Sarah Palin is running for Congress. Many Alaskans are skeptical of her
The
Matanuska-Susitna Valley, a lush patch of the state where the lakes are fed by glacial meltwater, is where
Sarah Palin launched her political career
three decades ago. In the heart of the state’s conservative movement, she rose from city council member to small-town mayor, before beating a sitting
Republican governor and becoming the
GOP nominee for vice president in 2008.
But to construction contractor
Jesse Sumner, who was born and raised in the valley and in 2018 was elected to the local borough assembly on a platform of fiscal conservatism and gun rights, that’s all a distant memory overshadowed by what he sees as years of political neglect. Now, as
Palin seeks a comeback in a run for
Alaska’s only U.S. House seat, she won’t be getting his support.
