serving in the military. How odd.
She also of course fails to mention her previous marriage and subsequent dissolution.
The Dispatch also claims that in the beginning of the proceedings that Hyatt and Dempsey claimed there was no child:
Among the statements in the petition the couple swore was true was this: “There are no minor or dependent children born of or during this marriage or adopted during this marriage, and the wife is not now pregnant.”
And that later there was a forged document which admitted to a child, but claimed that Dempsey was not the father:
A document purportedly signed by Dempsey that sought to amend the initial filing with a reference to the pregnancy and an assertion it was not his child was a “forgery by someone else,” Shortell declared.
Dispatch has a statement from Dembosky insisting that it was not a forgery but in fact a notarized document from Dempsey. Which, as previously stated, declared that he was not the father.
That must refer to this document:
Which read in full:
"I, Christian M. Dempsey, being duly sworn do hereby depose and say: (And this next part is hand written.) that I am not the father of the child to be born to Ms. Amy L. Hyatt in July 1996."
Dembosky also told the Dispatch this:
Demboski said she joined the military when she was 18, and married Dempsey while she was in technical training. She said she and Dempsey were deployed to England, and she became pregnant with her daughter. She said she moved back to Alaska for health reasons. She said she received an honorable discharge from the military.
But see now all of that is confusing because the first of the documents I received was this one from April 2, 1996:
Which clearly states:
(resident 10/95 married, no child, 7/96 due) (resident never lived w/Mr., Mr. not the father.)
So they were both stationed in England after being married, and they did not live together?
And as you will notice there is already a statement that Mr. Dempsey is not the father.
Like I said confusing.
Also according to the Dispatch the first attempt at a dissolution did not take, so there was another more successful attempt filed on April 24, 1997, AFTER the child was born.
In this case apparently Dempsey did accept that the child was his, despite working so hard to disprove it in the initial case.
However he also stated that he was unaware of the child's birth until four months after the fact and, though he agreed to pay support, he did not ask for any visitation rights.
That seems more than a little odd. Almost as if in the end he gave in to pressure, but still knew the child was not really his.
Demboski also told the Dispatch that she did not lie under oath, did not remember anything about forged documents, and that she did not remember it took two tries to finally end her first marriage.
Uh huh.
Like I said this article raises more questions than it answers in my opinion, but the one thing that is made crystal clear is that we do NOT want to elect this person to be the mayor of my city.
No way, no how!
Which, if you take a moment to scroll through the comments under this Dispatch article, seems less and less likely.
Instead, as I reported, I received a call from Bill Fulton about this case, who then sent me the documents that I shared on IM.
It was he and others who did the actual legwork (Except for some internet sleuthing that I did on my own later.), and it was they who decided that I should be the person to take point on the story.
Bill has been a very reliable and honest source of information for me going back a few years now, and I have come to trust him.
We of course realized that once the story was posted that other news sources would do more digging, and invariably come up with information that we did not know. And that's indeed what has happened.
Yesterday the Alaska Dispatch followed up on the story and found some interesting facts.
For instance they learned that Demboski, then Amy Lynn Hyatt, was also in the Air Force when she got married.
Now that is interesting because Demboski was described by her father as "The most military kid that he knew." However she never mentions her service to her country in the biography at her own website:
I graduated from Chugiak High School in 1994 and went on to attend UAA. While working full time, and raising a family, I earned Bachelor’s degrees in Justice and History. I subsequently obtained an MBA, with an emphasis in Finance, from Columbia Southern University. I have spent the majority of the past 20 years employed in the private sector right here in Alaska. My responsibilities included building and managing multi-million dollar businesses. Currently, In addition to representing the Eagle River area on the Anchorage Assembly, I am responsible for the overall management, business development and operations of a business with multiple locations in Alaska.
See? No mention of serving in the military. How odd.
She also of course fails to mention her previous marriage and subsequent dissolution.
The Dispatch also claims that in the beginning of the proceedings that Hyatt and Dempsey claimed there was no child:
Among the statements in the petition the couple swore was true was this: “There are no minor or dependent children born of or during this marriage or adopted during this marriage, and the wife is not now pregnant.”
And that later there was a forged document which admitted to a child, but claimed that Dempsey was not the father:
A document purportedly signed by Dempsey that sought to amend the initial filing with a reference to the pregnancy and an assertion it was not his child was a “forgery by someone else,” Shortell declared.
Dispatch has a statement from Dembosky insisting that it was not a forgery but in fact a notarized document from Dempsey. Which, as previously stated, declared that he was not the father.
