President Donald Trump speaks to the media as he arrives with his then-personal attorney Todd Blanche in court for opening statements in his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments at Manhattan Criminal Court on April 22, 2024, in New York City. Trump was convicted of falsifying business records in the first of his criminal cases to go to trial. Since his election, he’s nominated Blanche to be attorney general of the United States. (Photo by Yuki Iwamura-Pool/Courtesy of Alaska Beacon, Getty Images)
During a lengthy, meandering series of remarks last week, President Donald Trump offered another hint that his administration may seek to disrupt Alaska’s U.S. Senate election.
Dan J. Sullivan has repeatedly said his campaign was inspired by his dissatisfaction with incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Dan S. Sullivan, and that he did not work with officials from Democratic candidate Mary Peltola’s campaign on his initial run for office.
Despite that, Trump and Dan S. Sullivan have repeatedly claimed — without providing evidence — that Dan J. Sullivan is a fraudulent candidate.
Hours later, talking with Republican lawmakers at a dinner in the Rose Garden, Trump again brought up the Alaska race.
“I’m going to go up to Alaska for Dan Sullivan. Think of it,” Trump said. “They have a man named Dan Sullivan running against him, the Democrats.”
“I think, Todd, you have a legal case on that,” the President said, referring to Attorney General Todd Blanche.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Blanche by a 50-49 margin on Aug. 8. Sen. Dan S. Sullivan was one of the decisive votes in favor of confirmation.
In the August primary election, Democratic candidate Mary Peltola had 49.5% of the vote, Dan S. Sullivan had 41.4%, and Dan J. Sullivan had 2.5% of the vote.
Under Alaska’s election system, the top four candidates advance to the November general election. The fourth-place finisher in the primary, Democratic candidate David Leslie, withdrew after the results were finalized, which advanced the fifth-place finisher, Gerald Heikes, who had 1.1% of the vote.
Trump, speaking on Sept. 2, said that even though Dan J. Sullivan had only 2.5% of the vote, his appearance on the November ballot could be decisive in a close contest between Peltola and Dan J. Sullivan.
“Let’s say he takes two or three points away. That’s the difference between winning and losing. It should be illegal. I don’t know how the judges are ruling (on) it, but it really is terrible,” Trump said.
Dan J. Sullivan did not immediately respond to an inquiry from the Beacon about the President’s remarks, but after the publication of this article, he answered by email: “I will not let President Trump’s threats of retribution force me out of this race. I’m running to give a voice to the Alaskans who voted for me and to honor the intent of our ranked choice voting system.”
Editor’s note: This article was updated on Sept. 9, 2026, at 9:03 a.m. with a response from Dan J. Sullivan.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom and Stephen Cox, general counsel to Dunleavy, speak at a news conference on Sep. 7, 2026 defending the decision to re-certify Treg Taylor as a candidate for governor on the general election ballot, citing issues with multiple candidates’ financial disclosure reports and litigation risks if he were disqualified. (Photo by Wil Courtney)
“My decision, I believe, was necessary for the integrity and the orderly administration of the election, and I believe this decision serves the public,” she told reporters during a news conference in Anchorage.
“There’s going to be a lot of people that think there were nefarious things going on. We don’t think so,” said Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether any of the disclosure problems put candidates at risk of violating state law or if the state would require candidates to fix those problems.
APOC is a regulatory agency of the Alaska Department of Administration that oversees campaigns and public officials’ financial disclosures, as well as lobbying activities.
Elected officials, members of state boards and commissions, and the governor’s cabinet, are required to use the POFD to disclose all business dealings worth more than $1,000 in order to discourage corruption.
Taylor, Dunleavy’s former attorney general, and Republican state House candidate Jose Tagle failed to file complete forms within 30 days after they registered as candidates, causing APOC to recommend that they be disqualified from advancing past the August primary.
Dahlstrom followed that recommendation but then reversed herself four days later, restoring Taylor and Tagle to the ballot on Sept. 4.
Rachel Witty, the top civil attorney for the Alaska Department of Law, said during Monday’s news conference that the department had conducted a “limited and expedited” review of other candidates’ POFDs after Taylor’s disqualification in order to judge whether Dahlstrom’s action was legally defensible.
“This was done over the course of a day and a half. So I can’t emphasize enough that this is a preliminary review. We didn’t have time to contact candidates,” she said.
The resulting review found dozens of potential problems, including some with every other finalist candidate for governor — Democratic candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, Republican Bernadette Wilson and Republican Dave Bronson.
Wilson and Kreiss-Tomkins’ lieutenant governor candidate, Zac Johnson, were the subject of APOC complaints on Friday about their disclosures, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
APOC had not published the complaints as of Monday evening.
Dahlstrom said she was not aware of those complaints before making the decision to restore Taylor’s candidacy.
Candidates appeared to be surprised by Monday’s disclosure. None of the four candidates for governor responded to questions on Monday afternoon and evening about the issues raised by the Department of Law.
“And just because there are potential discrepancies, that doesn’t mean that those candidates violated the law,” said Stephen Cox, attorney to Gov. Dunleavy.
Cox was appointed as attorney general following Taylor’s departure, but was rejected by the Alaska State Legislature in May.
Cox said he worked with Witty and the Department of Law on the review; the extent of his involvement wasn’t immediately clear.
The Department of Law’s investigation is unusual, if not unprecedented. APOC typically operates on a complaint-based system, with most actions taken when a member of the public alerts the commission to a potential problem.
The agency is chronically underfunded and understaffed. Ten years ago, it had 13 staff; today it has nine, and APOC has struggled at times to fill those positions.
Until last year, Taylor served as attorney general, head of the Department of Law. He’s now running as a Republican for governor, and the decision to both disqualify him and restore him came from a Republican elected official.
Witty said that “unequivocally,” the review “was completely an initiative of the Department of Law as we assess litigation risk.”
When asked whether candidates will be fined or required to correct the potential discrepancies before the general election, Witty said that’s within the jurisdiction of APOC to investigate.
“We don’t know what APOC is going to do,” she said. “If they find there’s reason to believe there is a violation, they can refer that to the APOC commission to take action on, and at that point, we’re talking about different fines and in the form of penalties.”
