Jeff Landfield is challenging Senator Lesil McGuire in District K – mid-town, and south Anchorage west of the Seward Highway. The Republican’s rallying cry has a Tea Party tone. He says he’s running to, “rein in wasteful government spending and bring true conservative values to the Alaska State Senate.”
Today Jeff Landfield is out campaigning in South Anchorage.
“So, basically I have this list here. So instead of talking to everybody I talk to people who are likely to vote in the primary. In the Republican primary only Republicans, undeclareds and non-partisans can vote in the primary,” Landfield said.
And Landfield says he’s hoping that by going door-to-door, he can pick up votes.
He says his main reason for running is because he’s concerned about state spending.
“We’ve tripled spending in 10 years. We’ve seen a 30 percent decline in oil production in the last 6 years since ACES was passed. We can’t keep spending money. We can for a little bit. But at some point it’s gotta stop,” Landfield said.
Landfield says he is challenging his opponent, Senator Lesil McGuire, because while she has served as Senator, she has been part of the spending problem. Redistricting has created a new South Anchorage District K. The area McGuire served used to include Sand Lake. Now it is made up by the Arctic and C Street and Taku Lake areas near Papago Park. Landfield is hoping the rearranged district might work in his favor. Landfield says he is not sure about forward funding of the Anchorage School District.
“I mean that does seem strange that that’s a year by year thing. I’d have to look at that more closely, that’s not something I’ve studied extensively,” Landfield said.
Same answer on increasing the base student allocation, because Landfield says it’s hard to image increasing any budgets in the current fiscal situation. One thing he is sure about is that spending needs to be cut at the same time as a restructuring of the tax system.
“I have studied the state spending extensively and we’re spending money in unsustainable levels and one of my proposals is that we freeze all spending – everything – and we start doing zero-based budgeting until we get down to sustainable spending levels,” Landfield said.
He is for some kind of reduction for taxes on oil companies.
“I think it’s very clear that the current tax system is not creating an investment climate. So I think we do need to address that tax system. I think we need to create conditions that are favorable for investment from the private sector, which will create jobs,” Landfield said.
On affordable housing – Landfield admits the market is tight for single family units and rentals, but he says, “I honestly believe the best solution for these kinds of things is the market.”
He says he would support incentives for builders – like adjusting the tax structure, but he’s against subsidies. On health care, Landfield says it’s just another situation that letting the market run free will solve. He does not support the Affordable Care Act or the health exchanges it requires. Landfield says Anchorage’s growing and changing population is good for the state.
“I think we should definitely encourage immigration. I think there’s definitely a lot of people who want to come to this country to work. And I think we should encourage productive people on a state level. I’d say policies should be the same for everybody. I don’t think we should treat anybody differently because they’re part of a group. The best thing you can do for anybody is give them a job, or create an economy where there’s jobs,” Landfield said.
Jeff Landfield will appear on the primary ballot running against fellow Republican Lesil McGuire on August 28.
Daysha Eaton is a contributor with the Alaska Public Radio Network.
Daysha Eaton holds a B.A. from Evergreen State College, and a M.A. from the University of Southern California. Daysha got her start in radio at Seattle public radio stations, KPLU and KUOW. Before coming to KBBI, she was the News Director at KYUK in Bethel. She has also worked as the Southcentral Reporter for KSKA in Anchorage.
Daysha's work has appeared on NPR's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered", PRI's "The World" and "National Native News". She's happy to take assignments, and to get news tips, which are best sent via email.
Daysha became a journalist because she believes in the power of storytelling. Stories connect us and they help us make sense of our world. They shed light on injustice and they comfort us in troubled times. She got into public broadcasting because it seems to fulfill the intention of the 4th Estate and to most effectively apply the freedom of the press granted to us through the Constitution. She feels that public radio has a special way of moving people emotionally through sound, taking them to remote places, introducing them to people they would not otherwise meet and compelling them to think about issues they might ordinarily overlook.
