The session is for lawmakers to consider a property tax break to incentivize the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline, but Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who called the session and set the agenda, has yet to propose legislation for lawmakers to work on.
The state House failed to pass a compromise bill earlier this month, during the second special session of 2026, after Dunleavy threatened to veto it.
The governor has said he is holding closed-door negotiations to try to draft an alternative, but his office has released no details about those discussions.
Two members of the House and one member of the Senate held perfunctory “technical sessions” on Friday.
Article II, Section 10 of the state constitution requires regular meetings unless lawmakers approve a resolution allowing a different schedule.
The House has scheduled another technical session for this morning, and the Senate has scheduled one for Tuesday morning.
NOTN- State transportation officials say that the Back Loop Bridge will be closed to all traffic during the anticipated Glacier Lake outburst flood also known as GLOF, while Brotherhood Bridge will remain open to vehicles but closed to pedestrians for safety.
“Much like last year, we’re going to close the bridge that’s on Back Loop when the gauge level on Mendenhall Lake hits 12 feet, or at 8:30 at night if it’s predicted to go over 12 feet overnight.” Said Department of Transportation Incident Commander Travis Eckhoff, “Folks will remember last year during the flood we had some damage to an approach that totally washed the approach out on the east side of the bridge. And so, just for everyone’s safety, we’re going to go ahead and close that bridge once it hits 12 feet, and we’ll open it back up once our engineers have had a chance to go and inspect the bridge to make sure everything’s okay.”
Engineers will inspect the bridge before reopening it once water levels subside.
Eckhoff urged residents to heed evacuation boundaries, avoid driving through floodwater and sign up for alerts at 511alaska.gov and with the City and Borough of Juneau.
Drone flights will also monitor infrastructure during the event.
“When the basin releases we’ll be putting out a temporary flight restriction for a specific area. So we advise you don’t fly your drones in that area. We’ll be posting that on our socials. There will be drones in the sky, monitoring important infrastructure and HESCO barriers.” Echkoff said.
The U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
WASHINGTON — For the second time in as many weeks, a War Powers Resolution aimed at curbing President Donald Trump’s war with Iran failed to pass the U.S. Senate Thursday.
The vote breakdown, 49-50, fell along familiar lines as previous War Powers votes, with Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Susan Collins of Maine supporting the measure.
Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania voted no, as he’s done in just over a dozen similar measures.
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., continues to be absent while in medical rehab.
A similar War Powers Resolution to rein in Trump’s military conflict in Iran passed in the U.S. House on July 23, but failed in the Senate — both led by Republican majorities.
War heats up
The regional war reignited yet again this week after Trump ordered retaliatory strikes Tuesday, along with Saudi Arabia’s armed forces, on Iran-backed militias in eastern Iraq. The strikes on “multiple terrorist logistics and weapons sites” were in response to Iranian drone attacks on U.S. forces in the region, according to U.S. Central Command.
Trump told Fox News on Wednesday, “We are going to beat the f—– s—- out of them.”
The United States launched a “heavy wave” of strikes on Iranian military sites beginning at 10 p.m. Eastern Wednesday “in response to yesterday’s attempted missile attacks on U.S. forces,” according to U.S. Central Command.
The cost of oil jumped to just over $90 a barrel Wednesday in response to renewed fighting and a continued chokehold on traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world’s petroleum traveled prior to the U.S. and Israel launching the war in late February.
This means Americans are again paying more for fuel. According to AAA, the U.S. national average for a gallon of regular gasoline rose to $4.09 Thursday.
Before the volley of strikes began again, Trump had announced a pause, after the U.S. and Iran traded rocket fire for nearly two weeks following the collapse of ceasefire talks.
Service members killed
The president on July 22 attended the dignified transfer, in which the remains of soldiers are transferred from an aircraft arriving from the theater of operations back to the United States, for four U.S. service members killed as a result of the conflict with Iran.
Three of the service members were killed July 17 and July 18 in an Iranian strike at a U.S. airbase in Jordan, and a fourth was killed during a controlled detonation of an Iranian drone July 19 at a U.S. base in Iraq.
