Tarring an incumbent as a “Washington insider” has long been a popular line of attack. But this election cycle, it has been enough just to say someone is a “Washington resident.”
Several Senate candidates have come under scrutiny for not maintaining a residence in the state they are seeking to represent, whether that’s Alaska, New Hampshire, Louisiana or Kansas.
In Alaska, Republican Dan Sullivan has called Sen. Mark Begich, the Democratic incumbent, “pure Washington” — a riff on Begich’s campaign tagline, “true Alaska.”
But Begich and Democrats have hit back with questions about how long Sullivan has been an Alaska resident. The group Put Alaska First, funded by the Senate Majority PAC, described Sullivan in one radio ad as “born and raised in Ohio, who lived in Maryland and worked in Washington, D.C., while claiming to be an Alaskan.”
Another ad, this one on television, attacked Sullivan for having had a “nonresident Alaska fishing license, like every other tourist.”
“Next time Sullivan calls himself an Alaskan,” the ad’s narrator warned, “don’t take the bait.”
The latest kerfuffle is over a home Sullivan owned in Maryland, on which he received tax deductions from 2006 through 2008 because it was listed as his primary residence. Maryland officials confirmed this week that Sullivan was indeed an official state resident during that time — although when he declared his candidacy for Senate Sullivan said he had been an Alaska resident since 1997.
This is only the latest turn in an election cycle that has an unusually large number of Senate candidates struggle with the relatively simple questions of roots and residency.
New Hampshire Democrats labeled Republican Scott Brown a “carpetbagger” when Brown, a former Massachusetts senator, moved from the Boston area to the New Hampshire seacoast to challenge Sen. Jeanne Shaheen in the Granite State.
In Louisiana, Republicans attacked Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu for listing her parents’ New Orleans address on Prieur Street as her own, while she owns a home in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
“I have lived at my home on Prieur Street most of my life and I live there now, when not fulfilling my duties in Washington or serving constituents across the state,” Landrieu said in August when questions about her residency arose.
The most notable and influential residency questions have emerged in Kansas, after the New York Times reported that Sen. Pat Roberts did not own property in the state and rarely returns there. When he does, he stays at a supporter’s home, which Roberts also lists as his address on his voter registration.
“I have full access to the recliner,” Roberts memorably told the Times.
If the comment was meant a joke, Kansans didn’t get it. Roberts now faces a steep climb to re-election after more than three decades representing Kansas as a congressman and senator — a tough race he and most Republicans did not expect.
Roberts’ challenger, independent Greg Orman, has used the topic of Roberts’ dubious residency as Exhibit A in making his case to Kansas voters. Roberts attempted to defend himself in a recent debate with Orman at the Kansas State Fair.
“I’m a fourth-generation Kansan,” he said. “Don’t tell me I’m not from Kansas.”
“The people of Kansas elected me to go to the U.S. Senate. The U.S. Senate is in Washington,” Roberts added. “My home is Dodge City, and I’m damn proud of it.”
But Orman shot back, “I suspect, senator, I’ve been to Dodge City more this year than you have.”
The candidates discussed for a minute more who is more Kansan — a common scene this election year.
