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Former Republican presidential contender Ron Paul has endorsed Don Young in his bid to win an 18th term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Paul, the 72-year-old congressman from Texas whose maverick presidential bid drew wide support in Alaska, sent out a letter to his supporters here urging them to vote for Young.

“Don and I have served together in Congress for many years, and I consider him a friend,” Paul wrote in the letter. “Don has been an outspoken voice against environmental extremists over the years and has strongly opposed the types of federal regulatory overreach advocated in the name of environmentalism.”

Paul and Young are a bit of an odd couple. Paul is a fiscal conservative; Young believes in earmarking federal dollars for Alaska wherever possible. Paul opposes the Iraq war; Young supports it.

But Michael Anderson, Young’s campaign spokesman, said Alaska’s predominantly libertarian perspective is what the two men have in common.

“He’s got some odd bedfellows, if you will,” Anderson said. “But that’s who Young is, and how he’s able to get things done when he’s in the minority.”

In his letter, Paul said he was supporting Young, in part, for his backing of the Liberty Amendment, which would bar the federal government from operating any business-type activities and abolish the federal income tax.

“Few members of Congress have shown the insight to understand the importance of this sweeping legislation to restrain the federal government, and even fewer have shown the courage to co-sponsor this bill,” Paul said. “Don is one of those.”

Anderson said the endorsement undercuts claims by the anti-earmark group Club for Growth and Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell, who’s running against Young in Tuesday’s GOP primary, that Young is not conservative enough.

“The message here is the wide range of appeal Young has with Alaskans across the board,” Anderson said. “It also sets the truth about where Young stands on taxes. We wouldn’t have received the endorsement unless Young shared Paul’s position on restructuring the federal tax system.”

Paul came in third back in February in the state Republican Party’s presidential nominee preference poll, behind Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee.

He beat John McCain, now the last Republican standing in the presidential race.

Paul suspended his presidential campaign in June, but has not endorsed McCain. Paul, who raised $35 million this past year for his presidential attempt, also ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1988.

A spokeswoman for Paul’s congressional office did not return a call for comment in time for this story.

Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas and one-time Republican presidential hopeful, offered his endorsement to Young last month.

Parnell floats

ANWR option

Sean Parnell, lieutenant governor and a Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, proposed a land swap as a way of opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

“I propose a land swap of 2,000 acres of state land to the federal government in exchange for 2,000 acres of the coastal plain in ANWR into state hands,” Parnell said at a press conference Tuesday in Fairbanks.

Parnell said he could work with Gov. Sarah Palin and the administration to identify the 2,000 acres of state land that would be traded, perhaps extending a portion of ANWR by 2,000 acres.

Joined by several members of the Alaska Legislature — Rep. Mike Kelly, Rep. John Coghill and Sen. Gene Therriault — Parnell said the exchange of lands is a win-win situation because there will be both a wildlife habitat and opportunities for development of natural resources.

Supporters of drilling in ANWR have argued that only about 2,000 acres will be affected by oil development in the refuge, although that figure is strongly disputed by anti-drilling activists.