That must refer to this document:
Which read in full:
"I, Christian M. Dempsey, being duly sworn do hereby depose and say: (And this next part is hand written.) that I am not the father of the child to be born to Ms. Amy L. Hyatt in July 1996."
Dembosky also told the Dispatch this:
Demboski said she joined the military when she was 18, and married Dempsey while she was in technical training. She said she and Dempsey were deployed to England, and she became pregnant with her daughter. She said she moved back to Alaska for health reasons. She said she received an honorable discharge from the military.
But see now all of that is confusing because the first of the documents I received was this one from April 2, 1996:
Which clearly states:
(resident 10/95 married, no child, 7/96 due) (resident never lived w/Mr., Mr. not the father.)
So they were both stationed in England after being married, and they did not live together?
And as you will notice there is already a statement that Mr. Dempsey is not the father.
Like I said confusing.
Also according to the Dispatch the first attempt at a dissolution did not take, so there was another more successful attempt filed on April 24, 1997, AFTER the child was born.
In this case apparently Dempsey did accept that the child was his, despite working so hard to disprove it in the initial case.
However he also stated that he was unaware of the child's birth until four months after the fact and, though he agreed to pay support, he did not ask for any visitation rights.
That seems more than a little odd. Almost as if in the end he gave in to pressure, but still knew the child was not really his.
Demboski also told the Dispatch that she did not lie under oath, did not remember anything about forged documents, and that she did not remember it took two tries to finally end her first marriage.
Uh huh.
Like I said this article raises more questions than it answers in my opinion, but the one thing that is made crystal clear is that we do NOT want to elect this person to be the mayor of my city.
No way, no how!
Which, if you take a moment to scroll through the comments under this Dispatch article, seems less and less likely.
Friday, May 01, 2015
Koch brother paid-for Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan endorses Koch brother paid-for mayoral candidate Amy Demboski.
Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan endorsed Anchorage mayoral candidate Amy Demboski in a statement released by her campaign Thursday, and a Republican state senator from Anchorage, Lesil McGuire, came out in favor of Ethan Berkowitz in a radio ad that began running the same day.
Sullivan, a Republican, appeared at a fundraiser for Demboski earlier in April. He made his endorsement official Thursday.
This of course would probably count as the least surprising news of the day, since we know that Sullivan is a Koch brother lackey who readily jumps through Koch brother hoops.
What is somewhat more surprising is that fellow Republican Lesil McGuire came out in support of Ethan Berkowitz, the Democrat.
In the ad supporting Berkowitz, McGuire, who worked with Berkowitz in the Alaska Legislature, speaks directly to listeners. The ad was produced by Berkowitz for a Better Anchorage, a union-funded independent expenditure group.
“As a Republican, I want a mayor that gets the basics done right,” McGuire says. “Good roads, great schools and strong public safety. In this election we can also have someone with vision and integrity and a proven record of bringing people together.”
She describes Berkowitz as a “gifted public servant who will work with all sides” and a small business owner.
I have had some issues in the past with McGuire but she shows some backbone here is refusing to support the candidate supposedly on her side of the aisle and instead supporting the one that can actually do the job.
Ethan is indeed a talented and ethical man, and as yesterday's post proves Amy Demboski is neither.
U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan endorsed Anchorage mayoral candidate Amy Demboski in a statement released by her campaign Thursday, and a Republican state senator from Anchorage, Lesil McGuire, came out in favor of Ethan Berkowitz in a radio ad that began running the same day.
Sullivan, a Republican, appeared at a fundraiser for Demboski earlier in April. He made his endorsement official Thursday.
This of course would probably count as the least surprising news of the day, since we know that Sullivan is a Koch brother lackey who readily jumps through Koch brother hoops.
What is somewhat more surprising is that fellow Republican Lesil McGuire came out in support of Ethan Berkowitz, the Democrat.
In the ad supporting Berkowitz, McGuire, who worked with Berkowitz in the Alaska Legislature, speaks directly to listeners. The ad was produced by Berkowitz for a Better Anchorage, a union-funded independent expenditure group.
“As a Republican, I want a mayor that gets the basics done right,” McGuire says. “Good roads, great schools and strong public safety. In this election we can also have someone with vision and integrity and a proven record of bringing people together.”
She describes Berkowitz as a “gifted public servant who will work with all sides” and a small business owner.
I have had some issues in the past with McGuire but she shows some backbone here is refusing to support the candidate supposedly on her side of the aisle and instead supporting the one that can actually do the job.
Ethan is indeed a talented and ethical man, and as yesterday's post proves Amy Demboski is neither.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
The secret marriage, and ugly dissolution of that marriage, that Anchorage mayoral candidate Amy Demboski really does not want you to know about.
