BUTTE, Alaska (AP) — For decades, Alaskans have contentedly called Ted Stevens “senator” and Don Young “congressman,” their Republicans in far-off Washington.
Now other, less-flattering names are creeping into conversation. “Crook,” for example. Or “jerk.” Or “old,” “washed up.” Because of it, Democrats sense opportunity even in the Last Frontier, a state that has dealt them mostly defeat for a generation.
“I’ve been voting for Ted and Don all my life,” says Scott Frank, 45, a blue-collar Republican sipping coffee at the Butte Cafe. “But they’ve really screwed up.”
Shoulder-to-shoulder around a slab-wood table, Mr. Frank and his pals form a cigarette-smoke circle of plaid shirts, faded jeans and baseball caps. These men build radar equipment. They eat fried foods. Hunt and fish. Vote Republican.
“Maybe not this time,” says waitress Diana Gage as she scoots behind Mr. Frank and his brother Randy. “Don and Ted have done good, but let’s get some young blood in there.”
Mr. Stevens and Mr. Young have served a combined 74 years in Congress — 39 for Mr. Stevens and 35 for Mr. Young — and Alaskans consider that longevity a valuable commodity. It brings roads, bridges, jobs and other federal perks to this isolated state.
“But they can’t live forever,” says Landon Wells, adjusting his American flag cap. “Either God or us voters are going to end their seniority.”
The Justice Department may have a say, too.
The FBI is looking into whether the 84-year-old Mr. Stevens, whose name graces the state’s largest airport, received illegal gifts from VECO Corp., a once-powerful oil-services firm. Bill Allen, the former VECO chief who has pleaded guilty to bribing Alaska state legislators, testified in trials that he oversaw extensive renovations at Mr. Stevens’ home and sent VECO employees to work on it.
Mr. Young, 74, is tied to the VECO inquiry but his problems run deeper. The FBI is investigating his ties to Florida developer Daniel Aronoff, who held a fundraiser for him in 2005 and then benefited from a change the congressman made to a federal highway bill as chairman of the House Transportation Committee. A $10 million grant for widening Interstate 75 in Florida’s Collier and Lee counties was redirected to the Coconut Road Interchange in Lee County, developing Aronoff-owned land.
Both lawmakers face strong Democratic rivals, but Mr. Young may not survive the Republican primary. He has been rebuked by popular Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a fellow Republican whose rout of Gov. Frank Murkowski in the 2006 primary signaled the public’s desire for political reform.
“We’re the kind of state that needs the bacon that Ted and Don bring home,” said David Prahl, 63, a Republican working at a gun shop in Mrs. Palin’s hometown of Wasilla. “But we don’t need all this negative attention.”
Mrs. Palin’s lieutenant governor, Sean Parnell, is opposing Mr. Young in the Republican primary on a promise to restore integrity to the state’s sole House seat.
Confronting head-on the issue of seniority and its power to deliver jobs and federal dollars to the state, Mr. Parnell said he will appeal to Alaskans’ independent nature and urge them to not be afraid of change. “I’m just asking Alaskans to be courageous,” he said, “and take charge of their future.”
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