Moving forward, Dunleavy said, he intends to recommend that the next governor and next Legislature review APOC laws and regulations with a group of former elected officials.
“That’s something that I’ve been thinking about quite honestly for some time, and this just kind of hits home that it’s long overdue,” he said.
A flier seen Wednesday on a bulletin board at the University of Alaska Anchorage campus publicizes the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline established in 2022. The 988 hotline is one of many programs aimed at preventing suicide. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
The suicide-death rate for young Alaskans hit a 10-year high last year and the rate of suicide attempts has increased over the past decade, state health officials reported.
From 2016 to 2025, there were 174 suicide deaths among Alaska youths under the age of 18 and 4,101 documented suicide attempts, according to a bulletin released by the Alaska Department of Health’s epidemiology section. The median age of those who died was 16, the bulletin said. The fatality rate, 19.2 per 100,000 children aged 10 to 18, was the highest rate since 2016.
Overall, Alaska’s youth suicide rate is nearly six times the nation average, the bulletin said.
Boys were victims in the vast majority of youth suicides over the 10-year period, accounting for 81% of the deaths, and most used firearms. Girls accounted for about three-quarters of the documented suicide attempts, according to the bulletin.
Those statistics point to “the need to prioritize timely follow-up and intervention following attempts among females and efforts to reduce access to highly lethal means (particularly firearms) among males during periods of crisis,” the bulletin siad..
For Alaska Native youths, the statistics are especially grim. Over the decade-long period, the suicide fatality rate among Alaska Natives aged 10 to 18 was 47 per 100,000 children, more than twice the state rate. The rate of documented suicide attempts was 1,098 per 100,000 children, also more than twice the state rate, according to the bulletin.
Special care should be used to address the problem among Indigenous youth, the bulletin said.
“The disproportionate burden of suicide among Alaska Native youth underscores the need for prevention strategies that are culturally responsive and community informed,” the bulletin said.
Statistics cited in the bulletin come from the Alaska Violent Death Reporting System and the Alaska Health Facilities Data Reporting system. The bulletin noted that statistics on suicide attempts likely understate the numbers because some attempts do not result in encounters with the healthcare system and therefore probably go unreported.
Suicide is also a major threat for adults in Alaska, state records show.
A graph shows suicide fatality and attempt rates per 100,000 people in Alaska from 2016 to 2025. (Graph provided by Alaska Division of Public Health epidemiology section)
It was the sixth leading cause of death in the state across all age groups, according to the most recent Department of Health status report in the Healthy Alaskans program. In comparison, suicide ranks 11th among causes of death nationally, according to the report.
There are some prevention programs in place in the state.
One is the national 988 crisis line, which in 2025 alone received nearly 44,000 calls from Alaskans.
Other programs are tailored to Alaska Native communities. One of those was designed for the rural Yukon-Kuskokwim region in Western Alaska by the Center for Alaska Native Health Research at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. And the Indian Health Service has a national program called the Zero Suicide Initative.
While suicides have been inching up over time, that “doesn’t necessarily mean that prevention strategies haven’t been successful,” Ashley Hannigan, a state epidemiologist who helped write the bulletin, said by email.
“It’s difficult or impossible to pin down the number of suicide attempts prevented by programming like the careline/988 or the Zero Suicide initiative,” Hannigan said. “The peak we see in 2025 for youth and adolescent suicide does emphasize the need to focus on youth-specific, and culturally tailored suicide prevention strategies, however.”
One idea for preventing youth suicide emerged this year in the Alaska State Legislature, but it was rejected by the governor.
Lawmakers passed a measure, Senate Bill 41, that would have established mental health guidelines for public schools. Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, D-Anchorage, the bill’s prime sponsor, described youth suicide as “a crisis that impacts every community in our state,” and said the bill would expand mental health services to children who need them but might otherwise lack access.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed the bill on June 18. In his veto message, he said student mental health was important but that the bill would place the state “in the role of imposing upon school districts to mandate the development of mental health education at a time when districts are already working to meet existing requirements.”
Lawmakers attempted the next day to override the veto but fell short of votes to do so.
A school bus passes in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
The Alaska Department of Revenue announced on Monday that Alaska’s K-12 public schools will receive an additional $115 million in state funding this year, prompted by a boost in oil revenues driven by the U.S. war on Iran.
Legislators earmarked the additional oil revenue for schools as part of the state budget approved by Gov. Mike Dunleavy in June.
The additional funding is a relief to school districts statewide. Many districts have faced severe budget shortfalls in recent years due to funding not keeping pace with rising costs. This year, a record 12 elementary and middle schools closed across the state.
Following the announcement, Luke Meinert, superintendent of the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District — the state’s third-largest district by student count — welcomed the news, and said the district is appreciative of the Legislature for making it a priority.
“(We’re) very excited that the projected numbers came through and that we will see a sizable increase in funding for our school district through the one-time funds that are being allocated,” he said in an interview Tuesday.
Officials with the Department of Revenue announced the state had collected sufficient revenue funds to meet the special appropriation of nearly $600 million.
Lawmakers designated funding for four priorities areas, in sequential order: nearly $128 million to the Permanent Fund to allocate one-time energy relief payments of $200 per eligible Alaskan along with dividend checks; $115 million to K-12 schools through the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development; $15 million to the bulk fuel loan program; and $341 million to the state’s budget reserve account.
According to the announcement, the Monday revenue estimates are expected to be revised and finalized this fall. The revenue amounts are expected to “change slightly,” impacting the exact amount that will land in the budget reserve fund, the state’s savings account, officials said.
The $115 million will be distributed to school districts according to the state’s education funding formula, which is based on student enrollment counts in October.
For Fairbanks, that’s estimated to be roughly $10.2 million this year. Meinert said the district designed its budget this year anticipating about half of that amount, and the additional funding will go toward teachers and staff, as the district is currently in union contract negotiations are ongoing, and other areas. “So that will help us in our negotiation discussions for this school year,” he said.
