The 2026 race for Alaska governor is officially underway.
Former Fairbanks state Sen. Click Bishop and current Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, both Republicans, each filed letters of intent with campaign regulators on Monday, the first step towards running for governor. They’re the first two candidates to throw their hats in the ring for the campaign to succeed term-limited Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
Bishop, 67, said in a phone interview that he’s still developing his policy platform, but he says his top priority is clear.
“If you had a No. 1 and No. 2 and a No. 3, it's affordable energy, affordable energy, affordable energy,” he said. “It sucks so much money out of working people's paychecks, and big corporations’ paychecks.”
Lower energy costs would be a boon to the state’s economy, he said.
“If you can fix the high cost of energy issues in the state, that tide will raise the boat on the economy as well,” he said.
Education is another priority, he said, especially career and technical education, as are the economy and fisheries. Bishop said he was confident he could help the state navigate a difficult fiscal outlook with declining oil prices, and he said he wanted to see higher wages for state employees in order to fill a wide range of vacant positions, including in road maintenance and the ferry system.
Bishop said he’s planning a series of listening sessions around the state this summer and fall to hear from Alaskans and develop his campaign message.
Bishop represented a large portion of the Interior during his 12 years in the Alaska Senate from 2013 to 2024, when he didn’t seek reelection. Bishop caucused with all-Republican and multiparty coalitions during his time in the upper house of the Legislature. He spent his entire tenure in the Senate on the powerful Finance Committee and co-chaired it in 2021 and 2022.
Bishop also touts his experience as an engineer and as state labor commissioner under Govs. Sarah Palin and Sean Parnell. He pitches himself as a consensus-builder who knows the state and the issues facing it.
“I've been a Republican, registered, since I was 18 years old,” Bishop said. “But I'll also say that I'm an Alaskan first and a Republican second.”
Asked to compare himself against Alaska’s two most recent governors — independent Bill Walker and Republican Mike Dunleavy — Bishop says he has commonalities with both.
Dahlstrom, 67, listed the state’s dire budget situation, the economy, education and public safety as especially important issues.
“I love the state of Alaska, and even though we have a lot of challenges going on right now, I think that we can bring the appropriate people together, and we can come up with some solutions,” she said in a phone interview.
Dahlstrom joined the Dunleavy administration in 2018 as corrections commissioner. Dunleavy picked her as his running mate for his second term in 2022, replacing Kevin Meyer.
Dahlstrom also ran for U.S. House in 2024 and stressed her deep ties with now-President Donald Trump, who endorsed her. She dropped out after coming in third in the primary and threw her support behind Nick Begich III, who went on to win.
She echoed some of Dunleavy and Trump’s priorities, including bolstering parental rights and resource development.
“We need to continue getting our resources opened and unleashing them, and luckily for us, we have some friends in D.C. who are helping us in that area. I mean, we're the only state that got our own executive order on Day One,” she said, referencing an executive order Trump issued rolling back Biden-era policies that detractors said unfairly restricted development.
Like Bishop, Dahlstrom said she hoped to work together with Alaskans of all stripes to solve the problems facing the state.
“I would say that I'm a good Republican that has the ability to work with all Alaskans, and I respect the values of all Alaskans, and know that we have to find compromises on things in order to be successful in our state.”
Dahlstrom said she’s planning to stay on as lieutenant governor and work on the campaign during nights and weekends.