The most recent deaths of U.S. soldiers in the conflict bring the total killed to 18, while the number of injured increased to 653.
But the Pentagon does not recognize the four most recent deaths among those in the Iran war, dubbed by the administration as Operation Epic Fury.
Instead, the Pentagon is categorizing the latest deaths and injuries as casualties of “overseas operations starting July 7, 2026.”
The administration is asking Congress for an additional $67 billion for the war in Iran. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Senate appropriators July 21 that the war has already cost $37.5 billion.
Elections workers double-check the results of Alaska's Aug. 16, 2022 primary election during a meeting of the state review board on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022 at the Alaska Division of Elections in Juneau. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon
Elections workers double-check the results of Alaska’s Aug. 16, 2022 primary election during a meeting of the state review board on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022 at the Alaska Division of Elections in Juneau. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Early, in-person voting begins Monday for Alaska’s Aug. 18 state primary election, and thousands of voters have already cast absentee ballots by mail.
Regardless of when — or how — Alaskans vote, ballots will be counted starting on election day, according to a preliminary schedule provided by the Alaska Division of Elections.
Polls close at 8 p.m. Alaska Daylight Time, and the division expects to have the first preliminary results “between 8:45 p.m. and 9 p.m.”
“There are additional results updates that follow but how many or at what time they will be published will vary,” the division said in an information packet given to reporters.
The final unofficial tally will take place Aug. 28, 10 days after election day, and the division expects to certify official results by Aug. 31.
Any recounts must be requested by Sept. 5, and any lawsuit challenging a result must be filed by Sept. 10.
Timeline of the 2026 primary election
Aug. 3 – Early voting begins in person.
Aug. 11 – Elections officials begin ID checks on absentee ballot envelopes. Absentee votes in those envelopes are not counted until at least Aug. 18.
Aug. 18 – Election day. Polls open across the state.
Late Aug. 18 – Absentee ballots begin to be counted, in-person votes are counted.
9 p.m. Aug. 18 – First results expected online.
Early morning Aug. 19 – final election day results expected online.
Aug. 25 – Absentee votes counted to this point are added to the unofficial tally.
Aug. 28 – Final unofficial results available online.
Aug. 31 – Official results certified. Deadline for final four candidates to withdraw from the November election.
Sept. 5 – Deadline to request recounts.
Sept. 10 – Deadline to challenge election results in court.
Under Alaska’s election system, voters pick one candidate for each race in the primary election. The top four vote-getters, regardless of political party, advance to the general election in November. If there are four or fewer candidates in a race, all advance to the general election.
In practice since 2022, lower-finishing Republican candidates have preferred to withdraw after the primary rather than compete against another Republican.
The Valley Republican Women, a notable group from the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, are running ads this year to promote the strategy. Those ads urge Republicans to “consolidate the vote” and “don’t split the field.”
In races with many competitors, a withdrawn candidate will be replaced by another until there are four options on the ballot or no more replacements are available. Any replacements may themselves withdraw.
The deadline to withdraw after the primary is Aug. 31.
Normally, ballots cast in person are counted on election day itself. Since 2020, votes cast in person have leaned Republican.
It’s common for some rural Alaska precincts to not report results on election night itself.
Two years ago, for example, only 387 of 403 precincts had reported results by 1 a.m. Wednesday, the day after election day. Four years ago, four precincts needed more than four days to report results from election day.
Historically, some rural precincts have had staffing problems that prevented them from opening on election day. In 2024’s primary, two precincts failed to open, and one opened only in the afternoon. In 2022, two precincts failed to open. In both 2024 and 2022, voters in the affected places were able to cast absentee ballots instead.
Absentee ballots are counted starting on election day, but that counting process extends until Aug. 28. Under Alaska law, absentee ballots — if they are postmarked on or before Aug. 18 — can reach the Division of Elections up to 10 days after election day and still be counted.
Counting an absentee ballot requires the division to first verify the identity information on the outside of the ballot envelope. That verification process starts Aug. 11, the division said, though the ballot inside the envelope won’t be counted until at least election day.
