Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin: I Totally Didn't Quit -- Tour Will Continue 'When The Time Comes'

Jillian Rayfield | June 23, 2011, 1:15PM

Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin has denied reports that she cut short her One Nation bus tour, posting on her Facebook page: "Why didn't anyone tell me? Oh, wait, that's because it hasn't been cancelled." But though Palin said she had been called back to Alaska for jury duty, she was vague about when she would restart the tour: "The next leg of the tour continues when the time comes."

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Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin Reportedly Quits Bus Tour Halfway Through

Jillian Rayfield | June 22, 2011, 10:16AM

Sarah Palin

Former half-term Gov. Sarah Palin has reportedly packed in her bus tour...halfway through.

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NV-SEN

A Rundown Of Recount Laws In States With Close Statewide Elections

Brian Beutler and Elizabeth Harrison | October 25, 2010, 12:55PM

Workers recount ballots from the 2008 Minnesota Senate race.

It's been a grueling election season, but at least it will all be over next week.

Unless, of course, it's not. An unusual number of closely contested races means the chances are fairly high that one or more high-profile elections will end in a recount. With nearly 100 House seats in play, a recount could be triggered in just about every state. In Senate and gubernatorial elections, though, we have a better idea of where to watch -- i.e., which races are within the margin of error, or narrowing quickly.

Here's a rundown of recount rules in key states. Remember, control of the Senate could depend on this.

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AK-SEN

Joe Miller Security Guards Detain Journalist At Town Hall Meeting (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | October 18, 2010, 10:40AM

Alaska Dispatch editor Tony Hopfinger sits with his hands cuffed.

Tony Hopfinger, the founder and editor of online news site the Alaska Dispatch, was handcuffed and detained by Joe Miller's private security detail at a town hall yesterday at a public school in Anchorage, after he repeatedly tried to question and videotape the Republican nominee for Senate.

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AK-SEN

Joe Miller Warns DC Establishment To Stay Out Of Alaska During Vote Counts

Christina Bellantoni | August 27, 2010, 3:33PM

Alaska Senate candidate Joe Miller (R)

As elections officials collect absentee ballots and lawyers descend on Alaska, insurgent Senate candidate Joe Miller has a message for the National Republican Senatorial Committee: Back off.

We've been closely following this Republican primary race, the results of which hang in the balance as Miller leads Sen. Lisa Murkowski by 1,668 votes and she's got nothing to do but wait. But the NRSC sent a lawyer to help Murkowski should voting questions arise as absentee ballots are counted, and a new report surfaced today suggesting the state party was secretly supporting the senator despite a promise to stay neutral.

Miller issued a statement accusing Murkowski of trying to "pull an Al Franken" by lawyering up. He warned the NRSC to stay on the sidelines, saying the party committee is intended to elect Republicans, "not to pick favorites amongst those running, nor is it to send lawyers to try to manipulate the outcome."

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Alaska Plane Crash

Former NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe Alive After Alaska Plane Crash

Evan McMorris-Santoro | August 10, 2010, 4:12PM

Former NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe

Former NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe survived the Alaska plane crash that killed former Sen. Ted Stevens, according to defense contractor EADS North America. O'Keefe is the CEO of the company, which specializes in aviation.

"It was with a great sense of relief and gratitude that we learned that Sean, and his son,
Kevin, survived the aircraft crash in Alaska. We extend our deepest sympathy to the
families of those less fortunate in this terrible accident," EADS Chairman Ralph Crosby told TPMDC in a statement. "We owe a debt of gratitude for the heroic efforts of the members of the rescue crew and others who rushed to the scene. We look forward to Sean's full recovery and his rapid return to EADS North America."

Alaska Plane Crash

Experts: Downed Plane Carrying Stevens Was Standard Carrier In Alaska

Evan McMorris-Santoro | August 10, 2010, 3:39PM

The DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter that went down in Alaska last night, killing former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) and carrying other officials, was a prime example of a sturdy, reliable aircraft wilderness pilots have flown for decades, aviation experts and bush pilots told me today.

A pilot on the ground in Dillingham, Alaska who is familiar with the exact aircraft that crashed told me that the DHC-3 Stevens was flying on was a "beautiful and well-maintained airplane" that was an example of the best of the best available to Alaskan bush pilots.

"It's a really well-built airframe," charter pilot Tom Schlagel told me. In his own Dillingham-based charter business, Schlagel uses a smaller version of the same DeHavilland plane that crashed, though, as he told me, his is "less fancy" than the one that went down last night.

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Ted Stevens

A History Of Political Plane Crashes

Eric Kleefeld | August 10, 2010, 2:12PM

With reports of former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) being involved in a plane crash in Alaska, it should be noted that there have been many high-profile plane crashes in American politics. Let's take a look.