“Student activities have been an area that’s been cut pretty hard over the past several years,” he continued. “So potentially adding some funding there to ensure that families aren’t having to pick up a bigger burden of paying for student activities. And then, additionally, I think there may be some smaller investments for teacher mentoring, teacher coaching, and possibly some funding in our nutrition services department.”
School board members with Fairbanks and Anchorage called on the state in June to release estimates earlier, ahead of the school year — “the earliest practical information available,” they wrote in an op-ed for the Anchorage Daily News. They asked the state to announce whether “funding is likely, unlikely or still uncertain,” to help districts plan, particularly for hiring teachers.
But the Department of Revenue did not change its scheduled announcement.
Lisa Parady, executive director of the Alaska Council of School Administrators, said they were “elated” and “grateful” at the announcement. But she said it underscores Alaska schools’ needs for prior notice and consistent state funding.
“We do have to get to the place where we have predictable, reliable funds in advance of needing to extend contracts. That’s the biggest issue,” she said Tuesday.
“Because we’re in the greatest education shortage in the history of Alaska and in the nation, it allows for the recruitment and retention of quality educators and that ability to lock in those contracts sooner,” she said.
Among the state’s largest districts, the Anchorage School District is expected to get $32 million. The Matanuska Susitna Borough School District is expecting $16.1 million, the Kenai Peninsula School District is expecting $7.6 million. Both districts closed schools this year.
Parady said it’s difficult to say if the additional funding earlier in the year would have prevented school closures.
Districts cited surging costs of operations, as well as declining enrollment as more families opting for homeschool programs or leaving the state.
“Each school district is in their own unique place in terms of overall education funding in their budgets,” Parady said. “Having a long term fiscal plan that allows for timely, reliable, and predictable revenue for schools … is the only way that school boards and our school district leaders can have the tools they need to make the best decisions as they’re managing their budgets. And school closures are obviously a piece of that, and so I can’t say for sure that it could have changed an outcome, but it’s certainly possible.”
Anchorage Democrat Sen. Löki Tobin, who chairs the Senate Education Committee expressed her reaction Tuesday as “mixed.” “We know that our schools are in desperate need of resources,” she said.
“We have nonpartisan financial memos from our Division of Legislative Finance that says to adequately address the years that inflation has eroded the purchasing power of our base in funding, we need to appropriate significant financial resources per student to our schools, and while $115 million is a significant amount of dollars, it’s clearly not enough. And one-time funds do not create stability nor predictability.”
Tobin also acknowledged the moral dilemma of the upswing of Alaska oil revenues and state funding driven by the U.S. war on Iran.
“It is gut-wrenching to know the reason that Alaska has been able to receive these resources,” Tobin said. “It is not without contemplation or thought that I have been thinking about the children that were bombed in these recent years in a place that is very far away from us, but is no less important and nor no less critical for the health and well-being of all of our kids, and how those choices are driving the record increases in the price of a per barrel of oil.”
With the boost in state revenues, Tobin also credited the efforts of lawmakers across political divides in designating funding for schools. “Folks who work to get this funding into our budget not only crossed the aisle but also were bicameral in nature, and that is absolutely critical,” she said.
Lawmakers allocated roughly $144 million in one-time additional funding for K-12 schools, plus $148 million for school repairs and construction this year to address an extensive maintenance backlog. They approved $29 million to offset districts’ rising energy costs beginning in 2028 and subject to future lawmakers approving the funding.
NOTN- After another glacial outburst flood on the Mendenhall River, Juneau officials are turning their focus to how the city will pay for long‑term protection of flood‑prone neighborhoods.
City Manager Katie Koester told the Assembly that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is moving ahead with an industry led solution, which could move on a faster time-line than one directed by the Army Corp.
The project would be designed to Suicide basin below 1,100 feet and hold future events to minor flood levels.
While final designs and costs are still unknown, Koester said the overall price tag could reach hundreds of millions of dollars, leaving Juneau responsible for an estimated $40 million to $100 million depending on the federal cost share, 10 to 25 percent.
According to Koester, after speaking with Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan’s office, Alaska’s congressional delegation is now working to change federal law so Juneau can receive the same 90-10 cost share available for Army Corps projects on tribal lands under the conventional process.
“I do think our state having some participation in the funding of an enduring solution is important… we have local government, federal government, tribal government, and state government all working together.” Koester said.
The city has already spent nearly $10 million in local funds on HESCO barriers and related work over recent flood seasons, and staff time has been pulled away from other core capital projects such as water, wastewater and facilities maintenance. Koester said engineering, public works and emergency management have been “absorbing” much of the response workload, and warned that can’t continue indefinitely without tradeoffs or added staff.
“We have spent a little under $10 million of CBJ taxpayer money, and that is thanks to grants and partnerships. Army Corps has spent significantly more more than that.” Koester said, “There will be maintenance responsibilities that we’ll be in charge of, including inspection, unfortunately protecting against vandalism. We’ve already seen the barrier slashed. We’ve already seen warming fires being built right up against the barriers.”
Assembly members are weighing a mix of options, including a special service area tax for roughly 1,800 homes in and around the flood zone currently protected by HESCOs, bonds backed by area‑wide taxpayers, and potential contributions from the state. A one‑mill levy in a HESCO service area would likely raise less than $1 million a year, meaning the general fund would still play a major role.
The Assembly is also debating whether to compensate homeowners who host HESCO barriers on their land through temporary easements, and whether to limit new development in the flood corridor while it asks voters to help finance a permanent solution. A small Assembly “strike team” will work with staff to refine funding options before they return to the full body for public debate.
The first leaves begin to take their fall colors on the trees in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon
The first leaves begin to take their fall colors on the trees in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
Final results from Alaska’s August primary election indicate existing coalition majorities in the state House and Senate are likely to continue after November’s general election and could even grow.
Alaska is the only state in the country where the state House and Senate are both controlled by coalitions of Democrats, independents and Republicans, something that forces bipartisan and multipartisan negotiations and compromises.
In Monday’s certified primary results, coalition-leaning candidates led 24 of 40 state House races. The current coalition majority includes 21 lawmakers — two Republicans, 16 Democrats and three independents.
