The unofficial "Mormon Caucus" in Congress, currently numbered at 14 as of this post, may include an Alaskan after the November 2010 elections. Sheldon Fisher, a local telecommunications executive, has announced his intent to challenge career incumbent Don Young for the Republican nomination in the August 24th, 2010 primary. Main media story published in the Anchorage Daily News.
The 47-year-old Fisher, who's married with seven children, recently resigned from an estimated $1,000,000 per year position as a senior vice president in sales and service for Alaska Communications Systems (ACS) to launch his campaign. Before his ACS stint, Fisher worked for Sprint's wireless broadband business. Fisher graduated with a law degree from Yale Law School and holds an economics degree from Brigham Young University. He is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but has reassured the public that he respects the separation of church and state and would not let his religious values dictate his political decisions. He has neither voiced a public opinion about California Proposition 8, nor was he known to be publicly involved in the successful campaign to stop the adoption of a proposed gay nondiscrimination ordinance in Anchorage in 2009. His campaign website is at the following link:
http://www.sheldonfisher.com/
Fisher is a fiscal conservative who wants to cut government spending to control the national deficit, create jobs and strengthen support for families and children. He wants to break the gridlock between those who want Alaska to be little more than a glorified national park vs. those who want Alaska to have a strong, diverse economy capable of better supporting its population without so much Federal pork. Local conservative talk show host Dan Fagan interviewed Fisher on KFQD 750 AM on January 21st; the audio clip is embedded below:
Sheldon Fisher appears to be a competitive candidate with a real chance to win the August 24th Republican primary. His two Republican competitors have vulnerabilities; Don Young is the subject of a Federal investigation over alleged improper campaign contributions, and Andrew Halcro is pro-choice and alienated many Sarah Palin supporters by his pursuit of her on his blog, even though Halcro is also a fiscal conservative. So Fisher has a chance to corral both the "values voters" and many "Palinistas". And with enough fiscal conservatives, that could be a winning combination for him.
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