Congressional hopeful Tara Mac Lean Sweeney brought her bid for the U.S. House of Representatives to the Kenai Peninsula this weekend, where she met with residents and sought to spread awareness about her campaign. In an interview with the Clarion on Saturday, Sweeney laid out her political philosophy as she prepares for the June 11 special primary.
She is one of 48 candidates vying for Alaska’s at-large U.S. House seat that became vacant when former Republican U.S. Rep. Don Young died while traveling to Alaska in March.
Sweeney is the former assistant secretary for Indian Affairs in the U.S. Department of the Interior under former President Donald Trump — the first Alaska Native and second woman to hold the position. She is a tribal member of the Native Village of Barrow and the Iñupiat Community of the Arctic Slope.
At the time of Young’s death, Sweeney was serving as the late representative’s reelection campaign co-chair. Sweeney said Saturday that, like others who were close to Young, she took time to grieve after his passing.
“Personally, I could feel his loss, but having worked alongside of him for decades, understanding the gravity of what Alaska was facing was also weighing heavily upon me,” Sweeney said.
Sweeney said she turned her phone on silent immediately following Young’s death, but that people were contacting her to ask if she would run for the seat.
“People were reaching out to me and asking me to run, encouraging me to consider putting my name forward for Alaskans to consider my candidacy,” Sweeney said. “So there really was a significant call to serve.”
Prior to serving in the federal government Sweeney worked as the executive vice president of external affairs for the Arctic Slope Regional Corporation, of which she is also a shareholder. Sweeney is the founder, principal and CEO of Tack 71 Strategies, a company that helps executives and organizations “design and implement smarter strategies for purpose driven advocacy and engagement,” according to the company website.
Her background and experience, Sweeney said, make her the most qualified candidate on the ballot. She highlighted her familiarity with navigating Washington, D.C., politics and said among her priorities would be “fighting for Alaskan jobs.”
“I have executive branch experience,” Sweeney said. “I understand the bottlenecks and the bureaucracy that throttles and strangles our Alaskan communities in areas that we deem important.”
She described listening to constituents as a cornerstone of her leadership style and said she is a fighter who is not afraid to stand up to opponents.
“When things got extremely difficult and tough, I stayed in (the Trump) administration until the very end,” Sweeney said. “I didn’t get up and walk away from my job because it was hard. I’m a fighter, and I will fight for Alaskans in that same fashion.”
Alaska’s by-mail special primary election will be held June 11; the Alaska Division of Elections will begin mailing ballots to voters April 27. The special general election will be held Aug. 16, concurrently with the state’s regular primary election.
For the June 11 special election, 48 candidates filed to run for the seat and will appear on Alaskans’ primary ballot. Voters will vote for one candidate. The top four vote-getters will move on to the special general election in August.
The special general election in August will be a ranked choice election. Ranked choice voting allows voters to choose more than one candidate in ranked order. Voters can rank up to four candidates, or just rank one, two or three candidates.
The ranked choice ballot shows a grid of bubbles, with one row for each candidate and one column for preference order. Voters fill in the bubble in the “1st Choice” column that corresponds to their first choice candidate. Voters then move to the second column and fill in the bubble that corresponds to their second choice candidate, and so on.
If a candidate receives more than 50% of the first choice votes, that candidate would be declared the winner of the election.
If no candidate receives more than 50% of the first choice votes, the candidate who received the least number of first choice votes is eliminated. Then, the voters who ranked the eliminated candidate as their first choice would have their second choice candidate votes distributed to the remaining candidates. The process will continue until one candidate emerges with more than 50% of the votes.
The special primary election will be a by-mail election, which the Alaska Division of Elections has said underscores the need for voters to verify that their mailing address is correct. The division will begin mailing ballots on April 27. People must be registered to vote by May 12 to vote in the special primary election.
Voters can check their voter registration information at myvoterinformation.alaska.gov or by calling a regional office. Voters can change their address online at voterregistration.alaska.gov. The Anchorage regional office can be reached at 907-522-8683.
Sample ranked choice ballots are available on the Alaska Division of Elections website.
Reach reporter Ashlyn O’Hara at ashlyn.ohara@peninsulaclarion.com.
(From left) Regina Daniels Davis, Tara Sweeney, Sara Erickson and Greg Erickson attend a campaign meet and greet at Addie Camp on Saturday, April 16, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. Sweeney is running to fill the seat of former U.S. House Rep. Don Young, who died in March. (Photo courtesy Karina Waller)