In the state Senate, 10 of 20 seats are up for election this year. Coalition members or coalition-inclined candidates lead in seven of those races. Seven other coalition members are not up for election this year.
“I think you have a chance for one of the strongest coalitions in a very long time,” said Andrew Halcro, a former state legislator and moderate Republican who commentates on Alaska politics via a popular podcast.
Any majority group that controls the House and Senate dictates the agenda — who chairs committees, what bills advance and which ones do not.
Five people signed up to replace him, including current Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham. Edgmon was the top finisher in the primary, with 37.9% of the vote.
The other finalists in November’s election will be Republican Darren Deacon (23.9%), Democrat Wassilie Guy (18.9%), and nonpartisan Richard Robb (11.5%). None filed withdrawal paperwork before Monday’s deadline.
The fifth-place finisher was undeclared candidate Wayne Morgan (7.9%). He is eliminated and will not advance to November.
This year, 4,184 people voted in the district, and turnout was up significantly from two years ago, when 2,899 people voted in the primary.
In 2022, during a primary that coincided with a special general election, 4,257 people voted in the district and Hoffman earned 66.2% of the vote in a two-way race against Veterans Party candidate Willy Keppel.
House District 37 – Bristol Bay and the Aleutian Islands
Edgmon’s decision to run for Senate means there is no incumbent in the race to represent House District 37, which covers Bristol Bay and the Aleutians.
Seven candidates registered for the primary, the most of any state House race in Alaska.
The district is a tossup politically — two years ago, 50.8% of participating voters picked Republican Donald Trump for President, but 52.9% voted for Democratic U.S. House candidate Mary Peltola and 72.5% went for Edgmon for U.S. House.
Four years ago, the district went for Peltola and Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the general election.
In the August primary, Republican Brenda Wilson of King Cove had 22.6% of the vote, the most among the seven candidates for state House.
The other three finalists are Democratic candidate Evelynn Trefon (19.8%), nonpartisan Mark Smith (17.5%) and nonpartisan Cade Woods (9.2%).
Democratic candidate Dennis Robinson had 15.1% of the vote but withdrew before Monday’s deadline, as did undeclared candidate Kimberly Johnson, who had 10.7% of the vote. Their withdrawals cleared the way for Woods to be promoted into the fourth spot.
As a result, there will be one Democrat, one Republican and two independents to pick from in November.
House District 23 – Eagle River
Incumbent Republican Rep. Jamie Allard was the top vote-getter in a five-way primary election for the state House seat representing half of Eagle River, earning 39.8% of the vote in a strongly Republican district.
Democratic candidate Jim Arlington advanced to the November election with 31.9% of the vote, followed by Republican Ruby Jones (13.9%) and Democrat Lee Hammermeister (5.8%).
Republican Nick Capozzi finished ahead of Hammermeister with 8.6% of the vote but withdrew before Monday’s deadline. In a statement on Facebook, he said he was withdrawing to fulfill a pre-election pledge to stop his campaign if he was “soundly defeated” in the primary.
Capozzi said he is not endorsing Allard and believes there is “growing dissatisfaction” with her in the district.
“While I sincerely hope District 23 is well represented, I believe the Republican Party should carefully evaluate who is best positioned to earn and maintain the confidence of District 23 voters in future elections,” he wrote.
Incumbent Republican Rep. Garret Nelson of Sutton was appointed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy to represent the district after Dunleavy appointed its former representative, Republican George Rauscher, to the state Senate.
In the August primary, Nelson finished second, behind Republican Steve Menard, who had 39.4% of the vote in a six-way race that was the second most crowded among legislative contests last month.
Nelson had 23.2% of the vote, just ahead of Democratic candidate Kimberly Slone, who had 23.1% of the vote as the sole Democrat in a strongly Republican district.
Nonpartisan candidate Jessica Kusner-Kalarchik was fourth, with 8%.
Libertarian candidate Candice Frisby (4.2%) and undeclared candidate Amber Hansen (2%) were eliminated after finishing fifth and sixth, respectively.
House District 30 – Big Lake
A five-way race for the state House district representing Big Lake, the Denali Borough and the western Matanuska-Susitna Borough resulted in just three candidates advancing to the November election after the two lowest finishers withdrew ahead of Monday’s deadline.
Incumbent Republican Rep. Kevin McCabe had 32.4% of the vote in the heavily Republican district, followed by Democratic candidate Sandra Loomis with 29.2%.
Republican challenger Doug Massie was third, with 20.6%.
Withdrawals leave two more candidates running unopposed
Among Alaska’s 40 state House elections, four incumbents ran unopposed in August and will be unopposed in November, except for write-ins.
After one candidate was disqualified and another withdrew on Monday, two more races will also have candidates running unopposed.
Tagle’s disqualification leaves Democratic incumbent Ted Eischeid as the only candidate for the Anchorage district.
Elsewhere in Anchorage, former Anchorage Assembly member Felix Rivera quit the House District 13 race ahead of Monday’s deadline.
That district is currently represented by Democrat Andy Josephson, who is retiring and isn’t seeking re-election. Rivera’s departure leaves Democrat Lisa Keller as the only option on the ballot in November.
The other four unopposed state House legislators are Reps. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau; Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage; Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage; and Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks.
In the Senate, three of 10 races are unopposed: Sens. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka; Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage; and Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, all remain on track to return to the Capitol in January.
In open districts, conservative Republican candidates tended to trail
While Republican candidate Brenda Wilson led all challengers in the primary for House District 37, her performance wasn’t repeated by all Republicans in open state House and Senate seats
In Senate District C, which covers Kodiak, Cordova and parts of the southern Kenai Peninsula, Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, earned 49.4% of the vote to replace Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak.
Stevens is retiring, and the seat has no incumbent. Stutes is a moderate, one of two Republican members of the House’s coalition majority, and is expected to replace Stevens in the Senate’s coalition majority if elected.
Two more conservative Republicans, Heath Smith of Homer (37.8%) and Carrie Harris of Anchor Point (12.9%) finished behind Stutes in second and third.
