Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce has named Edie Grunwald as his running mate in his bid to unseat Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Pierce, who’s running as a Republican, made the announcement in Kenai and via Facebook on Saturday in a prerecorded video.
Grunwald is a retired Air Force colonel who lives in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. This will be her second gubernatorial race, having run as a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in 2018. She finished second in that year’s Republican primary to Kevin Meyer, the current office holder.
Her most recent public service has been to chair the Alaska Parole Board after being tapped by Gov. Mike Dunleavy in 2019. She’s been a victims’ rights advocate since her 16-year-old son was kidnapped and killed in Palmer three years earlier.
She was also one of three Alaska National Guard leaders fired by former Gov. Sean Parnell during the 2014 National Guard scandal.
Parnell didn’t say outright at the time why he fired Grunwald and two others, according to contemporary reports by the Alaska Public Radio Network. But the firing came after a report from the National Guard that alleged leaders had failed to properly investigate allegations of sexual assault in the ranks.
Grunwald, for her part, said at the time it was a mistake and that she did thoroughly investigate complaints when they came up.
In her appearance alongside Pierce on Saturday, Grunwald said she wanted to purge ineligible voters from participating in elections.
“Alaskans deserve an accurate voter roll,” Grunwald said. “The Pierce administration will immediately begin to complete the updating of the voter rolls.”
The Division of Elections is headed by the lieutenant governor. It annually updates its voter rolls, a process called “list maintenance.” The division sends letters to registered voters who have not voted or contacted the division in four years. If, after repeated notifications, they still haven’t heard back, that voter becomes inactive in the state’s roll.
Grunwald also said in the video she would have more responsibility under Pierce than former lieutenant governors, although she didn’t elaborate.
“The lieutenant governor position will no longer be a hidden and silent office, but with the direction of Gov. Pierce, will take a robust and active role in the administration and direction of our state government,” she said.
Pierce said in the announcement that he plans to put together an administration that will be responsive to the needs of Alaskans.
“To quote John Donne, who wrote in 1642 ‘No man is an island,’” he said, “I will bring together a team of professionals in my administration that will foster and adhere to our promise of Alaskans first.”
Pierce will be one of two Republican challengers to Gov. Mike Dunleavy. The other is Rep. Christopher Kurka of Wasilla, who picked Homer’s Paul Hueper as his running mate. Democratic challenger Les Gara is also running. As is former Gov. Bill Walker, who was elected in 2014 as an independent.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
