In a final push to win his election, Republican Forrest Wolfe sent out misleading mailers to trick voters into thinking he was a well-known Democrat.
Mailers went out to the East Anchorage State House District 21 in the final days before election that are a near copy of the styling and logo Democrat Forrest Dunbar, also in East Anchorage, has used in campaigns since 2014.
Apparently, Wolfe did not think voters would vote for him, and so made the cowardly decision to impersonate someone with completely opposite ideological views. Indeed, Wolfe had reason to fear, and was recorded during a campaign fundraiser held on Oct. 13, 2022 at Kava’s Pancake House discussing abortion. The recording is of poor quality, but did clearly articulate how he is more conservative on abortion than his district. Dunbar and Donna Mears, Wolfe’s competitor in the House race, are pro-choice.
The appropriation of Dunbar’s “Run Forrest Run” logo is a last-minute act of desperation by a little known Juneau-ite who rents a room in East Anchorage, and was designed to confuse and fool voters, not just about who he is, but what he stands for. In addition to using the logo, the Republican styled the front of the mailer in blue. You know, like the color of the other party.
Wolfe is running for house in a swingy district that elected current House member Liz Snyder by an 11-vote margin. Dunbar is popular in the district, which he has represented on the Anchorage Assembly for over six years, winning his last election by more than 13 points. He has used his signature “Run Forrest Run” logo since running for Congress in 2014, and is currently running for Senate in a neighboring East Anchorage District.
The mailer sent out uses a font, logo, words and colors that are nearly identical to those used by Dunbar in his signature logo, and only shows the shared first name, while leaving off Wolfe’s last name entirely. It states “Forrest is on your ballot!” but fails to articulate which Forrest.
“This is not normal campaign behavior,” Dunbar said of the mailer. “Forrest Wolfe intentionally misled voters, and it’s not on some policy disagreement. He tried to trick them into thinking it was me just for the purpose of this vote. And that’s gross.”
The election was always expected to be tight in District 21. In 2020, Snyder won the seat by 11 votes. One must wonder how many voters Wolfe managed to trick into voting for him by misrepresenting himself as someone else. Dunbar came across one resident of Wolfe’s district who on Tuesday told him they voted for him in the House race Dunbar was not actually in.
Votes are still being counted. As of Thursday morning, Wolfe was leading Democrat Donna Mears by 135 votes.
If you are a voter who received the mailer and voted under the impression that you were voting for Forrest Dunbar, please contact yarrow@thealaskacurrent.com with your story.