In Stutes’ House District 5 in Kodiak, nonpartisan candidate Kathy Simpler had 61.4% of the vote against Republican challenger Sheldon Prout in a head-to-head race.
In Anchorage, where Democratic candidate Cliff Groh is attempting a return to the state House in the district covering Government Hill and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, he had 67.2% of the vote against Republican challenger Dan Sager. The seat is currently held by Republican Rep. David Nelson, who is not seeking re-election.
Farther north, in Eagle River, Republican Rep. Dan Saddler is retiring. Republican Ken McCarty, a former legislator himself, led a three-way race to replace Saddler, earning 46.8% of the vote.
One of the other candidates in the race, former Rep. Sharon Jackson, withdrew ahead of Monday’s deadline. That leaves Republican Gina Wall, who earned 33.8% of the primary vote, as McCarty’s sole challenger.
In Fairbanks, Republican Rep. Frank Tomaszewski is running for the state Senate seat being vacated by Republican Robert Myers. Primary results showed him with 60.9% of the vote in a head-to-head race against Democratic challenger William Hunt.
Four incumbents trail in primary, but outcomes could change in November
In Anchorage’s Sand Lake neighborhood, Democratic candidate Denny Wells had 52.7% of the vote in a head-to-head race against Republican incumbent Rep. Mia Costello.
That’s a reversal of the general-election result two years ago, when Costello had 51.5% of the vote in a race against Wells and perennial candidate Dustin Darden, running as a Democrat.
The district has a slight Republican lean — it went for Trump two years ago, but the Republican candidate had less than 50% of the district’s vote for president.
In Homer, Republican Rep. Sarah Vance finished the primary more than 13 percentage points behind nonpartisan challenger Brent Johnson, who earned 56.9% of the vote in a head-to-head race.
Vance has been in office since 2019 and has governed as a Christian conservative, but she appeared to alienate some conservative Republicans this year when she worked across party lines on a bipartisan election reform bill.
In Fairbanks, Rep. Tomaszewski’s wife, Harmony, is the lone Republican candidate in the strongly Republican district being vacated by Tomaszewski. But in final primary election results, Harmony trailed nonpartisan candidate Joy Beth Cottle by 6 percentage points.
The two will appear on the ballot again in November.
In Western Alaska, Rep. Nellie Unangiq Jimmie was the only incumbent Democrat who didn’t finish first in the primary.
With 29% of the vote, she finished second to former Democratic Rep. CJ McCormick, whom she defeated in 2024.
Republican Willy Keppel was third with 24.3% of the vote, followed by nonpartisan candidate Joseph Amik, with 14.7%.
Turnout in the Democratic-leaning district was low by comparison with the rest of the state — fewer than 16% of eligible voters cast ballots in the primary.
Primary success isn’t a guarantee of success in November, even in head-to-head contests: Two years ago, Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks, received fewer votes in the August primary than his Republican challenger, Leslie Hajdukovich.
Just three months later, Kawasaki reversed that result and remains a member of the Senate today.
NOTN- At a Committee of the Whole work session last night, the Juneau Assembly narrowly voted to delay action on an ordinance that would lock the city’s informal five-ship-a-day cruise limit into law, opting instead to wait for findings from the Visitor Industry Task Force.
The committee voted 5-4 to postpone the measure until after the task force completes its work and issues a report later this year. Supporters of the delay, including Mayor Beth Weldon, said the risk of costly litigation was too high, and the need for stronger data to defend any future ordinance was needed.
“It was said that both parties need to show up in these negotiations, and you know, I get that we can do this one-sided, but we still need both parties to show up for our negotiations over the use of the marine passenger funds. And I’m not saying we’re bowing to the the industry. I’m saying, I think we have a lot to gain by continuing with collaboration.” Said Assembly Member Maureen Hall.
Those who voted against the postponement, said it would erode public trust and ignores years of community support for the five-ship cap, now enforced through a memorandum of understanding with cruise lines.
“I’m a little frustrated to hear the conversations we’re having today, because for the many years that I’ve been on the assembly, I have seen overwhelming support for the five ship limit.” Assembly Member Ella Adkison said, “It’s consistently a thing that scores very highly in all of our surveys, it’s something that everyone has rallied around as a good thing and a good first step. And the only reason we haven’t made it code is because we were not legally able to. And now we have the opportunity to make this very popular public good ironclad, and we’re hesitating. That seems to me like we are just wanting to kick the can down the road. I think there’s nothing wrong with bringing it to public testimony, but I can guess that that public testimony is going to be very in favor. And I don’t think waiting will tell us any more than the last few years have already told us.”
In a story by KTOO, it was detailed that a recent federal court ruling in Bar Harbor, Maine, found that community’s limits on cruise passengers were legal, which could potentially open a path for Juneau to pursue its own restrictions.
But City Attorney Emily Wright warned that a local ordinance would almost certainly face a lawsuit. She estimated litigation could cost the city between one and four million dollars, with no guarantee Juneau would win.
The Assembly voted 5-4 to postpone the ordinance. The Visitor Industry Task Force is expected to complete its work and make recommendations to the Assembly later this fall.
Leotis Phillips and Zoey Clark, Photo courtesy of Juneau Police Department
NOTN-News of the North would like to extend condolences to the families of the deceased.
On August 31, 2026, at approximately 2:25 p.m., missing juveniles Leotis Phillips, 16, and Zoey Clark, 16, were located deceased in a wooded area above the 6800 block of Glacier Highway.
Preliminary information indicates that both juveniles died from gunshot wounds. A firearm was located at the scene. Their bodies will be sent to the Alaska State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage for autopsy.
Next of kin has been notified. The investigation remains ongoing, and no additional information is available at this time.
The Juneau School District plans to make support and counseling services available to students and staff affected by this tragedy.
The Juneau Police Department extends its condolences to the families, friends, classmates, and others affected by this loss.
A voter joins a line of voters waiting to cast their ballots on Aug. 15, 2022, at the state Division of Elections office in Anchorage. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
The Alaska Supreme Court issued a fast-tracked ruling on Thursday, affirming a lower court’s decision that the Alaska Division of Elections’ language for an elections overhaul ballot measure is “true and impartial,” but ordered the division to make one additional change.
