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Tweet Causes Controversy in State House RaceDemocratic challenger to Republican incumbent faces criticismRelated Content
ANCHORAGE - Dirty politics are to be expected in a campaign season, nationally and locally, but some say it doesn’t have to be that way. Incumbent Republican House Representative Mia Costello and her Democratic opponent, Michelle Scannell, are in the spotlight, this time because of a tweet. It was a tweet that became the talk of talk radio Friday afternoon. “Something interesting came across my desk this morning was a tweet from house candidate Michelle Scannell,” Dave Stieren said on his KFQD talk radio show Friday. It all began with a tweet about Costello and it had her opponent on the defensive. “So I tweeted Mia opens [her] negotiating style with the resource extractors on her knees,” Scannell said to Stieren on the radio show. Jewel Lake resident Marietta Hall was initially a Scannell supporter, but she said that was before Friday’s events. “My gut reaction when I read it was that it was vulgar and I think it reached a level of inappropriate,” said Hall. She said she doesn’t understand why a local race had to get this dirty. “I hate to see it even more when it is two women, who are young, and smart and professional, running against each other,” said Hall. “As a woman my reaction was pretty negative because I just hate to see politics drop to that level." She added that it is a bad example for young woman who may one day want to go into politics and said that no one deserves to be treated that way. But the Democratic candidate said she did nothing wrong. She said that people are overreacting and added that that tweet had no innuendo, it is just the way she deals with Alaska’s oil companies. “It's just the fact that polls are showing that I am beginning to eke out a win over my opponent. Scannell said political races aren't always about the issues. “I think that’s true with any race, that it’s not about the party. Most Alaskans are not Republican or Democrat; we are almost all in the middle, and we are voting on the candidate, and the people in my district have to decide who they want to be their voice down in Juneau." But for Hall it should only be about the issues, not about personal attacks. “The face of a lot of our news is our politicians, and where do we draw the line?” Come November 6, the residents of House District 20 will decide which style of campaigning they prefer. Costello declined to be interviewed but has said that she wants to keep her campaign positive. |
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Sure said on Saturday, Oct 20 at 8:02 PM
Democrats invented and live and die sleazy politics. Never facts, just name calling.
104472531Raven33 said on Tuesday, Oct 23 at 8:12 AM
Looks like she put her foot in her tweet!
104638071Robo said on Wednesday, Oct 24 at 7:58 AM
If you don't have the facts to support your ability to be better than your opponent -- you resort to the lowest denominator. We as voters, need to limit those in office to two terms and only one when they fail.
104711025Lee H. said on Wednesday, Oct 24 at 6:43 PM
If you are going to quote Dave Stieren it needs to be correct.. “Something interesting came across my desk this morning, was a tweet from house candidate, Michelle Scannell,” Anyone that has ever listened to his show knows what I am talking about.
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