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Alaska Plane Crash

Former Stevens Aide: Report Of Stevens' Death 'Unconfirmed'

Evan McMorris-Santoro | August 10, 2010, 1:49PM

Fmr. Alaska Senator Ted Stevens (R)

The former aide to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) who reportedly told KTUU-TV in Alaska that Stevens had died in a plane crash last night is retracting that report.

Dave Dittman, the former aide, provided this statement to TPMDC through a spokesperson after we asked him to confirm the story he told to KTUU:

Dave received a call last night and was told that Senator Stevens had perished in a plane crash. That has not been confirmed. That is just what he was told. In the meantime he has talked with close friends of the family and it has not been confirmed to them either. And as recent as 8:50 AK time this morning it still had not been confirmed.

Alaska Plane Crash

Report: Stevens Family Friend Says Senator Dead In Plane Crash

Evan McMorris-Santoro | August 10, 2010, 12:32PM

Fmr. Alaska Senator Ted Stevens (R)

Former Sen. Ted Stevens was killed in a plane crash in Alaska last night, Anchorage, Alaska NBC station KTUU reports.

Dave Dittman, a former aide and longtime family friend of former Sen. Ted Stevens says Stevens was killed in a plane crash near Dillingham Monday night.

There is no further confirmation or explanation in that report.

More on the plane crash here.

Late Update: Through a spokesperson, Dittman later told TPMDC that his original report of Stevens' death was unconfirmed.

Alaska

Flashback: 1972 Alaska Plane Crash Killed Dem Congressman And House Majority Leader

Eric Kleefeld | August 10, 2010, 11:53AM

The late House Majority Leader Hale Boggs (D-LA) and the late Rep. Nick Begich (D-AK)

The plane crash last night that reportedly involved former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK), and his previous 1978 plane crash that resulted in the death of his wife, were not the first plane crashes in Alaska to involve high-profile political figures. In fact, a crash in 1972 resulted in the deaths of not only an Alaska politician, but a major national Democratic leader.

On October 16, 1972, House Majority Leader Hale Boggs (D-LA) was campaigning with first-term Democratic Rep. Nick Begich when their plane disappeared in the mountains en route to a fundraiser in Juneau. The disappearance resulted in a 39-day search, covering an area of 300,000 square miles. In October 1977, the twin peaks of the mountain barrier where the two were presumed to have died were renamed Mt. Boggs and Mt. Begich. (From the Associated Press, via Nexis.)

Begich, who had not yet been legally declared dead, was re-elected in November 1972 against Republican nominee Don Young, who in turn later went on to win the special election to replace Begich. Young has held the seat ever since. Begich's son, Democrat Mark Begich, would later serve as Mayor of Anchorage and is now Alaska's junior Senator, having narrowly defeated Ted Stevens in 2008. Boggs was succeeded by his widow, Democrat Lindy Boggs, the first woman elected to Congress from Louisiana, who held the seat until her retirement at the 1990 election.

Ted Stevens

Ted Stevens Was Previously In 1978 Plane Crash That Killed Wife

Eric Kleefeld | August 10, 2010, 11:19AM

Fmr. Alaska Senator Ted Stevens (R)

With the reports today that former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) may have been on a plane that has crashed in Alaska, it should be remembered that Stevens was once on another plane that crashed, with very tragic consequences.

In December 1978, Ted Stevens and his wife Ann Stevens were on a small chartered plane that crashed while attempting to land. Ted Stevens survived -- but his wife Ann, and four other people, were killed. Ted Stevens suffered head, neck and arm injuries, but was conscious when two of his daughters visited him in the hospital.

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Sarah Palin

Palin's SarahPAC Cuts Web Video: Don't Mess With The Mama Grizzlies (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | July 8, 2010, 12:57PM

Fmr. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (R)

There is a "mom awakening" in the United States, with women who don't like the country's "fundamental transformation" acting just like "mama grizzlies" trying to protect their cubs. At least according to SarahPAC's first web video.

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Political vandalism

Vandals Try To Break Window At Alaska Democratic Party HQ

Christina Bellantoni | March 29, 2010, 4:16PM

Alaska Democratic Party officials think hot rhetoric over health care led to someone trying to break the windows at the entrance to their headquarters in Anchorage. After logging some threatening phone calls last week, staffers on Sunday found that someone attempted to shatter one of the floor-to-ceiling windows at their prominently labeled office.

"We are on heightened alert and will be taking extra precaution," Patti Higgins, chairwoman of the Alaska Democratic Party, told me in an interview today. "I'm not going to say I think it was tea partiers or Republicans, but I think the heightened rhetoric out there will encourage people will go out and think it's okay to 'send a message' and be angry."

Higgins said it seemed "coincidental" the incident happened over the weekend, as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was declaring that Republicans should be the party of "Hell no" at a political rally in Nevada. "These are violent words: 'Fire 'em all, take 'em out,' and put together they fit into a pretty cohesive running theme that is fairly violent," Higgins said.

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