The Court issued the ruling days after hearing oral arguments from two groups of plaintiffs on opposing sides of the current ranked-choice voting system. The groups appealed a lower court’s ruling issued in June, challenging the language of Ballot Measure 2 as unclear, politically partisan and containing omissions they sought to change.
Ballot Measure 2, which will appear on the ballot as 24ESEG, would repeal the state’s current ranked choice voting and open primary systems, as well as repeal campaign disclosure rules enacted by voters in 2020.
The Supreme Court ruling Thursday affirmed a Superior Court’s finding that the Alaska Division of Elections’ fulfilled its legal duty in preparing the ballot measure title and summary in a “true and impartial” manner.
But the justices identified one omission: the division must add language that explains if the measure is approved, and nonpartisan, open primaries are eliminated, candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor would run for election separately.
Currently, candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor run together on a combined ticket in the primary election. The top-four vote getters in the open primary advance to the ranked choice general election.
A spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Law, which defended the division and its ballot measure language in court, said by email Friday they welcomed the ruling and would make the change.
“We are pleased that the Alaska Supreme Court rejected nearly all the challenges to the lieutenant governor’s true and impartial ballot summary,” said Sam Curtis, an information officer. He called the court’s directive a small change.
“The State had considered this a minor detail that did not need to be in a ballot summary, but the Court disagreed,” he said. “The Office of the Lieutenant Governor will issue a revised summary soon.”
The revised language is expected to be published by the division before a ballot printing deadline of Sep. 2.
Both groups of plaintiffs that filed appeals in court expressed mixed reactions, saying they were “disappointed” but “appreciated” the court’s decision.
One group of plaintiffs that also sponsored the ballot measure, called the “Repeal Now” campaign, filed a lawsuit challenging the language in court. Among a series of language changes requested, they had argued for language to explain the governor and lieutenant governor would run separately. Their attorney Julie Pack said by email Thursday they maintained concerns.
“We’re disappointed that the summary will continue to incorrectly state that open primaries would end with Ballot Measure 2,” Pack wrote. “Primaries would remain defaulted at open following Ballot Measure 2’s passage, just like they previously were.”
The group argued, in part, that if approved Alaskans would still vote in “open primaries.”
But the ballot measure language states “the act would get rid of open party primaries.” That’s because if voters approve the measure, the elections system would revert to a partisan primary system in which political parties establish rules governing which candidates may appear on their ballot and which voters may participate.
Voters in the primary would no longer be able to vote for candidates of any party running for statewide and federal offices, as they currently do.
The issue is of particular concern to another group of plaintiffs that filed suit in court, represented by attorney Scott Kendall, who was one of the primary sponsors of the 2020 ballot implementing the current ranked-choice voting system.
He argued the current language on the ballot measure related to how the primaries would change is incomplete.
“Our specific request was that it be made more clear that each political party will have the power to not only close their primaries, but to close them and make it unlawful for undeclareds and nonpartisans to vote,” Kendall said in an interview Friday. “There’s some language in the ballot measure that gestures at that, but I don’t think it really makes it clear.”
Overall Kendall said the group is grateful to the court and division for rejecting language proposed by Repeal Now he called “radical changes.”
“We’re very, very grateful that the court correctly rejected those baseless edits,” he said.
Kendall said the Supreme Court’s added change is “a good one.”
“It wasn’t so much about what’s good policy, bad policy. It was when a voter steps into the booth and picks up the pen, are they equipped with full knowledge of what their yes or no vote means?”
Ballot Measure 2 as currently proposed by the Alaska Division of Elections:
An Act Restoring Political Party Primaries, Ending Ranked Choice-General Elections, and Repealing Recent Campaign Finance Laws
This Act would get rid of open primary elections, where all candidates appear on one ballot. It would also get rid of ranked-choice general elections. It would bring back political party primaries and single-choice general elections. It would also repeal certain campaign finance rules that were added by a 2020 ballot measure.
Elections would occur as they did before open primaries and ranked choice elections. In the primary election, voters would choose a party’s ballot, unless prohibited by the party’s bylaws. They would only vote for candidates on that ballot. The winning candidates from each primary would be the party’s nominee. In the general election, voters would vote for only one candidate in each race. Party petitions, special runoff elections, and other processes would return.
This act would repeal campaign finance rules that were passed in 2020. It would remove the limits on donations to joint campaigns for governor and lieutenant governor. It would remove limits and disclosure rules under current law, including for digital ads, out-of-state donations, undisclosed donations and the true source of donations. It would change the meaning of a campaign expenditure and remove some fines.
Should this initiative become law?
Correction: This story has been updated to clarify that if approved, the ballot measure would enact a partisan primary system where political parties establish rules governing which candidates may appear on their ballot and which voters may participate.
Louis Wagner Jr. pulls up ooligan nets on the Unuk River in southeastern Alaska in March 2024. He and his wife, Cindy Wagner, have fished in the area for years. (Photo by Sonia Luokkala/courtesy of the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission)
The salmon and the ooligan that spawn in the Unuk and Stikine rivers have no say in the expansion of mining operations in British Columbia. Neither do the Alaskan tribes that live on the same rivers.
The power lies across the border in Canada, where the mining companies and the provincial, federal and Tahltan Nation authorities have joined forces in a modern-day gold rush to expand the Red Chris Mine at the headwaters of the Stikine River. Plans are also underway to restart the idled Eskay Creek Mine on the Unuk River.
The investment of a half-billion Canadian dollars supporting the expansion of the Red Chris mine by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government has heightened an international conflict between the Native peoples and others in southeastern Alaska and the First Nations people in Canada who support the project.
A pictograph of the rising sun along the Unuk River is thousands of years old and reflects the influence of the Tèiḵwèidi Tlingit Clan of the Sàanyàa Ḵwáan, the people of the Unuk River, according to river advocates. (Photo by Sonia Luokkala/courtesy of the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission)
Seven tribal nations could be affected by the Eskay Creek Mine, and the Red Chris expansions poses similar threats, according to officials with the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission, or SEITC, a collective of 14 Haida, Tlingit and Tsimshian nations that have united to uphold stewardship over the lands, waters and sacred sites in their territories.
