Author: alaskaadmin

Two years ago, Republican Nick Begich III defeated incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola and became Alaska’s lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Now, 14 people are hoping to imitate Begich’s performance. 

Monday was the filing deadline for candidates interested in running in this year’s elections, and in addition to the incumbent Begich, there are two other Republicans, six independents, two Libertarians and four Democrats.

That tally could change by June 27, the deadline for candidates to drop out of the race. 

In the state’s primary election on Aug. 18, Alaska voters will each pick one of the 15 candidates. The top four vote-getters advance to the November general election. At that election, voters will rank the final four in order of preference, using ranked choice voting to pick the winner.

Begich’s two leading challengers are expected to be Democratic candidate Matt Schultz and independent candidate Bill Hill.

Schultz is a pastor in Anchorage who was one of the first people to officially challenge Begich, and he has the endorsement of many of the state’s Democratic officials. Among his endorsements is Tom Begich, a Democratic candidate for governor and Begich III’s uncle.

Hill, a commercial fisherman and former public-school superintendent, has raised significantly more money than Schultz, campaign finance records show, but much of that money has come from outside the state. Hill has also hired Ship Creek Group, an experienced campaign consulting firm in Anchorage.

Of the 15 candidates, five do not live in Alaska: nonpartisan Melanie Salazar, Democratic candidate Yaquelin Reynoso, Democratic candidate Eric Hafner, Republican candidate Eddie Goldfarb and Libertarian John Foddrill.

Under the U.S. Constitution and current interpretations of that document, someone can run for U.S. House in any state as long as they live within that state at the time they take office.

In Alaska, it is common for out-of-state Americans to run for federal office; most receive less than 1% of the vote.

Hafner is a convicted felon and serving time at a federal prison in New York. Two years ago, he finished in the final four of the 2024 U.S. House race after several higher-finishing candidates withdrew.

The Alaska Democratic Party sued, arguing that he was ineligible to serve if elected. The Alaska Supreme Court ultimately ruled against the party, and Hafner remained on the ballot, finishing fourth in the general election. 

Candidates for U.S. House

• David Ambrose (nonpartisan)
• Nick Begich III (Republican) (incumbent)
• Lady Donna Dutchess (nonpartisan)
• John Foddrill (Libertarian)
• Eddie Goldfarb (Republican)
• Eric Hafner (Democratic)
• Bill Hill (Nonpartisan)
• James McDermott (Libertarian)
• Yaquelin Reynoso (Democratic)
• Melanie Salazar (Nonpartisan)
• Matt Schultz (Democratic)
• Clay Strickland (Republican)
• John Williams (Democratic)
• Matthew Williams (Undeclared)
• David Richey (Nonpartisan)

As national Democrats seek to win control of the U.S. Senate, they’ve named Alaska one of their top targets. They’ve already donated millions of dollars to boost the candidacy of Democratic candidate, and former U.S. House Representative, Mary Peltola.

Meanwhile, Republicans are doing the same with incumbent U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan. Both will be competing against 14 other candidates in the upcoming Aug. 18 primary election.

In that election, each voter picks one candidate and the top four-vote getters advance to the Nov. 3 general election. In that election, voters will sort the candidates in order of preference using ranked choice voting to select the eventual winner.

Monday was the deadline to file as a candidate for the U.S. Senate race, and the field includes seven Republicans, three Democrats, three independents, a Green Party member and a Libertarian candidate. 

In addition to the incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, one of the challengers is also named Dan Sullivan, and he’s also running as a Republican, albeit from Petersburg instead of Anchorage.

Among the other candidates are frequent participants in past Alaska elections — Republican Gerald Heikes, Republican Dustin Darden, and Libertarian Scott Kohlhaas.

Carol Hafner, running as a Democrat, is the mother of Eric Hafner — currently serving a felony sentence in a New York prison —  who finished in the final four for Alaska’s 2024 U.S. House race and is running in this year’s contest, too.

The deadline for any candidate to withdraw from the primary election is June 27.

