A Republican Party advertisement endorsing four local candidates in the municipal election was a way of saying “thank-you” for service to the party, district official Robert Venables said this week.
“They’ve been working with party leaders on district issues. This was a reciprocal show of support,” Venables said.
Venables said the ad was funded by local Republicans and came at the request of a few of the candidates. State elections law required use of an Anchorage address on the ad, he said.
The ad was a rare showing of partisan interest in a municipal vote.
It supported Karen Hess, Linda Geise, Brenda Jones and Sarah Swinton.
“We’re not trying to make things overtly partisan. We just wanted to show our support of good candidates and have a presence in the community,” Venables said.
He said the four, endorsed candidates have been active in the party in the past year and helped out when other Republican candidates were in town.
Venables said he couldn’t say if the party would be making any more endorsements in municipal races here.