“The expansion of Red Chris means more risk in the headwaters of a river that has sustained our people since time immemorial, “ said SEITC President Esther Aaltseen Reese, Eagle Tsaagweidí (Killerwhale) from Ḵéex̱ʼ Kwáan (Kake), who lives down river of the Red Chris Mine.
“We are salmon people,” Reese told ICT. “The Stikine is part of who we are. We are already seeing contamination from Red Chris entering waters that feed the Stikine, yet British Columbia approved a major expansion without consulting the tribal nations downstream whose ways of life are on the line.”
The Tahltan Nation, which has agreements in place for both mining projects, did not respond to questions about the project posed by ICT via email.
In November 2025, the SEITC filed a judicial review in the British Columbia supreme court to force “meaningful consultation” with Alaskan tribes on mining projects in the headwaters of the Unuk, Stikine and Taku rivers.
“There is no legal or moral basis for B.C. to exclude our tribes who have deep ancestral ties and relationships to land and territory on both sides of the border,” Reese said in a statement issued at the time. “We deserve a seat at the table when decisions are made upstream that could obliterate our way of life.”
Canada’s Ministry of Environment and Parks responded to ICT questions in a written statement.
“We are not expediting projects at the expense of meeting our consultation obligations or compromising our high standards of environmental protection — we are finding opportunities that can do both in our processes,” according to the statement.
In regards to concerns from Alaskan tribes, officials said, “The matter of consultation with Alaska tribes for the environmental assessment of the Eskay Creek project near the B.C./Alaska border is currently before the courts, we are not able to comment.”
Eskay Creek Mine
The Unuk and Stikine rivers are part of the transboundary watershed, a collection of rivers, streams and tributaries that also include the Taku and Salmon rivers that flow south from British Columbia into Alaska and then on to the Pacific Ocean.
The watershed is crucial spawning grounds for salmon and other fish, and provides sustenance to Indigenous people and others along the rivers.
Cindy Wagner, Haida/Tsimshian, is concerned that the rapid expansion of mining in Canada will have significant environmental impacts on the transboundary watersheds in Alaska.
Louis Wagner Jr., rear left, delivers ooligan with his daughter Lee, center, and wife Cindy in this undated photo. (Photo courtesy of Cindy Wagner)
Wagner, assistant executive director of the SEITC, and her husband, Louis Wagner Jr., live downstream of the Eskay Creek Mine on the Annette Islands Reserve in Alaska on the Unuk River, where she has lived and fished all her life.
She has seen first hand the impact of mining on the Unuk.
The Eskay Creek Mine operated from 1994 to 2008, and the ooligan fishery on the river was closed in 2001. In recent years, ooligan, a small fish also known as eulachon, have begun to return, along with salmon and mackerel.
But she fears that could change with the reopening now underway of the Eskay Creek Mine on a much-larger scale. The mine received its Environmental Assessment Certificate in January.
“This is all for the Unuk River,” Wagner told ICT. “It’s a major salmon river, an ooligan spawning river, a mackerel spawning river, and vital to southeast Alaska.”
Ooligan, shown here, are small fish used in a variety of ways by Indigenous people and others in southeastern Alaska. (Photo by Sonia Luokkala/courtesy of the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission)
Reese says her people are concerned about a possible overflow or dam breach at the tailings ponds that collect the mining byproducts. In 2014, a breach at the Mount Polley copper and gold mine tailings dam resulted in billions of liters of wastewater spilling into the waterways. The mine is owned by Imperial Metals, which also owns a share of the Red Chris mine.
“Contamination or a failure at Red Chris could travel downstream, across the border, and through one of the most intact salmon systems left in the world,” Reese said. “The cumulative impacts of multiple large mines only magnify that risk.”
A waterway in transition
Tribes on the American side of the border have been living with the impact of mining for decades and fighting, to no avail, to stop expansion, local officials said.
On June 19, however, the province of British Columbia approved the transition of the Red Chris mine from an open-pit mine to a block cave mine that would largely be underground. On July 2, the Canadian government approved the funding support.
The Tahltan Nation in British Columbia has signed on with Red Chris mine’s owners and operators, Newmont Corporation and Imperial Metals, according to a statement from the companies.
The outlook is not as rosy downstream. The Annette Islands Reserve of the Metlakatla Alaska Native Community is Alaska’s only reservation, with other Native lands transferred to Alaska Native Corporations under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, or ANCSA.
The reserve sits on the pristine Alexander Archipelago about 250 miles south of Juneau.
The Tongass rainforest towers over the Unuk River in southeastern Alaska. (Photo by Sonia Luokkala/courtesy of the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission)
Wagner has lived off the Unuk River for most of her life, and in recent years has been defending Alaska’s waterways against mining development in Canada.
“I have always been fishing, even as a child,” she said. “My parents brought us out, all four of us, on a little 35-foot boat … I met my husband. The first time I helped him was down on his brother’s boat. He was selling ooligan and he didn’t have anyone to help him, and so I helped him.”
Wagner and her husband have always watched the waters of the Unuk River, and taken note of how clean and deep they were, and how the fish changed in appearance and in number. Then, in 1999, after the Eskay Creek Mine began operating, they noticed that industrial waste was piling up in the low part of the river.
“We are way up this river,” Wagner said. “How does a rusted-up oil drum get this far? How does all this plastic and old tarps and old pallets get up here? This looks to be an important part where the moose stepped into the river to get across, and it’s blocked with junk.”
The fish noticed, too, she said.
“In about 2001, we started noticing the ooligan bypassing the Unuk River,” she said.
Ooligan are different from mackerel and salmon, which return to the waters where they were spawned. Ooligan go to where the water is best, she said.
Dramatic escalation
The Unuk River was beginning to recover after the Eskay Creek Mine shut down in 2008, Wagner said, when a mining boom began on the Canadian side, in an area in northwest British Columbia called the “Golden Triangle.”
