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| Al Grillo / The Associated Press |
 Calling for support: Republican gubernatorial candidate Sarah Palin, left, stands next to Sean Parnell, candidate for lieutenant governor, as she speaks during a campaign event Saturday in Anchorage. |
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Normally stalwart Republican backers are shunning Sarah Palin and defecting to Democrat Tony Knowles in this year's gubernatorial race, with business and oil industry executives leading the way.
Plus, Palin shouldn't look for Alaska's all-Republican congressional delegation to stump for her in the final days of the campaign. That strategy helped U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, beat Knowles and keep her seat two years ago.
Executives from the state's largest companies - including ConocoPhillips Alaska, GCI, Providence Health System in Alaska and Northrim Bank - were among Knowles' top individual donors in his last campaign finance report.
Others have donated in different ways. Curtis Thayer, Enstar Natural Gas' director of government affairs and a longtime Republican insider, has co-hosted a fundraiser for Knowles and provided his campaign with a list of people to call to solicit donations.
Thayer said he personally disagrees more with Knowles than Palin on most things, but not on the biggest one of all: Closing a fiscal deal for a North Slope natural gas pipeline.
"When I'm talking to my fellow Republicans, it all goes back to the gas line," Thayer said. "If anything, he's the devil you know. The fact is, he pushed the gas line when he was governor and prices weren't right. He doesn't need any on-the-job training."
Palin and Knowles have similar approaches to putting together a pipeline contract. Both say they will open negotiations to all pipeline proposals instead of just refining Gov. Frank Murkowski's failed contract with ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP. Both say they will negotiate outside the state's Stranded Gas Development Act through a law of general application. Both promise a more open and transparent process than that which was conducted under Murkowski.
But industry is going Knowles' way. Knowles says his experience makes him the only candidate who can revitalize the oil patch and quickly close a fiscal deal for a pipeline. He said evidence of his ability to work with industry can be seen in the Northstar and Alpine oil fields on the North Slope that began production together during his last term in office.
"Certainly a lot of the business community, a lot of people who are traditional Republicans have come over ... and they're scared. They don't know what Sarah Palin is going to do," Knowles told The Associated Press.
Palin said there is no reason for business not to back her and that she is a fervent believer in competition and free enterprise.
"I wonder what it is about my Republican credentials that they don't agree with," she said. "I don't know where it is they would disagree, except that I stood up for Alaskans."
Four ConocoPhillips executives - company president James Bowles and vice presidents Jack Griffin, Joe Marushack and Darren Jones - have contributed a combined $2,250 to Knowles' campaign.
Other oil industry executives and employees donating to Knowles work for BP Exploration (Alaska Inc.), Enstar, Forest Oil Co., Udelhoven Oil Services, Peak Oilfield Services Co., Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. and ASRC Energy Services.
Alaska Oil and Gas Association executive director Judy Brady said the association does not endorse candidates, but the sense she's gotten from her members is that Knowles knows what he is doing.
The key is locking in a deal quickly, before the market for Alaska natural gas shrinks, she said.
"If the big power companies begin to believe Alaska does not have either the understanding or the ability to come to a decision on this, they can't wait," Brady said. "It is this governor who is going to be in the private meetings with his or her team, in the private meetings making decisions about what to agree or not to agree to put before the Legislature and the people."
Likewise, business luminaries representing a wide swath of industries are backing Knowles. Top contributors include Providence Health System's chief executive, Al Parrish; Northrim Bank president and chief executive Marc Langland; GCI president Ronald Duncan; Holland America Line chairman and chief executive A.K. Lanterman; and McKinley Capital Management chief executive Bob Gillam.
Independent gubernatorial candidate Andrew Halcro, who is president of Avis Rent A Car of Alaska and a former Republican legislator, said he was surprised that those who were once the biggest critics of Knowles are now going to the Democrat's side.
"I think you have a situation where Sarah, to some degree, for some Republicans, is just an unpalatable candidate, whether they don't like her position on the gas line, or special interests or they don't feel they'll have an open door," Halcro said.
Wayne Stevens, chairman of the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce, said the most important thing for businesses is that the rules don't change on them after they have already invested in the state. Stevens said he would not endorse one candidate over another, saying that is a decision business leaders will have to make on their own.
"Business is very pragmatic and looking at who can bring consistency to the table over the long haul," Stevens said.
Meanwhile, Alaska's congressional delegation will be noticeably absent in the final push to Election Day. The last-minute support of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens and Rep. Don Young, both Republicans, is a big reason Lisa Murkowski was able to win the 2004 Senate race against Knowles.
Ted Stevens has spent some time with Palin in Ketchikan and Fairbanks, but he plans to campaign for Republican colleagues whose Senate seats are threatened in the time that is left, spokesman Aaron Saunders said.
"Now he's actually headed out of the state to the Lower 48 and will work with other senators to help maintain the Republican majority," Saunders said.
Lisa Murkowski and Frank Murkowski likewise will be gone. Both are headed to Asia for at least a week to explore trade opportunities for Alaska there, spokesmen in both offices said. Before she goes, Lisa Murkowski will participate in a Palin fundraiser on Friday, spokesman Kevin Sweeney said.
Frank Murkowski, who pledged to support Palin after she trounced him in the primary, has been noticeably absent from Palin's campaign.
Has the governor been asked to campaign for the Republican nominee, or is he considered a political liability after his poor showing in the Republican primary?
"People can draw their own conclusions about the latter, but he has not been asked," Palin spokesman Curtis Smith said.
Young is seeking re-election against Democratic challenger Diane Benson. Campaign manager Steve Dougherty said he did not know if Young had any plans to follow Palin on the campaign trail.
"You really have to ask him that. He really supports Sarah and is willing to do whatever he can to help get her elected," Dougherty said.
Young was not available for comment.
