Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Linda Menard to Run in GOP Primary against Lyda Green

Longtime Mat-Su Valley education activist Linda Menard called Lyda Green Sunday to let Lyda know Linda intends to file to run for Alaska Senate Seat G in the August 26 primary.

Within minutes of hanging up, Menard began to get intimidating phone calls:

Menard said she called Green Sunday to give her a heads-up on her intention to run for Seat G.

“It ended with her saying she hoped I didn’t prevail,” Menard said about the conversation.

About 30 to 40 minutes later, “I received a bullying and threatening phone call,” she said.

Menard would not say from whom, only that the caller did not want her to run for office.

“I won’t be bullied out of doing this,” Menard said.

Messed up my lower back moving a tuba through the mud last night. Ouch! I can't sit down even.....

Update - Wednesday morning: My back is getting better - iced it all night. A commenter posted a couple of serious allegations regarding Sen. Green. I'm trying to get facts! See the comments for further information.

Update - Wednesday afternoon: Three reliable sources state that Tuckerman Babcock was Linda Menard's rude, perhaps threatening caller last Sunday. They all request anonymity. I haven't heard back from Mr. Babcock, having left a detailed message asking for his story on this. Still waiting...

15 comments:

alaska1st said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

It is about time that someone is going to give Lyda a good run for her money.

It would be interesting if someone would take a closer look at the insurance industry in Alaska and see just how well Lyda and hubby have benefited. Everyone is looking to see what sort of bribes our representatives took from the oil field how about the insurance industry.

Good luck Linda!

Philip Munger said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Philip Munger said...

I'm trying to authenticate or get more information on Alaska1st's comment above. I've left messages with Tuckerman Babcock at MEA, and with Jeff Turner, the Senate Majority's Press Secretary in Juneau. He works for Sen. Green, who must be very busy right now.

I'm concerned that if the comment is unsubstantiatable (is that a word?), I should probably remove it from the blog?

What do you think?

Philip Munger said...

After speaking with Sen. Green's press secretary, Jeff Turner, and with other Juneau contacts, I've decided to remove Alaska1st's comment that had been up here earlier.

I've also cached the comment, in case I can determine anything said in it was true, in which case, I'll put it back up. Still waiting on Mr. Babcock's return call.

Harbormaster said...

Watch out for those tubas Phil. Nick's was bigger than him for a few years. Great blog.

Philip Munger said...

from one harbormaster to another, My back is telling me, "Take up the piccolo before it is too late!!"

Anonymous said...

The comments from Alaska1st that were flagged will prove to be 100% accurate. You will not get the truth out of Babcock, you'll have to go higher up the food chain. This is not the first time he's bullied and threatened a political advisary. Ask the woman who ran against Vic Koring in the last election what Babcock threatened her with.

Anonymous said...

If Linda Menard can't handle a supposedly "bullying and threatening phone call", then she can't handle being in Alaska Senate Seat G.

Anonymous said...

Oh, sorry Kera. I forgot that decency wasn't a part of politics in Alaska. You should jump in the race. You'd probably be just the person to straighten us all out.

Anonymous said...

I'm sad that Tuck did this. I've met him and he seemed super nice. Of course I was R. then. Isn't he somehow related to Lyda?

Anonymous said...

son-in-law, married to Portia (she seems to instigate more crap than anyone,,,tuck should know better). Samuelson is wrapped up in the clan/mess too. Someone else out there please clarify that connection
(Kera?).

Anonymous said...

Clarity ... Portia is Tuckerman's sister. She works as chief of staff for Lyda, whose daughter Kristi Leaf has been married to Tuckerman for about three years. MEA mouthpiece Lorali Carter is also a former staffer to Lyda Green. No conflicts whatsoever in any of these overlapping relationships. Nope, none. I wonder how MEA managed to sneak yet another cash grab into the Senate's version of the new capital budget?

Has anyone asked Linda directly if the caller was Tuckerman? Seems like a simple solution.

Anonymous said...

Where's the update on this story? If Tuckerman and Lyda have still not addressed this -- even to deny it -- that should be worth noting in itself. Otherwise their surrogates will continue to spin the lie of being victims.

Anonymous said...

A final comment; I personally talked to Linda about everything. Yes, she talked to Lyda before she annonced her candiacy and yes, Lyda told her to reconsider ("politics in Juneau have never been uglier, you don't know what you're getting into").
Within the hour, Linda received the call from Babcock who threatened he would, "embarrass the family" if she followed through with it. Linda has not come out publicly for two reasons on the threat, number one, because she doesn't want to stoop to their mudslinging tactics, and number two, because she happens to be an extremely (genuinely) nice person.
I leave it at that and you can question Babcock (preferrably under oath and with a polygraph) to have this confirmed.