The verification process continues after election day, with ballots added to the tally in batches. The division expects to update results on Aug. 25 and again on Aug. 28, with additional updates possible between those two dates.
A sample ballot seen at the headquarters of the Alaska Division of Elections on Thursday, July 9, 2026, shows the language for the campaign finance ballot measure. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
On Aug. 18, Alaskans will be asked if they want to change the way the state’s elections operate, but not in the way that most voters are thinking.
The sole ballot measure before voters in the primary election would reimpose limits on the amount of money that individuals and groups can donate to political candidates in state elections.
A well-funded campaign to repeal the state’s system of open primaries and a ranked choice general election — known as Ballot Measure 2 — won’t be voted on until November.
The measure on the ballot in August would prohibit political donors from giving a candidate more than $2,000 per election. Groups would be allowed to give no more than $4,000 per candidate per election.
Both limits would be adjusted for inflation every 10 years, and they would only apply to state-level elections — for governor, state House and state Senate.
Federal elections, those for President, U.S. Senate and U.S. House, operate under different limits enshrined in federal law.
In the state’s official election pamphlet, the chairs of the group — former state attorney general Bruce Botelho; Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage; dog musher David Monson — state their case, explaining that they view campaign donation limits as “guardrails” on democracy.
“Without these guardrails, wealthy individuals and special interests can have an oversized impact and shift a candidate’s focus away from the constituents they are supposed to serve,” they wrote.
Speaking in a public hearing on Monday, Schrage said, “When a single donor can spend hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars on a single candidate, it creates a dangerous environment. It not only grants undue influence to the ultra-wealthy, but it also exposes our elected officials to the risk and perception of quid pro quo corruption.”
In the pamphlet, three Republicans, all former legislators, argue against the initiative.
“Campaign contributions are a form of political speech. To limit someone’s ability to support a candidate is to limit their voice in the democratic process,” said former Rep. Ben Carpenter, R-Nikiski; former Sen. David Wilson, R-Wasilla; and former Rep. Liz Vazquez, R-Anchorage.
In addition, imposing limits on outside donations gives an advantage to candidates who are wealthy enough to pay for their own campaigns, they said.
In Monday’s hearing, another Republican, Amy Demboski, spoke in support of their position.
“Reintroducing new caps creates a pay-to-play barrier where only those who already possess significant name recognition can thrive, effectively silencing the grassroots support necessary for insurgent or unconventional candidates,” she said.
The U.S. Supreme Court has previously ruled that it is unconstitutional to limit the amount of money that a candidate may spend on their own campaign.
Ballot Measure 1 also does not limit the amount of money that a third-party group can independently spend to support or oppose a candidate. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 decision, known as Citizens United, allows unlimited amounts of spending by groups that don’t coordinate directly with candidates.
Also this year, the Supreme Court ruled that political parties may spend unlimited amounts of money in coordination with federal candidates. That decision may affect state races in the future.
Ballot Measure 1 is the consequence of a lengthy and successful legal challenge by a group of Republicans inside and outside the state.
Until 2021, Alaska had some of America’s lowest limits on financial donations to candidates — $500 per candidate, per year. Those were installed by a 2006 ballot measure that passed with the support of 73% of participating voters.
But a group of Republicans challenged the legality of those limits in 2015, arguing that they unduly restricted free speech. The case was appealed and remanded multiple times before a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the limits in July 2021.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy declined to appeal the issue further, and the limits were removed ahead of Dunleavy’s successful re-election campaign the following year.
In 2022 and 2024, state lawmakers attempted but failed to pass a bill reimposing limits. Legislators this year passed a bill identical to Ballot Measure 1, but Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed that bill.
In his veto statement, the governor said the new limits “would radically tilt in the favor of the wealthy when it comes to elected office.”
The lack of limits has had its biggest effect on Alaska’s races for governor. In 2022, all three leading candidates — Dunleavy, independent Bill Walker and Democratic candidate Les Gara — recorded large contributions from individual donors.
