Bronson campaign fundraisers are bringing out hundreds, as the public begins to wake up

Mayor Dave Bronson is on a roll. Over the past week, he has had five fundraisers, each one packed shoulder to shoulder, with more than 350 people having attended events to support Bronson’s bid for reelection.

Last night’s event at Gallo’s had more than 120 people in attendance. It was standing room only in the upstairs event space on Old Seward Highway.

The funds raised at these events will be used to reach voters ahead of the election runoff ballots going in the mail next week.

A comment repeatedly heard at all these events is that “we cannot risk one-party rule in Anchorage.” Another comment heard is that Suzanne LaFrance, the Democrats’ candidate in the runoff, is “a bridge too far in radicalism.” People at the Gallo’s event told Must Read Alaska that they are scared of what could happen if LaFrance becomes mayor. She was, after all, the head of the Assembly during the Covid lockdowns, mask mandates, and business closures.

Penny Johnson wrote on Facebook the concerns the public has with LaFrance and one-party rule in Anchorage, in light of what the Democrat-led Assembly has done over the past few years:

“In memory of Russell Biggs, who originally came up with this list of what the assembly, including Suzanne LaFrance and her votes, did to this city. If you vote for LaFrance for mayor, this is what you will get:

It’s a long, now updated list but you need to know the facts: [Keep in mind, due to term limits, Rivera and Constant terms end in 2026. They will be hired in top Muni positions by LaFrance to complete the transformation of Anchorage.]

Do you remember when Felix Rivera and Meg Zaletel testified multiple times that the Golden Lion would never be used as a homeless shelter (2020), and less than 2 years later are voting to use it as homeless shelter (2022)? I do.

Do you remember this summer (2020) when the Assembly ignored the five days of public testimony in opposition to their plan to use CARES act money to buy homeless hotels and did it anyway? I do.

Do you remember this summer (2020) when the Assembly was told by the Inspector General what they were doing with the CARES act money was illegal, but the Muni said they would wait till after the election so they could get a different answer and are now getting audited because of it? I do.

Do you remember when the Assembly used the CARES act money to pay for grants to badminton clubs and groups promoting “interstellar space travel”(2020)? I do.

Do you remember when the city used even more CARES act money to pay $127,000 for six 86” flat screen displays (2020) while people were losing their jobs and couldn’t buy groceries because the $200 gift card program the Assembly was offering had ran out? I do.

Do you remember the private emails revealed (2021) that Forrest Dunbar and Chris Constant engaged in a behind the scenes shaming campaign in order to get church leaders to give favorable testimony towards using CARES act funds for building purchases? I do.

Do you remember when Chris Constant harassed a rabbi (2020) who was giving testimony in opposition to the homeless hotel purchase, and it made national news? I do.

Do you remember when the Assembly closed the chambers (2020) to the public except for the people giving testimony that favored their diversion of the CARES act money? I do.

Do you remember when the Assembly hired code enforcers (2020) to police local businesses for mandate violations but couldn’t be bothered to police the people openly using drugs and exposing themselves to children at the ice rinks? I do.

Do you remember when private emails revealed Chris Constant and Forrest Dunbar tried to dox a DOD employee that was giving testimony in opposition to the diversion of the CARES act money? I do.

Do you remember when the public showed up for 4 solid days (2021) to testify about the mask mandate, and the assembly shut down testimony by promising to continue it later, and then immediately passed it anyway? I do.

Do you remember when the Assembly doled out CARES act money for bike trails while longtime local restaurants that employed dozens of people closed forever? I do.

Do you remember when Felix Rivera accused the people that were trying to protect their neighborhoods from the Muni’s plan to bypass the zoning board as being racists? I do.

Do you remember when members of the public were told they weren’t allowed to point at or address assembly members by name during testimony? I do.

Do you remember when the Assembly would not let members of the public read another person’s testimony and then walked out of the meeting when those people asked why? I do.

Do you remember when Felix Rivera let two transgender protestors roll around on the floor of the chambers for hours (2020) but then kicked out people for raising their voice during public testimony? I do.

Do you remember when 5000 midtown residents gathered signatures for a recall and then had to defend the recall in court because the entire Democratic leadership of midtown helped sue to block it? Twice? I do.

Do you remember when the Assembly refused to proceed with a special election to replace the mayor because it would be “too expensive”, and left district 3 voters without representation for almost 9 months? I do.

Do you remember when the wealthy downtown property developers got a 12 year exemption from paying property tax but your property taxes went up? I do.

Do you remember when the Muni shut down the homeless services at the transit center so a 60 million dollar hotel could be built there, but then claimed there wasn’t enough property for shelters available near bus routes as justification to change the zoning laws? I do.

Do you remember when the AFL-CIO, Alaska Center, and activist groups spent almost $180,000 of Union and Outside money to run ads for opposing recalls, right after they were supporting the Dunleavy Recall? I do.

Do you remember when the Assembly gifted the Alaska Black Caucus, a partisan political organization, millions of dollars to buy and renovate a building (2021 & 2022) while everyone else was just getting $200 relief checks? I do.

Every one of the points above is an example of why we are where we are, because citizens are not getting involved and instead spend their time screaming at the sky – which is ok if that’s what you want, otherwise nothing will change unless you do.”

LaFrance’s team has been busy door-knocking this past weekend and phone-banking, with dozens of Democrat and union volunteers. On April 24, LaFrance is holding a Democrat fundraising event. The push is on for turnout as the Anchorage Assembly is set to certify the results of the April 2 election, in which neither Bronson nor LaFrance received more than 45% of the vote, thus forcing a runoff. That mail-in runoff election will have ballots in the mail April 30, and ends May 14.