Alaska Politics

Political news coverage from the Alaska Statewide News Network.

A four story concrete building

Heavily Republican incoming class of Alaska legislators prepares for next session

Only one of the newly elected members of the Alaska Legislature is a Democrat.
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Trump wanted to stop the vote when he was ahead. Alaska’s congressional delegation urges patience

Alaska’s all-Republican congressional delegation is not backing Trump’s call to stop counting votes.
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With deadline looming, Dunleavy and legislative leaders trade letters on potential special session

Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s chief of staff and the two top legislative leaders traded letters on Friday over whether the Legislature should call itself into a special session to extend Alaska’s public health emergency disaster declaration.

Debate for the State 2020 – U.S. House and Senate

https://youtu.be/ZzNCfp4XCLU The U.S. House Debate between Rep. Don Young and Alyse Galvin happened at Alaska Public Media on Thursday Oct. 22, 2020. https://youtu.be/GFl-oFc44YM The U.S. Senate...
two people debating behind podiums

Galvin, Young accuse each of other of lying during debate

The debate between the candidates for Alaska’s sole seat in Congress became contentious Thursday, with challenger Alyse Galvin saying she’s tired of U.S. Rep. Don Young misrepresenting her position on issues.
A ballot

Alaska’s latest election lawsuit would give absentee voters a chance to fix mail-in ballot errors

A lawsuit is seeking to give absentee voters in Alaska a chance to fix mail-in ballot errors that would otherwise prevent their votes from being counted.

Christian, conservative groups organize to oust Supreme Court justice

A coalition of conservative and religious leaders has launched a campaign to oust an Alaska Supreme Court justice whose rulings they oppose.
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Edgmon and Stutes ask Dunleavy to keep his distance from Pebble’s permit quest

In the secretly-recorded"Pebble Tapes," the CEO of Pebble promised an investor firm support from the governor.
A man in a suit faces a woman in a suit. they are in a wood-paneled room in front of a fireplace with a U.S. flag beside it.

Sen. Sullivan meets with Trump’s nominee to Supreme Court

Sullivan he said he met with the nominee, who indicated that she was a strong defender of the Second Amendment.
gross bear

Records: Alaska’s independent U.S. Senate candidate shot bear after “bloodcurdling scream”

Al Gross, an independent candidate for U.S. Senate, has touted the shooting in multiple campaign ads in his challenge to Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan. A GOP research apparently filed records requests with the state to find out whether Gross really shot the bear.
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Alaska Senator Murkowski said Friday she would not vote for a justice ahead of Inauguration Day

Shortly before the announcement that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had died Friday, Sen. Lisa Murkowski said in an interview that if she...
Lori Townsend interviews Congressman Don Young during Alaska Insight

Fighting for his 25th term, here’s why Don Young says he’s not done yet | Alaska Insight

Alaska Insight is kicking off four weeks of discussions with Alaska Congressional candidates with U.S. House incumbent Don Young. Congressman Young is seeking his 25th term in Alaska’s sole House seat.

A newspaper requested the Alaska AG’s incriminating texts. The decision not to release them was his.

After Kevin Clarkson resigned, the Department of Law’s response to the newspaper has prompted two lingering questions: Did it fail to turn over records that the Anchorage Daily News was legally entitled to receive? And was Clarkson the right person to decide which records to release?

Alaska Gov. Dunleavy will pay $2,800 to settle ethics complaints over publicly-funded political ads

The complaints targeted a social media and mailer campaign launched by the governor’s office that attacked some of his opponents in the Alaska Legislature and boosted some of his allies.
A balding white man in a suit speaks into a mcrophone at a wooden table

Dunleavy not planning now to fill vacant state House seat

Gov. Mike Dunleavy currently “does not see a need to fill” the state House seat left vacant by the death of Rep. Gary Knopp when voters will decide a successor in November, Dunleavy’s office said.
Governor Dunleavy, wearing a greenish zip up jacket, gestures as he talks

Small business grant applications skyrocket after Dunleavy loosens restrictions

It was a stark reversal for the AK CARES grant program, after Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration expanded eligibility for the grants.
A bald man in a black suit with a white tie talks to two other men (with their backs turned) at a desk.

Longtime state Senator John Coghill loses Republican primary

Senate President Cathy Giessel also has likely lost her primary election.
A man in a black suit and red tied looks pensively into the camera

Gary Stevens squeaks out win in Republican primary

Stevens, an incumbent, fell behind on election night but was favored in absentee ballots.

Here are the races to watch in the primary election

The future of the coalition majority in the state house could be decided by the primary election this year.
The US Capitol building during sunset

Al Gross faces two opponents for Alaska’s Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate

Edgar Blatchford, the former mayor of Seward, and Chris Cumings, who works for a nonprofit for children and people with disabilities, are both vying for the Democratic nomination.