August 09, 2012
Thursday PM

Over the weekend, a letter to the editor by Jim Shoemaker was published on Sitnews.us and in the Ketchikan Daily News comparing campaign contribution reports filed by the Republican candidates for House District #33. The letter specifically calls out the campaign contributions I have received from outside of our election district.

I feel fortunate that I have earned the respect of individuals throughout Alaska, and am humbled that these contributors feel I am a candidate worthy of their support. The population of southern Southeast Alaska is about 3% of the entire state, and having established positive working relationships with some of the other 97% is an asset I’m proud to bring to our district. The contributions made by Juneau area residents are indicative of our common interests and the challenges the entire Southeast region has in carving out a voice in the legislature.

The report referred to is a mandatory filing required by the Alaska Public Offices Commission (APOC) 30 days prior to the primary election. It is one of two campaign expenditure reports I have filed since announcing my candidacy in October 2011.

These reports require that all monetary and non-monetary contributions be recorded. All reports are accessible to the public, and can be viewed on the APOC website.

As of July 30, total contributions of monetary and non-monetary support to my campaign tally as follows:

Mr. Shoemaker based his comments and math calculations on a partial glimpse of my campaign expenditures as opposed to a complete review of my entire campaign fundraising history and by doing so made the numbers work for his purposes. However I take exception to two items in his letter.

The first is his reference to special interests. As defined in most dictionaries the term refers to “A group of people or an organization seeking or receiving special advantages, typically through political lobbying”.

My contributions are all from individuals including teachers, nurses, business owners, government employees, retirees. Some are close, personal friends, others are people I’ve developed professional relationships with over the years. Mr. Shoemaker’s closing statement is offensive and without merit.

Finally, given that Mr. Shoemaker's letter emphasized disclosure, I was surprised to see that he opted to identify himself as a 18 year resident, without noting his involvement in the Republican primary election this year.

Patti Mackey
Candidate for House District #33
Ketchikan, AK

Representations of fact and opinions in letters are solely those of the author.
The opinions of the author do not represent the opinions of Sitnews.