Alaska Family Council Policy Briefs
Alaska Family Council has released the following Policy Briefs regarding issues affecting the culture in our state. We believe strongly that public policy should protect life, liberty, marriage and parental choice and that judicial activism should not be a part of our Courts.
Please pass these along to those in your circles of influence who might be interested.
(Click the links to open a PDF)
Missing in Action
"And whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord, and not for men." Colossians 3:23
People of faith with deep convictions regarding what Scripture says about life, marriage and religious liberty are missing in action at election booths in alarming numbers. Alaska Family Action is privileged to serve as a resource to equip Alaskans on how to be better citizens engaged in their culture but we depend on pastors to stand alongside us to encourage and activate their church members. Their voice is critical and has much greater potential to move people to action.
With that in mind, we are engaged on a number of fronts regarding the faith community as we approach the General Election on Tuesday, November 4th. Here are a few exciting updates we ask you to pray for and consider supporting financially. We are dependent upon those who believe in what we do and invest their resources accordingly.
Voter Guide Distribution
With support from the National Black Robe Regiment, we have hired the following two outstanding individuals through November to significantly expand the distribution of our Alaska Values Voter Guides. Hosea 4:6 says "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." This initiative will go a long way toward bringing knowledge into churches across our state on where candidates stand on issues important to Alaskan families.
Matt Johnson was a consultant for Joe Miller's two U.S. Senate campaigns and was Executive Director for Alaska Right to Life. Matt has extensive political history in Alaska serving as staff in the offices of then Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, Senator Fred Dyson and Representatives Bill Stoltze and Wes Keller. Matt also served four years as a Senior Pastor with Greatland Bible Ministries in Chugiak-Eagle River.
Zachary Freeman most recently served as the Grassroots Coordinator and Legislative Liaison for Family Action Council of Tennessee. He is the founder and Editor in Chief of TheCollegeConservative.com, an internet publication devoted to providing a journalistic platform for dozens of conservative collegiate writers from around the world. He spent time as an intern for Glenn Beck’s TheBlaze TV and produced Newtok Moves a documentary about an Alaskan village literally sinking into a river.
We are blessed and privileged to have Matt and Zachary on our team and look forward to reaching hundreds of churches across the state.
Pastor Briefings
In collaboration with Family Research Council and Vision America Action, Alaska Family Action is pleased to offer two compelling, timely and informativePastor Briefings taking place in Anchorage on Tuesday, October 28th and in Fairbanks on Wednesday, October 29th. Locations are yet to be determined.
The briefings will address the biblical, historical, legal and practical involvement of Christians in civil government for the purpose of spiritual renewal. Pastors all over the country are catching this vision, and our hope is that we can awaken pastors across Alaska about the importance of engaging their congregations on Biblical citizenship. An exciting line-up of speakers for the Briefings, that will include meals and materials free of charge, will be announced in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.
Other initiatives are underway with Alaska Family Action but I'll fill you in on those in another Alert. Again, please prayerfully consider linking arms with us financially now as we prepare for one of the most important elections in recent memory. We need your investment and can assure you it will have an impact.
Rauscher Is A Conservative We Can Trust
George Rauscher – District 9
The 2014 primary election on August 19th presents conservative, pro-family voters with a number of opportunities to elect legislators who can have a huge impact on our ability to advance good public policy in Juneau. We previously mentioned one such opportunity in Senate District F, where the AFA Board of Directors has recommended a vote for Republican candidate Bill Stoltze.
Another great opportunity exists in House District 9 – which includes a vast expanse of Alaska running along the Glenn and Richardson Highways. The AFA Board of Directors is recommending a vote for George Rauscher, who is running in a hotly contested three-way Republican primary.
AFA recommends George Rauscher because he’ll be a legislator who stands tall for conservative, pro-life, and pro-family values in Juneau. Rauscher returned his AFA candidate survey. He’s a strong ally on all the issues that are most crucial to us, whether it’s protecting life, preserving marriage, advancing school choice, or reforming a broken judicial system. You can compare where George Rauscher and the other candidates in District 9 stand by downloading our AFA Values Voter Guide here.