Most of the other 15 candidates in the governor race, including most of the Republicans, have taken similarly large donations, but not to the extent that the leading Democrats have.
The Republican candidate who has raised the most money, podiatrist Matt Heilala, has spent more than $1.25 million on his own campaign. Click Bishop, a Republican who has raised a middling amount of money, is also being boosted by a large union-funded third-party group. Those latter types of spending would not be affected by Ballot Measure 1.
NOTN- Police have identified the body found inside of a chest freezer at Switzer Village Mobile Home Park earlier this month, an investigation into the circumstances of his death remains ongoing.
Below is the full updated press release by JPD.
The State of Alaska Medical Examiner has confirmed the identity of the remains found to be those of Ross Pasquan. His next of kin have been notified. Juneau Police Department detectives continue to investigate the timeline and circumstances surrounding his death and the possibility that the death was concealed for financial gain or other motives.
Original Press Release:
On Sunday, July 19, 2026, at approximately 7:59 p.m., the Juneau Police Department responded to a residence in the 6500 block of Glacier Highway following a report of possible human remains discovered on the property.
The reporting party advised officers they had been cleaning out the residence following the death of a family member when they located what appeared to be human remains inside a chest freezer in a locked outbuilding on the property.
Officers responded and confirmed the presence of deceased human remains. A preliminary identification has been made, and investigators believe the remains may be those of an adult male family member. Next of kin has been notified. Positive identification is pending confirmation by the State Medical Examiner’s Office.
The length of time the remains have been in the freezer is unknown. Investigators have determined that no missing person’s report related to the deceased was ever filed with the Juneau Police Department.
The remains have been transported to the State Medical Examiner’s Office, where an autopsy will be conducted to confirm the identity of the deceased and determine the cause and manner of death.
At this stage of the investigation, there is no known threat to the public. The investigation remains active and ongoing.
Anyone with information that may assist investigators is encouraged to contact the Juneau Police Department at (907) 586-0600. Those wishing to remain anonymous may submit tips through Juneau Crime Line at www.juneaucrimeline.com.
Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom and Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher listen to testimony at a July 27, 2026, in Anchorage hearing on Ballot Measure 2. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Alaskans will decide whether to overhaul the state’s elections system with a ballot measure that would repeal ranked choice voting, reinstate closed primaries and repeal campaign disclosure rules established in 2020.
Ballot Measure 2, which will appear on the ballots as 24ESEG, is one of two ballot measures that will appear on the general election ballot in November. Ballot Measure 1, which would impose campaign contribution limits, will be on the primary ballot on Aug. 18.
Officials with the Alaska Division of Elections held the first of two public hearings to gather input on the ballot measures Monday, as required by law. Campaign supporters, opponents and Alaskans called in from around the state to the Anchorage Legislative Information Office to share their views at an event chaired by Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom. A second day of public hearings for public testimony will be held on Aug. 5.
A similar ballot measure to repeal ranked choice voting was voted down in 2024 by 737 votes out of 320,985 cast. Supporters quickly restarted the campaign in 2025 and collected over 34,000 signatures, required to place the issue before Alaska voters again in 2026. The measure’s primary sponsors are Republican gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson, along with Judy Eledge of Anchorage and Ken McCarty of Eagle River.
If approved, Ballot Measure 2 would repeal changes established by a 2020 ballot measure. It would repeal the nonpartisan, open primary system and ranked choice general election.
Currently, Alaska voters of any party affiliation can vote for any candidate in the primary election. If approved, the measure would revert the state’s elections to the closed primary system, where only one candidate from each party advances to the general election, and parties choose who may participate in that party’s vote.
The measure would also repeal some campaign finance disclosure rules. It would repeal limits enacted by the ballot measure passed in 2020 so that individuals and entities who contribute more than $2,000 to candidates or campaigns must disclose the true source, as defined by law. According to the ballot summary from the Division of Elections, the measure would remove spending limits and disclosure rules, including for digital ads, out-of-state donations, undisclosed donations and true source donations. It would also change the definition of “campaign expenditure” and remove some fines for violations.