Candidates for U.S. Senate

• Dustin Darden (Republican)
• Fred Grauberger (Republican)
• Richard Grayson (Green)
• Carol Hafner (Democratic)
• Gerald Heikes (Republican)
• Sidney Hill (Undeclared)
• Richard Mayers (Republican)
• Mary Peltola (Democratic)
• Scott Kohlhaas (Libertarian)
• David Leslie (Democratic)
• Heather McElwain (Republican)
• Reece Roberts (Nonpartisan)
• Shirley Saucerman (Nonpartisan)
• Earl Southworth (Alaskan)
• Dan S. Sullivan (Republican) (incumbent)
• Dan J. Sullivan (Republican)

The telltale sight of the white octagonal structure and red roof of Eldred Rock Lighthouse is a marker for mariners and many upper Lynn Canal residents sailing north, signaling they are close to home. 

Alaska’s oldest original lighthouse is located 55 miles north of Juneau and 17 miles south of Haines, and will be open to members of the public for the first time. Visitors can learn about its storied history and service to Southeast Alaska. 

Boats of supporters from Haines and Juneau joined a grand opening event on the island May 30 to celebrate a roughly six year volunteer-run effort to preserve and restore the now 120-year-old lighthouse.

Sue York is executive director of the Eldred Rock Lighthouse Preservation Association, a Haines-based non-profit organization that took over the lighthouse from the U.S Coast Guard in 2020 and spearheaded the restoration effort. She said it was easy to recruit support for the project because of the lighthouse’s regional significance.

“This building to us is our heritage, Coast Guard heritage, maritime heritage. It’s Southeast Alaska special,” York said. “(On) the ferry, everyone that lives in Haines, Skagway and Juneau has a feeling about the lighthouse as they go by, right? It’s home, it’s ‘Oh, we’re almost home.’” 

Eldred Rock Lighthouse was constructed after a shipwreck tragedy during the Klondike Gold Rush and completed in 1906. It has served as a beacon and navigation aid for mariners ever since. Several generations of lighthouse keepers kept the kerosene light alive year-round. Technology improvements replaced lighthouse keepers and Eldred Rock was automated and left empty in 1973. It was listed under the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

After storm damage in 2016, the preservation effort drew volunteers from around Haines, Skagway, Gustavus, Juneau and beyond to restore the iconic lighthouse. It took extensive repairs, repainting and abatement work to remove hazardous building materials and renovate the lighthouse, living quarters and out buildings and dock. Charter tours will be available for groups of 25 from Haines beginning this summer, and visitors can rent one of five bedrooms or volunteer as a lighthouse keeper, according to the group’s website.

The mission of the group is to restore, preserve and share, said John Woods, a board member with the Eldred Rock Lighthouse Preservation Association. 

“It’s kind of this quintessential Alaskan thing, where you’re like, ‘I’m in this lighthouse on this tiny little island in the middle of Lynn Canal, with these huge mountains and glaciers around, there’s whales, eagles, puffins,’ you know,” he said. “So we’re excited that… we’re going to be able to fulfill that part of our mission, the ‘share’ part.”

“People will get to have that experience and get to go out there and be like, this is a special place,” he added. 

The public opening celebration on May 30 represented a particularly special day for siblings Tainya and Doug Adamson, who traveled from Washington state to Southeast Alaska for the occasion. They are the great-grandchildren of the first lighthouse keeper on Eldred Rock, Nils P. Adamson, who manned the lighthouse from 1906 to 1911.

“I’m just grateful,” said Tainya Adamson, growing emotional as she first spotted the lighthouse from the boat. “To be here is incredibly overwhelming, but incredible. We’re very honored to be able to pay respect to our great-grandfather, as well as everyone else who was here.”

“This is incredibly important for our family, something that’s been part of our family story for a very long time,” said Doug Adamson, “And something we’ve heard about our whole family as a history of mariners — my great-grandfather is a light keeper, my grandfather was in the lighthouse service, and my father was in the Coast Guard, worked at a lighthouse, so for our family personally, this is very important.”

The preservation group is continuing repairs and renovations into the summer, as they begin welcoming tour groups and visitors, and working to set up a maritime museum onsite.