Blatchford, Metcalfe challenge Murkowski as filing deadline nears

File photo: Rachel Waldholz/KCAWU.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has two new Democratic challengers: UAA professor Edgar Blatchford and former legislator Ray Metcalfe. Both men have Republican roots. Blatchford served as a Commerce Commissioner for Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski. He’s also been mayor of Seward, board chairman of Chugach Alaska Native Corporation, and a publisher of newspapers serving rural Alaska. Blatchford now teaches journalism and Native studies.
Ray Metcalfe was twice electe