By 2022, just two mines were in operation, BruceJack and Red Chris. But four mines were proposed, seven were under development and seven more exploration projects were underway, mostly to dig for gold, according to a provincial report on mines. The ore extracted from the ground is processed to pull out the valuable gold and copper that it can contain.
Guy Archibald, executive director of the transboundary commission and a self-described “reformed miner,” said the transition from an open-pit mine to a block cave mine at Red Chris will mean a dramatic escalation involving hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, a controversial method also used for extracting natural gas.
Archibald said the SEITC member nations “upholding their sovereign rights and defending the transboundary Stikine, Taku and Unuk Rivers from rapidly expanding mining development occurring in the Canadian headwaters.”
An environmental chemist, Archibald has been with the commission since its inception in 2014. Before that, he worked in the uranium industry in southeastern Utah and the oil shale industry in western Colorado in the 1970s and 1980s, he said.
Archibald explained the process behind a block cave mine.
“They’ve mined out the ore body that’s closest to the surface, and in order to go deeper, they’re going to have to access it underground,” he said. “They’re going to drive a ramp underneath the ore body, and then … they’re going to fracture the ore body pretty much the same as they do hydraulic fracturing, fracking for natural gas.”
The crumbled ore falls into the ramp and is carted above ground, he said.
“They’re going to just start scooping it out from the bottom as this cavity, this cave, just naturally collapses in,” he said. “It’s just going to turn into a big crater in the earth, and that’s block cave mining.”
The practice is not new, but in the past, miners would use drilling. With this project, they’ll use fracking.
“Block cave mining has been around for a long time,” Archibald said. “The only difference I see with the way Red Chris is doing it is by doing the hydraulic fracturing from the surface, drilling down and then pumping high pressure water into the ore body to break it up.”
The introduction of fracking to the block cave operation is a major concern to the SEITC. Officials say the mine can’t contain its current tailings, which already end up in the groundwater.
“The studies have been showing the tailings dam leaks into the groundwater 26 percent of its volume every year,” Archibald said. “Those tailings have to be constantly covered with water so that they don’t oxidize and turn acidic. We already have downstream pollution problems in groundwater and surface water…Using more water to frack this ore body is not going to help that situation.”
‘A critical step’
The Red Chris mine operation is a joint venture partnership between the Newmont Corporation, which owns 70 percent, and Imperial Metals, which owns 30 percent.
The Red Chris was one of 18 major projects named by Canada’s Major Projects Office, the new federal department created by the Carney government to push forward his “Build Canada Strong” strategy. The half-billion-dollar investment may be just the beginning.
“With the authorizations granted by the province and the support of the Tahltan Nation, the stage has been set for the development of Red Chris into a Block Cave mine,” Imperial President Brian Kynoch said, following the approval of the British Columbia government. “These approvals are a critical step in advancing a final investment decision by the joint venture partnership.”
Newmont officials welcomed the news in a statement promising that the project would not only increase Canada’s copper production by an estimated 15 percent but that the infrastructure could be a hub for mining for decades.
“The project is expected to extend the life of the current Red Chris mine by approximately 14 years and sets the foundation for decades of potential additional mining,” Newmont stated. “It represents a significant opportunity to create long-term value for Newmont’s shareholders, strengthen critical mineral supply chains, and deliver long-term benefits for local communities, Indigenous partners, British Columbia, and Canada.”
Canada’s Major Projects office is promoting both production and Indigenous participation, stating that the project was “developed in close collaboration with the Tahltan Nation, whose Traditional Territory overlaps directly with the mine site” and that “the project supports reconciliation while strengthening Canada’s role as a reliable supplier of critical minerals.”
Provincial leaders have changed the laws, however, to eliminate participation of U.S. tribes when it comes to environmental impacts. The province passed Bill 15 in April to amend the dispute resolution processes in British Columbia’s Environmental Assessment Act to limit participation of tribes in the U.S. and exclude them as “participating Indigenous nations.”
Archibald says the moves have raised concerns for taxpayers as well.
“Subsidizing the Red Chris just furthers the privatization of profit while transferring the risk on to the taxpayer,” he said. “If Newmont and Imperial Metals can’t afford their own infrastructure, what assurance do we have that adequate funds will be available for long-term tailings management, closure, and cleanup to protect the Stikine River for hundreds of years into the future?”
The Eskay Creek Mine, owned by Skeena Gold + Silver, is an open-pit gold and silver mine that is being redeveloped with a projected 12-year mine life.
In approving the mine’s expansion, British Columbia Premier David Eby hailed the relationship with First Nations.
“Today marks success for yet another multibillion-dollar investment in our province that will deliver prosperity, jobs and stability for all British Columbians, achieved in true partnership with the Tahltan,” Eby said in a Jan. 27, 2026, press release. “Congratulations to all who were involved in this important work. Those who want to end our work with First Nations would not have delivered these thousands of jobs, period. Following their advice would leave us poorer, tied up in court and in a place of uncertainty.
Kerry Carlick, president of the Tahltan Central Government, issued a statement in the same press release.
“This is a hugely important day,” Carlick said. “TCG’s decision to consent to the Eskay Creek Project reflects a historic, precedent-setting process that affirms Tahltan Nation’s authority over development in our Territory, recognized by the Province and Skeena Gold + Silver.”
When asked to comment regarding concerns of Indigenous Alaskans about environmental concerns, a spokesperson for Skeena Gold + Silver responded that they had answered those concerns.
“We have already addressed many questions regarding concerns from the Alaskan groups, as we were going through our permitting process,” Galena Maleger, the vice president of investor relations told ICT in an email. “There is a significant amount of information available online as to how Eskay Creek is adhering to the highest standards in environmental management.”
Looking ahead
Downstream on the Unuk River, Wagner and her husband are already seeing more and more boats hauling material north to the dam site. They can only imagine the size of the massive project based on the garbage that piles up in the river.
Wagner has a message for the Tahltan Nation whose members will profit from the two mines.
“I think they should be more aware of what’s coming down the river, because it’s not staying up there on their territory,” Wagner said. “It’s coming down on my territory, my tribe’s territory, all southeast territory, and we have to deal with it.”