If passed, the changes would cost the state an estimated $2.6 million to implement, according to the Alaska Public Offices Commission.
Supporters of the ballot measure, called the “Repeal Now” campaign, argue that ranked choice voting is confusing and burdensome to voters, and advocated for returning to the pre-2020 system.
Bethany Marcum, treasurer for Repeal Now, testified at the hearing on Monday, advocating for each voter to have a single vote for a candidate or measure. “Our campaign is about one person, one vote. That’s been the bedrock of the American Republic for the last 250 years,” she said.
Marcum argued ranking choices for candidates is complicated and voters complain about making mistakes. She objected to the tabulation system of counting up to four ranked choices.
If voters do not fill out second, third or fourth candidates, or all their candidates have been eliminated, their ballot is set aside, which Marcum objected to, falsely claiming “ballots were trashed.” But voters’ top choice candidates are counted.
She also blamed ranked choice voting for delaying election results. She said campaign disclosure rules set in 2020 hadn’t prevented “dark money,” or money whose source is secret, from flowing to Alaska, and she said the campaign finance reporting requirements are burdensome to smaller campaigns.
“So, in our opinion, the money overwhelms the disclaimer, and Alaskans recognize this. Smaller campaigns have to spend up to a third more of their money and their ad space on these disclaimers that do nothing to inform the public,” Marcum said.
Opponents of Ballot Measure 2 argue the ranked choice voting system gives voters more choices at the ballot box, and deters extreme partisans while encouraging candidates to appeal to a wider variety of voters. They argued against repealing campaign disclosure rules they say will welcome more Outside, undisclosed “dark money” into Alaska elections.
Scott Kendall and Julia Anastos present the No on 2 argument at the Anchorage hearing held by the Division of Elections on July 27, 2026. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Scott Kendall testified on behalf of the No on 2 campaign, registered as a group called Protect Alaska’s Elections. He argued the system is not too complicated for voters, and Alaska has implemented ranked choice voting well. He countered that delays in election results are caused by unavoidable delays in the U.S. Postal Service, as nearly a quarter of the state’s precincts must vote by mail.
“The mail system in Alaska is what it is,” he said. “We have to wait for ballots to be brought in from across the state before we can tabulate. Again, that has nothing to do with ranked choice voting, because as those of us who have participated know, the actual tabulation process takes mere seconds. It’s nearly instantaneous.”
Kendall argued repealing campaign disclosure rules would have a larger negative impact on Alaska than repealing open primaries and ranked choice voting.
“Ballot Measure 2 is a bit of a Trojan horse … repealing RCV, that is only a fraction of what the measure does,” he said. “No longer will there be a ban on dark money. In fact, any outside billionaire will be able to give money to another organization, and launder their contributions to that organization. And finally, it lowers or actually removes fines for certain campaign finance misbehavior.”
Kendall also argued returning to closed primaries would give political parties the authority to determine who can vote in their primary elections.
“In a state like Alaska, where two-thirds of all voters do not register with either party, the thought of taking publicly funded elections and allowing the political parties to choke off who can participate in them should be abhorrent,” he said.
Alaskans who called in or testified in person at the hearing on Monday were split, arguing vehemently in support and against the ballot measure.
Several testifiers in support of the measure said ranked choice voting is too complicated.
“We don’t need confusion,” said Mark Spohn, calling in from Willow to testify. “Anytime you have confusion, your elections aren’t as accurate and honest. It’s completely ridiculous. Let’s get rid of the insanity and go back to one person, one vote.”
Testifiers opposing the measure objected to repealing campaign finance disclosures.
Bryan Schroder, a 24-year veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard and former U.S. Attorney in Alaska, urged keeping the current disclosure requirements and ranked choice system to encourage bipartisanship.
“Now, when our candidates campaign, they have to appeal to a majority of voters, not just the hardcore wing of any political party,” he said. “We have a Legislature where more members are willing to work together to do what is best for Alaskans, actively choosing against the do-nothing tribal politics that frustrates so many of us, and as a colleague of mine put it, ‘the workhorses are coming to the front, not the show horses.’”
