Hollis French has been a fixture in Juneau for a decade. But he says there a lot more work for him to do, and if voters send him back to Juneau, he will focus on two issues, energy and education.

“My energy plan has three components — 1) maintain a strong north slope oil industry. Number 2) Keep a stable supply of gas coming to our homes from Cook inlet. Number 3) For the long term invest in renewable energy projects,” French said.

French, who came to Alaska to work on a Cook Inlet oil rig, then alternated working on the North Slope while finishing his college degree, eventually earned a law degree from Cornell and became a prosecuting attorney in Anchorage. He says Alaska’s education system needs improvement – especially pre-kindergarten programs, which he’s had a chance to push for as a member of the education committee. French helped found the Senate bi-partisan coalition, and currently chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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Ermalee Hickel and Bella Hammond, wives of former governors Wally Hickel and Jay Hammond, made the announcement Tuesday through the resurrected political group Backbone Alaska.

“As our husbands were known for putting Alaska first, we, too, are dedicated to this guiding principal,” the former first ladies said via press release. “Now, multi-national corporations are attacking those Alaska legislators running for re-election who stood together in the past session to protect Alaska’s interests.”

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“We thank and endorse Senators Hollis French and Bill Wielechowski and their colleagues in the Senate Bipartisan Working Group for their courage and leadership, and urge our fellow Alaskans to support them in the upcoming election.”

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The 20-member Senate is ruled by a coalition of 10 Democrats and six Republicans, and some GOP leaders, including Gov. Sean Parnell, want this alliance to end. For two years, the coalition has foiled Parnell’s attempts to lower taxes on the oil industry.

Parnell, who considers the coalition bipartisan in name only, has argued that lower taxes will lead to more oil production – Alaska’s economic lifeblood. But critics see his plan as a massive corporate handout with no guarantee that companies will invest more here.

No one in the Legislature has argued with the desire to reverse declining production trends and see more oil flowing through the trans-Alaska pipeline. The debate centers on how best to achieve that goal.

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Minnery’s group is trying to raise $40,000 for mailers, automated phone calls featuring national names such as Mike Huckabee, and other tools to turn the Senate. Four Democratic incumbents are targeted:

Hollis French, a former prosecutor and the influential chairman of the Judiciary Committee. He is trying to stave off a challenge by Republican Bob Bell, a former Assembly member and owner of an engineering and surveying firm, for this West Anchorage seat, Senate District J.

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In Alaska, the four Republicans being helped by Alaska Family Action are all staunchly anti-abortion. Bell and Coghill oppose abortion in any circumstance, according to the Family Action voter guide. Roses and Kelly say they would allow just one exception, to save the life of the mother.

Opposition to abortion even in cases of rape and incest is “becoming the new normal” for conservatives, said French, one of the Democrats being targeted. “It’s shocking, but that’s their position.”

His opponent, Bell, says he feels strongly about it. “That child hasn’t done anything wrong,” he said.

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At issue is whether Bell followed regulations meant to discourage trophy hunting when he transferred ownership of horns from the musk ox he shot to a Nome artist, who then carved them and may have sold the horns back to Bell.

The candidate said in interviews that hunting partner Cliff Judkins, who was chairman of the Board of Game at the time of the hunt, kept horns from a musk ox he shot during the same hunt.

Former head of Alaska Division of Wildlife Conservation Corey Rossi, who also participated in the hunt, might have been involved in the choice to keep the horns. Rossi this year resigned from the Alaska Division of Wildlife Conservation after it was discovered he organized an illegal bear hunt.

After questions from Alaska Dispatch, Alaska State Troopers are investigating what transpired with the musk ox horns that Bell and his fellow hunters took in 2010, according to Trooper investigator Justin Lindell and Nome-based Trooper Jay Sears. If Bell or others are found to have taken horns illegally, they could face misdemeanor charges, with up to a $10,000 fine and a year in jail, said Nome District Attorney John Earthman.

A Republican, Bell is running against incumbent state Sen. Hollis French, an Anchorage Democrat, in the Nov. 6 election.

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