Candidate Rachel Blakeslee called out opponent Alexander Rosales’ posts about the Anchorage School District.
The campaign of Anchorage School Board candidate Rachel Blakeslee recently mailed out flyers containing screenshots of social media posts made by her opponent Alexander Rosales. Before Anchorage voters elect two new school board members next month, one candidate for Seat C sent screenshots of their opponent’s social media posts out to voters last week.
Rachel Blakeslee said she mailed screenshots of Alexander Rosales’ X account as an attempt to educate voters who were unaware of his posts, which have disparaged the school district, women, religious groups and the LGBTQ+ community in the past.that may influence his decisions, and wanted even voters who don’t closely follow local campaigns to have that information. “It is really important to understand if a candidate does not believe that all kids and families deserve access to a high-quality public education, and it is very clear that my opponent believes that some families are deserving, and some are not,” Blakeslee said in an interview Monday. “Putting that on the mailer is a way to show a stark contrast in our beliefs about the very institution that we are running to be an elected leader for.” Blakeslee included a pair of 2-year-old screenshots from Rosales’ X account in her mailer. Rosales said the Anchorage School District was “garbage” and called for the district to be shut down in one post. TheThis 2026 campaign postcard was paid for by Anchorage School Board candidate Rachel Blakeslee's campaign and shows screenshots of opponent Alexander Rosales' social media posts. Blakeslee’s mailer said Rosales’ posts “Called for ASD to be ‘shut down’” and “Praised Hitler on social media.” “About the Hitler post, there are a lot of extreme posts, but I think it’s important for voters just to understand how extreme some of his views are,” Blakeslee said. “And I think that post speaks for itself, and I think gives a lot of context for voters about how extreme his views are.”for school board last year. The two are running to replace Dave Donley, who is term-limited in the upcoming April 7 election.and school board candidate forums for the second year in a row.the event after they felt audience-submitted questions about Rosales’ views that quoted his social media posts were unfairly edited by moderators.“They label me as ‘TOO EXTREME’ for our schools. Ok, let’s look at the facts. First claim: Called for ASD to be shut down. Yes I have said that ,” Rosales wrote. Rosales said on his website that without dramatic improvement, ASD should shut down. He also responded to a line in Blakeslee’s mailer that said he called for criminal punishment of parents he disagrees with, referring to his now-deleted post about transgender children. “We need to ban trans ideology,“ Rosales said. ”Alaska’s own medical board has come out saying gender mutilation needs to stop. Protecting children at all costs is not extreme. It should be the norm. Real men stand up for vulnerable kids.”“No. That is a flat-out distortion,” Rosales said. “Look at the actual tweet and context. I made a narrow historical observation about early economic policies pulling Germany out of collapse, which is factually true before the atrocities began.” Rosales’ posts on X have drawn criticism from both sides of the political spectrum. Kelly Tshibaka, former commissioner of the state Department of Administration and 2022 U.S. Senate candidateTshibaka posted a Monday morning picture of her ballot with the bubble next to Rosales’ name filled in. A few hours later, Tshibaka changed her mind. “I went and looked myself,” Tshibaka wrote. “Some of what was alleged wasn’t accurate — but some of it was. I’m concerned about racial comments I saw, including a post normalizing racial slurs. I believe in accountability — including my own. When new information changes the picture, you say so. So I’m saying so: I’m withdrawing my support.”Alaska Family Council President Jim Minnery said he doesn’t equivocate an absence of explicit endorsements with a lack of overall support. Minnery’s organization has produced a voter guide since 2006 that is intended to inform voters about where candidates align with his organization. “We just felt like the best way for us to provide information was, ‘here’s the candidates’ responses’ and we’re just going to let the answers speak for themselves,” Minnery said., which mostly asked candidates about gender identity issues and sex education. Blakeslee did not respond. Among the Seat D candidates, Dustin Darden agreed to eight of the nine questions, Paul McDonogh disagreed with eight of the nine, and Sharon Gibbons did not respond. Minnery said AFC has issued endorsements in the past, but aren’t doing so this year because he said they lack familiarity with the candidates. “We don’t always endorse every candidate that aligns with every issue that we have, we just haven’t ever done that, but we’re very grateful that Rosales and Gibbons and Darden have all three responded in a way that we think is in alignment with the values that we endorse,” Minnery said. Unlike school board elections in years past, Republican Party groups have not endorsed school board candidates in this election cycle. Democrat and progressive-leaning groups have supported Blakeslee. Blakeslee has maintained a substantial fundraising lead over Rosales in their most recent finance reports to the Alaska Public Offices Commission. Blakeslee hasYou can opt in to receive texted updates from us about the city election. Text MUNI to 907-891-8889 to sign up.Tim Rockey is a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News focusing on education and general assignments. He has worked in journalism in Alaska for more than a decade, including at Alaska Public Media, Alaska’s News Source and the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman. Contact him at trockey@adn.com.Military is preparing to deploy at least 1,000 troops from 82nd Airborne to the MideastA quadruple amputee inspired others through cornhole. He’s now accused of murder.
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