Saturday, May 21, 2011

Diane Woodruff Makes It Official - Four in Wasilla Mayoral Race

Joining hundreds of people from all across the political and community spectra, who came by Alaska political and constitutional icon Katie Hurley's Wasilla house for a fundraising garage sale Saturday, was Wasilla City Councilwoman, Diane Woodruff. She is letting the word out this week that she is certainly in the October 2011 Wasilla mayoral contest.

She joins Bristol Palin's ex, and the father of Trip Johnston, Levi Johnston, council woman Taffina Katkus, and current mayor, Verne "REDDI" Rupricht.

It will be a tough battle for Diane, who has gained a solid reputation as a sensible moderate who hates government waste and projects that don't make sense.

Levi Johnston has a lot of, uh, name recognition, which counts. Wasilla has chosen poor candidates over solid ones in the past (see 1996 and 1999, for instance), after all. Johnston has so far failed to file his February financial update to his campaign information, which is mandatory for anyone who filed last year.

Katkus has sort of made this a one-issue negative campaign against the current mayor, who everybody seems to see more often in the local bars than in the mayoral office. And Ruppricht is involved in more than a few fights lately that will make it hard for him to get much positive press in the near future - the REDDI stuff, his request to have Wasilla employees treated differently by police dispatchers than other citizens, and the outdoor rifle range controversy, which is even angering many local gun advocates, and may be getting way too expensive over the growing legal battles associated with it.

More on this race soon. Judy managed to get a first paperback edition of Jerzy Kosinski's The Painted Bird for a dime at the sale.

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