Several testifiers objected to returning to the closed party system, where voters could have to register with a particular party to vote for their candidate, including Michelle Vasquez of Soldotna. She said that forced her to vote only a Republican ballot, and restricted her from voting for other candidates.
“And that drove me crazy,” she said. “So I was very happy when I changed my party affiliation to unaffiliated like five years ago, so that I could vote however I wished without any confusion or misunderstandings or having to change my voter registration.”
Both the yes and no campaigns criticize each others’ out-of-state funders
Supporters and opponents of the ballot measure criticized each other at the hearing for taking Outside funding from big donors.
Both campaigns have raised large sums of money since 2025, with contributions from out-of-state political action committees, according to public filings with the Alaska Public Offices Commission and Federal Elections Commission.
The “Repeal Now” campaign supporting the measure has raised $1.1 million to date.
The majority of funds, $846,000, have been donated by the Aurora Action Network, a Super PAC based in Wisconsin whose major donors include finance billionaire Jeff Yass of Pennsylvania.
Other Alaska-affiliated contributors to the Aurora Action Network include Jeff Hildebrand, CEO of Hilcorp; John Binkley, trustee of the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.; Treg Taylor, Republican gubernatorial candidate and former attorney general, and Deena Bishop, state education commissioner, according to FEC filings.
The opposing No on 2 campaign has raised $5.75 million to date.
The campaign’s largest donor is Unite America PAC, Inc — contributing $4 million to date — a Colorado-based venture fund founded by a professor and advocate Charles Whelan, focused on funding elections reforms, in particular creating open, all-candidate primaries. Its biggest donors include Jason Carroll, a New York financier; Kent Thiry, a Colorado philanthropist who co-chairs Unite America; and David Randolph Peeler, an executive with the private equity firm Berkshire Partners.
The campaign has also received $1.5 million from Voters from the American Center, Inc., a Washington D.C. political nonprofit that supports lobbying “to advance democratic participation and strengthen democracy’s core systems,” according to a philanthropic trade outlet, philanthropy.org.
NOTN- Juneau voters will again decide whether to extend the city’s 3% temporary sales tax for another five years, which city staff say is critical to funding basic services.
The Assembly approved Ordinance 2026-13 Monday night, which places the question on the October 2026 ballot. The measure would continue a 3% tax from July 1, 2027, through July 1, 2032.
City Manager Katie Koester told Assembly members that Juneau’s total 5% sales tax is built from a 1% permanent base tax, a 1% temporary capital projects tax, and this 3% temporary levy that has been in place since 1983.
“The temporary 3% tax is used to fund really the bread and butter of city services. 1% is spent on operations, including police and fire, 1% is spent on streets and drainage projects and we’ve added some utility projects to that list as of late to again keep up with those utility projects. Then the other 1% goes to other needed CIP projects, often parks and playground maintenance, there’s some Eaglecrest funding in there.” Said Koester, “The 3% has been around for decades and really is part of how we’re able to provide basic city services. This ordinance puts 3% on the ballot this fall and I recommend the assembly take public testimony and adopt this ordinance.”
The ordinance passed without objection, sending the renewal to voters this fall.
The Alaska House gavels in for the third special session in 2026 on the proposed AKLNG gasline project, with House Speaker Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, presiding and Reps. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, and Sara Hannan, D-Juneau, in attendance on July 27, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
The Alaska Legislature opened its third special session of 2026 with no bill, few lawmakers and little hope.
A handful of legislators gathered Monday in the state Capitol at Juneau to begin a 30-day session called by Gov. Mike Dunleavy after the failure of a compromise bill that would have provided a tax break to the developer of the proposed trans-Alaska natural gas pipeline.
But on Monday, the governor had no new alternative bill ready for legislators as the special session began.
In a statement on social media, Dunleavy said, “Before reintroducing the legislation, my administration is going to continue meeting with all parties to determine the best path forward to an agreement.”
Answering questions about those meetings, the governor’s office said it had nothing more to add.