So Amy Demboski is in a runoff election with Ethan Berkowitz to decide who will be the mayor of our fair city.
Demboski is a completely unqualified candidate who nonetheless has attracted the backing of the Koch brothers and of course our Baptist minister king maker Jerry Prevo.
Essentially Prevo is drawn to Demboski because she is a family values embracing homophobe who is pushing a conservative agenda. You could say that hate and ideology binds them.
But what if there were something about Amy Demboski that was not quite so pro-family values? You know perhaps something like a brief marriage and an attempt to force your former husband into paying child support for a child that was not his.
Because you know what? That is something that really happened.
Demboski is a completely unqualified candidate who nonetheless has attracted the backing of the Koch brothers and of course our Baptist minister king maker Jerry Prevo.
Essentially Prevo is drawn to Demboski because she is a family values embracing homophobe who is pushing a conservative agenda. You could say that hate and ideology binds them.
But what if there were something about Amy Demboski that was not quite so pro-family values? You know perhaps something like a brief marriage and an attempt to force your former husband into paying child support for a child that was not his.
Because you know what? That is something that really happened.
Labels:
Amy Demboski,
Anchorage,
child support,
Ethan Berkowitz,
Jerry Prevo,
Koch brothers,
mayor,
Military,
politics
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Conservative mayoral candidate Amy Demboski inspires Facebook page. Against her.
| Amy Demboski |
They also posted that Demobski is now getting help from the same folks who helped Dan Sullivan get elected:
Major conservative political groups are stepping into the Anchorage mayor’s race. The May runoff between Amy Demboski and Ethan Berkowitz is drawing increasing attention from state and national organizations hoping to influence local politics.
Americans For Prosperity is a political group based in Virginia, backed by the Koch brothers, that advocates for conservative causes. They don’t endorse candidates, but will be seeking to inform Anchorage voters about their two choices for mayor.
“We’ve identified Ethan’s record as one that’s troubling, and we think will be devastating to the residents of Anchorage,” said Jeremy Price, spokesman for the Alaska chapter of AFP.
These folks spent millions to get Sullivan elected, and if they want Demboski bad enough they can make this a very tough fight for Ethan Berkowtiz despite his impressive poll numbers.
So yes as that graphic above says, WE need to make damn sure that we vote on may 5th.
Labels:
Alaska,
Amy Demboski,
Anchorage,
elections,
Ethan Berkowitz,
Facebook,
Koch brothers,
politics
Thursday, April 09, 2015
Runoff for Anchorage mayor now between Ethan Berkowitz and Amy Demboski. Seriously?
![]() |
| Photo courtesy of the Alaska Commons. |
With more than 99 percent of the vote counted in the Anchorage municipal election early Wednesday morning, Ethan Berkowitz held a commanding lead with nearly 37 percent of the vote, but was shy of the 45 percent he would need to avoid a runoff.
Amy Demboski held almost a 3-point lead for the second-place spot and the other runoff position over Andrew Halcro. She had more than 24 percent; he was close to 22 percent. Former two-term Anchorage Assemblyman Dan Coffey, initially the front-runner in the mayor's race, was in fourth place with 14 percent of the vote.
“Feeling strong -- this is a great night,” Berkowitz said as he walked out of his campaign party downtown to Election Central at the Dena'ina Convention Center. “My campaign team has been terrific. The numbers suggest there will be a runoff. We’ll continue to talk about the goals we have for Anchorage, make sure this continues to be a safe, strong and secure community and make sure we’re ready for the opportunities that come our way.”
Demboski was also upbeat in a brief interview at Election Central. She described herself as “cautiously optimistic” about the count.
“No matter what happens, I know that we ran a great campaign,” Demboski said. “We did everything we could with what we had. And the message that’s really resonating is though you may not be the candidate with the most amount of money, if you have a strong message and that message resonates with voters, you absolutely can prevail.” Demboski raised the least amount of campaign money of the four leading candidates.
Okay color me surprised on this one.
I knew there would be a runoff but I really thought it would come down to Berkowitz and Halcro.
Demboski is a fucking lunatic and might actually be worse for our city than even Dan Sullivan, who is to Anchorage politics what skidmarks are to a clean pair of underwear.
I have little doubt that Berkowitz will win, but I have to admit I find it troubling that Demboski received this much support.
Labels:
Alaska,
Alaska Dispatch,
Amy Demboski,
Anchorage,
Ethan Berkowitz,
mayor,
politics,
votes
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