This is not the first time that Rauscher has run for office. He ran in 2012 and came within 173 votes of unseating a well-funded incumbent legislator. This year Rauscher is running in a 3-way Republican primary. With the vote split among three candidates, the outcome could be determined by a relatively small number of votes.
IMPORTANT: Even if you don’t live in House District 9, please take a moment to look at the list of major communities in the district – see below. Maybe you have friends, family members, or coworkers who live in one of these communities – and if you do, please consider forwarding this email and kindly urge them to support George Rauscher for State House.
Click here to view a map of House District 9.
Major cities and/or regions in District 9:
Palmer region: includes parts of Farm Loop, Fishhook, and Lazy Mountain; all of Buffalo-Soapstone, Chickaloon, and Sutton-Alpine. Other communities include Big Delta, Delta Junction, Deltana, Fort Greely, Glennallen (part), Valdez & Whittier.
In the August 19 primary election, ask for the Republican Party ballot and please vote George Rauscher for House – a conservative we can trust.
This communication was paid for by Alaska Family Action, Inc., Anchorage, Alaska. I am Jim Minnery, President of Alaska Family Action, Inc., and I approve this message. This NOTICE TO VOTERS is required by Alaska law. We certify that this communication is not authorized, paid for, or approved by the candidate.
We Need Stoltze In The State Senate
Each election year, the AFA Board of Directors studies legislative races around the state. Occasionally we make recommendations to support or oppose certain candidates – especially when the stakes are high for the conservative policies we support in Juneau.
Our very first “thumbs up” recommendation in the 2014 election goes to candidate Bill Stoltze, who is running in the Republican Primary for Senate District F. This includes Chugiak, Palmer, Butte, Lazy Mountain and other neighborhoods in the Mat-Su.
Bill Stoltze is a solid conservative. He’s pro-life and pro-family. He supports school choice and supports judicial reform. Now, you may be thinking: don’t we hear that same rhetoric from LOTS of candidates, especially in Republican primary elections? Yes, we do. But the difference here is that Bill Stoltze has a proven track record. Stoltze is finishing up his 12th year of service in the State House, and before that he worked 20 years as a legislative aide. What happens when you combine rock-solid conservative values, with 32 years of experience? Someone who actually gets things accomplished.
PRO-LIFE: Stoltze played a crucial role this year in helping secure legislative approval of SB 49, the legislation to end taxpayer funding of elective abortions. Over the course of a dozen years, he has cosponsored and/or voted for bills to require parental notice before a minor’s abortion; to require informed consent before abortion; to allow “Choose Life” license plates; to permit civil liability actions in the case of wrongful death of an unborn child, and other policies as well.
PRO-FAMILY: Stoltze supports traditional marriage, and he cosponsored legislation to reserve the rights and benefits of marriage to only a union of one man and one woman.
PRO-SCHOOL CHOICE: Stoltze co-sponsored HJR 1, the constitutional amendment on school choice. He also helped secure passage of an amendment to the Governor’s education bill (HB 278) to allow state tax credits for supporting private K-12 education in Alaska.
PRO-JUDICIAL REFORM: Stoltze supports the proposed constitutional amendment (SJR 21/HJR 33) to reform the Alaska Judicial Council. He also played a key role in axing the Judicial Council’s budget for running political advertisements to support controversial liberal judges in their retention elections.
There’s a simple “bottom line” in the Senate District F race: we urgently need to keep Bill Stoltze’s experience working for us in Juneau.
TAKE ACTION: Please click here to see a map of Senate District F -- it’s the area on the map shaded in purple and green and marked 11-F & 12-F. IMPORTANT: Even if you don’t live in District F, please forward this email to any friends, family members, or co-workers who are voters in this district – and kindly urge them to support Bill Stoltze in the August 19 primary election.
This communication was paid for by Alaska Family Action, Inc., Anchorage, Alaska. I am Jim Minnery, President of Alaska Family Action, Inc., and I approve this message. This NOTICE TO VOTERS is required by Alaska law. We certify that this communication is not authorized, paid for, or approved by the candidate.
