In 1985, my young family followed an oilfield truck up the Alcan and we began a life of adventure, beauty, hard work, laughter and tears. About a decade ago, I married my best friend, Nelma. We’ve got tons of kids and grandkids and three very exuberant dogs.

My run for Senate is fueled by our beliefs that we need to stand up for folks who are being ignored and pushed around, for the sick, the hungry, the homeless and the imprisoned. Why am I qualified to serve you in the senate? I’ve worn many hats: oilfield worker, parent, student, school teacher, social worker, gold-miner, sports fisherman and long-liner deck hand and prison ministry. I’ve seen life in Alaska from nearly every angle, I care about people and I’m willing to stick my neck out for them.

I’m running against Senator Micciche because he’s confused about who he’s working for. He’s far more sensitive to the needs of large corporations than he is to the needs of local businesses and families. Take the $150 million set of refinery tax credits he pushed through the senate, for example. How many jobs could those funds have created if they had helped small, local business owners purchase new or more efficient equipment? And many local families are shattered by a loved one’s addiction to alcohol, heroin or meth — how many lives could be rebuilt if less than 1% of that money had been devoted to fully fund Serenity House’s transitional living center?

I’m running because I’m outraged that a ConocoPhillips executive cast the deciding vote for SB-21, a bill that’s making his company rich. The perceptions and potential reality of Senate corruption come back again and again. Rules and laws governing honesty and transparency need to be changed and Peter Micciche has failed to address this issue. The controversy over SB 21 has divided Alaskans, not united them. I want to unite Alaskans, not divide them. I want to fix the problems in Juneau including promoting rules changes that will allow senators to abstain when voting is inappropriate.

I’m running against Senator Micciche because he’s failed to lead in the fight to expand Medicaid to protect the lives of 43,000 hard-working, low-income Alaskans.

I’m running to help protect our environment — Senator Micciche strongly favored revised HB 77 saying that “this is a case where government actually worked.” This suggests that we are aren’t done defending our environment from those who’d ravage our land for a quick buck.

I’m running because I’m sick of the influence of money on our political system. One thing that makes our campaign different is that we are only accepting small contributions from people and only people. We’ll listen to the people.

And I’m running because I have vision of Alaska that stretches beyond the next ten or even twenty years. A vision of our state as an innovation and manufacturing powerhouse for renewable energy technology. This vision is the convergence of our desperate need for renewable energy coupled with our abundance of tidal power, wind and summer sun — and the people who will breathe life into this vision are Alaskans. Shrewd, brilliant, hard-working folks who can accomplish nearly anything with next to nothing. This new industry would support and strengthen local businesses in unimaginable ways and we’ll have good-paying, high-tech jobs will last for generations! Please join me in stamping out corruption and cronyism and let’s re-engineer our economy for the long haul! In Alaska, there is no us and them. It’s just us. Please visit us! Facebook: Eric Treider for Senate or www.treiderforsenate.com