JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) - Some Alaska Republican incumbents will face tough fights on Tuesday for the GOP primary election.
Seven of eight Republican senators running for reelection face contested primaries. Only Sen. Shelley Hughes of Palmer is running unopposed for her party’s nomination for the Nov. 3 general election.
A majority of the GOP challengers are making support for a full Permanent Fund dividend a central tenant of their campaigns. Others have signed a pledge to end “binding” caucuses.
Senate President Cathy Giessel, a Republican of Anchorage, faces a challenge from Roger Holland.
Holland, a Louisiana native who moved to Alaska in 2009, has long worked as a biologist and is on the cusp of serving for 30 years with the U.S. Coast Guard Reserves. He says he supported Giessel in the past and even campaigned for her.
“After she got our vote in 2016, she got off the track a little bit, and I’m not quite sure why,” Holland said.
Critics of Giessel claim she has backtracked on support for a full PFD.
Giessel, a lifelong Alaskan and registered nurse, was first elected to the Alaska Senate in 2010. She denies she broke a PFD promise, explaining in a video posted to Facebook in July that she supported paying back half of the dividend vetoed by then-Gov. Bill Walker in 2016. She also defended the Legislature’s record of shrinking state spending.
Since 2018, Giessel has led members of the Alaska Senate opposed to paying a full statutory dividend, saying it’s unsustainable with the state budget over $1 billion in deficit.
In contrast to the intra-Republican Party battles, every Democratic senator is running unopposed for their party’s nomination. Sens. Bill Wielechowski of Anchorage and Donny Olson of Golovin are set to run against Republicans in the general election.
Democratic Sen. Tom Begich is running entirely unopposed for his Anchorage seat.
In the Alaska House of Representatives, the primaries could help determine whether Republicans can form a majority caucus in their own right.
Nine out of 21 Republican incumbents standing for reelection face challengers from within their own party. Some moderate Republicans like Rep. Chuck Kopp of Anchorage are facing more conservative opponents. Some conservative Republican representatives are facing conservative challengers, too.
Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, R-Anchorage, has a primary challenger and the added pressure of facing charges of voter fraud from the 2014 and 2018 elections. Charges she emphatically denies.
Just two out of 14 Democratic House incumbents are running in contested primaries. Independent Rep. Dan Oritz is set to face a Republican challenger in November. Rep. Bryce Edgmon, running as an undeclared candidate in the Democratic primary for House District 37, is unopposed in the primaries or the general.
Republican Rep. David Eastman of Wasilla is running against Jesse Sumner for the GOP nomination for House District 10.
Sumner, a lifelong Alaskan and builder based out of Wasilla, is a Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly member. His campaign is largely not based on policy disagreements with Eastman but the idea that the Wasilla representative has been unable to enact his conservative policy goals.
“I think that by a large measure, the tactics he pursues are just not effective,” Sumner said of Eastman.
The Alaska Family Council led by Jim Minnery also endorsed Sumner for the same reason. Several of Eastman’s Republican colleagues have actively campaigned against him.
Eastman disputes the claim that he’s ineffective compared to other members, saying that he hasn’t passed legislation with his name on it “because we’re Republicans in the minority.”
After the 2018 election, the House of Representatives failed to organize for over a month. A bipartisan coalition formed a majority caucus with Democratic representatives taking key leadership positions in the House.
Some Republican representatives blamed Eastman for causing a fragile GOP-led majority to collapse. Eastman disputes that, saying that he refused to sign a binding caucus agreement as his constituents wouldn’t support it.
Other GOP representatives won’t face a primary opponent.
Six Republican incumbents are set to face Democrats in the general election. Rep. Sara Rasmussen, R-Anchorage, is set to face the winner of an Alaska Independence Party primary in November.
Six Democratic representatives are running entirely unopposed in 2020. Just two Republicans are running uncontested races for the Alaska House.
Republican Rep. Gary Knopp’s name will remain on the ballot for House District 30 after he died in a plane crash on July 31. Republicans Ronald Gillhalm and Kelly Wolf are running to replace Knopp.
The Republican House District 30 Committee submitted three names for the governor’s consideration to replace Knopp if the Legislature reconvenes before January. Gillham’s name was forwarded by Kenai Republicans.
Three representatives also announced earlier in the year that they would not stand for reelection.
Republican Rep. Colleen Sullivan-Leonard announced she would not contest her Wasilla seat after first being elected in 2016. Republicans Christopher Kurka and Lynn Gattis, a former representative of Wasilla, are vying to replace Sullivan-Leonard.
Rep. Dave Talerico, R-Healy, will also not stand for reelection. Mike Cronk, Ryan Smith and Julie Smith are competing for the GOP nomination.
Democratic Rep. John Lincoln of Kotzebue is also retiring from the Legislature. Elizabeth Ferguson, a former aide to Lincoln, is running uncontested in the Democratic primary to replace Lincoln.
Josiah Patkotak of Utqiagvik, is set to run against Ferguson as a non-affiliated candidate in the general election. Patkotak says he has collected enough signatures to appear on the November ballot.
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