‘I don’t believe the Legislature can do much now’
The pipeline’s lead developer, Glenfarne, has said that a reduction in the state’s petroleum property tax is necessary for it to obtain the financing needed to build the pipeline.
Passing a bill into law requires 21 votes in the House, 11 in the Senate, and the assent of the governor. In a special session called by the governor, lawmakers may only work on topics designated by the governor. In Dunleavy’s latest proclamation, he limited work to the proposed gas pipeline.
“It sounded like (the governor) is hopeful that there could be maybe some new developments, but that’s going to be his negotiation. I don’t believe the Legislature can do much now at this point,” said House Minority Leader DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, at the Capitol on Monday.
With no legislation to consider, members of the House and Senate held pro forma “technical sessions” before adjourning until Friday, when a bill could be available.
Because no substantive action was expected on Monday, only two legislators traveled to Juneau on the first day of the special session. Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, and Johnson were joined by Rep. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau. In the Senate, Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, presided over an otherwise empty chamber.
The state House has 40 members, the state Senate has 20.
Down the hall from the House and Senate chambers, a group of cruise ship tourists watched a video about the history of the Capitol in a darkened committee room. At 10 a.m., there were more tourists than legislators.
Edgmon said that until the governor introduces a substantive bill, legislators will mostly stay away from the Capitol.
“The plan in the House is to have technical sessions, as you just saw, and to save time and certainly money (by) not bringing the Legislature back until we have something in front of us that’s worthy of bringing the entire body back … because it’s quite expensive to bring the Legislature back into session,” he said.
Typically, legislators have budgeted $1 million for a 30-day special session.
Fate of ‘pass-through’ tax is a key question
The current deadlock in negotiations is a “pass through entities tax” that would levy a form of the state’s corporate income tax on privately owned oil and gas companies, including Armstrong Oil and Gas, HEX, and Hilcorp.
That tax was added to the bill in the Senate to garner the votes of senators who are skeptical of the underlying bill, which would replace the state’s petroleum property tax with a tax on gas pumped through the as-yet-unbuilt pipeline.
The result would be billions of dollars in deferred tax revenue over a 30-year period for the state and municipalities along the route. But some lawmakers worry that the switch could also result in lower oil and gas production taxes because of writeoffs available for companies who spend on oil and gas infrastructure.
The new tax would offset that possibility, but has drawn opposition from the governor and from legislators who worry about the effects of imposing a tax on companies that are actively drilling for oil and gas within the state.
Hilcorp is expected to drill 27 gas wells in Cook Inlet this year, at a time when the region is facing a shortage of natural gas. Some legislators say Hilcorp lobbying was a key factor in the defeat of the compromise bill earlier this month.
Edgmon said he spoke with Dunleavy on Sunday. With the state’s primary election on Aug. 18 and general elections in November, time is running out for any chance of action, Edgmon said.
“Every day that goes by gets that much more difficult to reconvene the Legislature and to get them refocused on a bill,” Edgmon said.
“And so I think the clock is ticking very loudly right now, and the governor realizes that.”
Dunleavy cannot run for another term in office, and January will see a new governor and a new Legislature. If a bill doesn’t pass before then, Johnson said, “general fatigue” about the idea of a gas pipeline is part of the reason why.
“I think it’s the years of times that we tried to take this up and we never moved it forward. And so there’s just this sense that somehow it can’t be done,” she said. “I mean, I know there’s a sense of having this roadblock out there, and I think that’s kind of pervasive.”
House Judiciary committee chair Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, and committee members Rep. Ashley Carrick, D-Fairbanks and Rep. Mia Costello, R-Anchorage, listen to Carol Beecher, director of the Alaska Division of Elections, answer questions about the division’s decision to disqualify a U.S. Senate candidate at a hearing on July 22, 2026. (Photo by Kyle Johansen for Rep. Gray’s office)
Members of the House Judiciary and State Affairs committees questioned Alaska Division of Elections director Carol Beecher on Wednesday about the state’s response to a U.S. Senate candidate with the same name as the incumbent — Dan Sullivan. It was the second investigatory hearing on the subject after elections officials failed to appear at an initial hearing in June. Alaska Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom, who oversees the division, declined an invitation to appear.