View Debate Online
For those of you who were unable to attend Alaska Family Action's U.S. Senate Social Issues Debate last week, we've just now made it available for free viewing on-line. Click HERE to view it now if you have the time, its about an hour and half, or view it later at home with your family.
Even if you were able to attend, please forward this email to as many friends, family and co-workers as you can to help them become more aware of what distinguishes Mead Treadwell, Joe Miller and Dan Sullivan on the sanctity of life, traditional marriage, religious liberty and other cultural issues that impact each of our lives.
The social issues debate was another way we are equipping Alaskans to stay engaged on the cultural front. As one article put it - "...in addition to showing Christ’s love in practical, hands-on ways through our churches, para-church and other ministries, and through individual acts of mercy for our Lord’s sake, not to seek legal protection for the unborn and sound medical care for their mothers … not to use the law to fight the commodification of women through sex trafficking and pornography … not to use legal means to protect marriage as God designed it and to strengthen the family unit, which is the fundamental means by which we become healthy, functional, productive persons … and not to work through legislation and the courts to sustain and defend the practice of religious conviction as well as the right of private conscience, recognizing that “freedom of religion” is the foundation of all of our other freedoms … is to abandon a massive sphere of human experience to evil."
We couldn't agree more and are hopeful you'll consider financially supporting our efforts regarding next Tuesday's Primary Election and leading up to the General Election on November 4th. Click HERE to invest in our mission today.
Video: U.S. Senate Alaska Republican 2014 Primary Social Issues Debate Recording
Add your reaction Share2014 Election Guide Ready !
On Tuesday, August 19th, Alaskans will have an opportunity once again to influence their culture by casting a vote.
Someone once noted that bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote. AFA makes no claims about which candidates for public office are "bad" but we can say in no uncertain terms that bad policies are passed, and good ones killed, based on poor voter turnout from those who have been identified as "Values Voters".
We are pleased to present our 2014 Alaska Values Voter Primary Election Guide for your review and use. Click HERE to download it now. Please print it up, make copies and distribute as far and wide as you can. Forward this e-mail to all of your contacts and share it on Facebook. It's time to get the word out about those candidates who claim to represent your values and those who did not take the time to even respond to our survey. Their silence can be instructive.
Please note: this voter guide covers ONLY those House and Senate districts where there is a contested primary to win a major party’s nomination for the general election. Those candidates who are unopposed in the primary election do not appear in this edition of the voter guide, but will be included in the general election edition that will be released in October.
In this year’s primary election there is only one contested race for State Senate, while there are twelve contested races for State House. These are the races & candidates that are featured below in this edition of the voter guide.
As always, we provide this guide as a service to equip the Body of Christ and are grateful for any support you might provide to support our efforts. Click HERE to invest now in our 2014 Values Voter Guide.
The 2014 Alaska Values Voter Primary Election Guide does not include responses from the U.S. Senate race. For that info, please click HERE for responses from Mead Treadwell, Joe Miller and Dan Sullivan to our survey.
Retire Begich Coffee Buzz
Join us for an after work coffee buzz at Jitters in Eagle River this Monday, July 28th at 6:30pm to get informed and inspired as we present our 2014 Election activities. This is a fundraiser to help us change the culture and our plans are BIG. Retiring Senator Begich is just one of our goals.
We're also working on making the AK State legislature more pro-family friendly and getting churches much more engaged.
Bring your checkbooks and pass this along to your contacts.
We appreciate and need you. Hope to see you Monday.
US Senate Primary Candidate Voter Guide Survey Responses
We have collected responses from Mead Treadwell, Dan Sullivan, and Joe Miller for our 2014 voter guide survey. Discover where each candidate stands on important issues:
Dan, Joe and Mead and Social Issues
Religious liberty. Protecting innocent human life at every stage. Standing up for traditional marriage.
Where do Dan Sullivan, Mead Treadwell and Joe Miller really differ on these important issues. And how.
Attendance is now FREE but you must register to attend.
Limiting seating is available and tickets are going fast. Click HERE to be a part of this important debate.
