Sanity Prevails -- Outcomes in Fairbanks elections show some hope for rationality in even the most

SANITY PREVAILS
Outcomes in Fairbanks elections show some hope for rationality in even the most traditionally conservative electorates


This summer, Sine Anahita found herself increasingly concerned about the approaching municipal elections in Fairbanks. A retired University of Alaska sociology professor, she has remained active researching trends in society, devoting considerable time to exploring the fringe right, their takeover of the Republican Party, and how extremists are targeting local elections as the first step in a national effort at seizing control of American politics. As she was following some of the conversations occurring in social media, she didn’t like what she was seeing, particularly from school board candidate Andrew Graham.

“I’m already familiar with the right wing rhetoric and narratives about CRT, diversity, and the need for conservatives to be on school boards,” Anahita told me. “As soon as I saw Graham’s stuff, I recognized the narratives. The exact same words. The exact same phraseology.”

What she detected in Graham’s comments and campaign positions was just the beginning. In the Fairbanks North Star Borough election, five candidates, three for the borough assembly and two for the school board, had banded together and were advertising themselves as the conservative slate. In a town known for supporting Republicans by large margins in presidential and statewide office votes, the five were positioning themselves for collective action if elected. And rather than focus on local concerns, they were hammering hard on culture wars, white identity politics, and QAnon. While their opponents focused on local concerns, four of the five self-proclaimed conservatives were pushing an extremist national agenda.

“It was chilling seeing it in action in my community, in my town,” Anahita said. “It was really scary.”

A lifelong activist, Anahita responded by helping launch a Facebook group called Alaskans for School Safety in early August. It quickly grew to hundreds of members who organized to get the present school board to reinstate a mask mandate as positive Covid cases escalated across the state. Then the group turned its attention to the approaching borough election, saw that the school board candidates opposed to masking had joined forces with the three assembly candidates as a combined ticket, and realized the community needed to act fast.

Read more: https://www.anchoragepress.com/outcomes-in-fairbanks-elections-show-some-hope-for-rationality-in-even-the-most-traditionally-conservative/article_a85e26de-312a-11ec-b6ee-67d00f30d264.html