At issue was the state’s decision to disqualify the U.S. Senate candidate Dan J. Sullivan of Petersburg and its determination that he was not a “good faith” candidate. The Alaska Supreme Court nixed that decision in late June.
Carol Beecher, the new director of the Alaska Division of Elections, answers questions from reporters on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
Beecher testified for nearly two hours and defended the division’s actions from the choice to disqualify Sullivan to the choice to list him without a party affiliation on the primary ballot. She also answered questions about how 3,500 Alaskan residents received notices that they have inactive voter status pending verification of citizenship.
Since the first legislative hearing, the Sullivan from Petersburg challenged the state’s decision and the fast-tracked case reached the Alaska Supreme Court. The court upheld a lower court’s ruling that Sullivan was eligible and said the division did not have the authority to add additional eligibility requirements, like whether a candidate was acting in “good faith,” beyond what is outlined in the U.S. Constitution.
Lawmakers raised concerns about how the division chose to list the candidates on the primary ballot. They asked Beecher about why the division chose to list the challenger as “Sullivan, Daniel J, Jr.” without his party affiliation as a registered Republican. It listed the incumbent senator as “Sullivan, Dan S.” and identified him as the incumbent and a Republican.
The two Sullivans are among 16 candidates for the U.S. Senate seat, including Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, in the primary election on August 18. The top four vote-getters will advance to the general election on November 3.
Beecher defended the division’s position that Sullivan was running with the purpose to confuse voters. She cited complaints filed by national and state Republican groups, Sullivan’s party affiliation as Republican and campaign materials as evidence of his intention to mimic the U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan and confuse Alaska voters.
“The division acted then to prevent manipulation of the ballot and to protect voters from purposeful confusion, consistent with its responsibility to maintain fair, neutral, and trustworthy elections,” she said.
She noted that the division’s action was unprecedented, but said the situation merited such a response. “The division understood all along that this action could be challenged in court, and recognizes the court’s authority to review these important questions,” she said.
Judiciary committee chair Rep. Andrew Gray, D-Anchorage, had several questions about how the division determined Sullivan was not a “good faith” candidate. “Where is the evidence that he did this to trick voters, to mislead the voters whom we are here to protect?” he asked.
“The information that we were presented with painted for us a picture of someone who was trying to confuse the ballot,” Beecher replied.
Gray probed the division’s criteria later in the hearing.“In your opinion, Director Beecher, what does it mean for a candidate to have a good faith intention to serve?” Gray asked.
“In my opinion, that it would be someone who actually wants to win, and is running because they want to to get the seat,” Beecher replied. “And in this situation, all of the facts that were presented to the division were that this was an individual who was not running to be what I would call a true candidate. This individual was running to confuse the ballot. It was an intentional attempt to gain access to the ballot for the purpose of confusing.”
Lawmakers also raised this issue of of how the candidate was listed on the primary ballot after the state Supreme Court ruling. The challenger was listed as “Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.” when he has publicly stated he goes by his first name as “Dan.”
Beecher said it was a choice by the division. “And it’s a bit of first in time, first in place, that Dan Sullivan has already been on the ballot prior, as Dan Sullivan is known as Dan Sullivan,” she said, referring to the incumbent senator. “So it was simply a way to differentiate between the two.”
Rep. Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage, asked Beecher about the division’s decision not to list Sullivan’s Republican party affiliation.
Beecher said she believes it was also within the division’s authority to do so. “Whether or not it has to be on the ballot, we believe that has been left to the discretion of the division, and in line with that, we made that determination,” she said.
“It also could still be litigated,” Beecher added.
Rep. Ashley Carrick, D-Fairbanks and chair of the House State Affairs Committee, said she was concerned about the precedent and the agency’s discretion to remove party information that could be informative for voters.
“Having his party affiliation may help those voters feel like they’re more informed and directed to a candidate they would rather support,” she said. “But not having his affiliation included there seems to provide less information and be more confusing.”
