The summer transfer window slammed shut across Europe on Tuesday evening, and for fans of the U.S. men’s national team, it was a frustrating Deadline Day as the biggest potential move of any American player post-2026 FIFA World Cup fell apart at the 11th hour. Folarin Balogun was thought to be headed to English Premier League mainstay Everton from Monaco in a deal worth more than $50 million. With three goals in four games during soccer’s quadrennial showpiece, the 25-year-old New York-born, London-bred Balogun was the breakout star for the Americans at this summer’s World Cup. That showing drew interest from multiple suitors, but the Toffees — the club where USA legends Tim Howard, Landon Donovan and Brian McBride all once played — appeared to have won the race for his signature. But following some last minute hiccups, Balogun reportedly walked away from the deal late Tuesday despite traveling to Merseyside to complete the deal. Although Balogun’s high-profile move didn’t happen, other Americans found new clubs this window.Here’s how the transfers of five of his Stars and Stripes teammates could impact their club careers and the national team in the months ahead. Zavier Gozo: Real Salt Lake To Crystal Palace As I reported in May, USA coach Mauricio Pochettino thought enough of Gozo’s performances with RSL to include the uncapped 19-year-old on the Americans’ 55-player “provisional” World Cup roster, the preliminary list from which the final 26 came. So did Palace after the Utah native bagged 10 goals in 42 MLS games, including six in 16 appearances in 2026. Gozo made his Premier League debut for the London club in last week’s loss to mighty Manchester City. Gio Reyna: Borussia Mönchengladbach To Strasbourg After spending the first seven years of his career in Germany, the 23-year-old traded the Bundesliga for France’s Ligue 1. Reyna, who scored a brilliant goal to cap the Americans’ World Cup-opening 4-1 rout of Paraguay, joined Les Bleus et Blanc for $3.5 million in early August on a five-year contract. The onetime teenage prodigy managed only one goal in 20 appearances — 16 of them off the bench for ‘Gladbach in 2025-26. He should play more this season; Strasbourg’s new No. 10 started and logged 76 minutes in central midfield during the club’s most recent outing, a 2-1 win over Lens last Saturday. Sebastian Berhalter: Vancouver Whitecaps To Middlesbrough The scrappy central midfielder and set-piece specialist could’ve traded Western Canada for England’s second tier before the World Cup, opting instead to stay in Vancouver and cement the roster spot he won with aplomb last year. It worked: Berhalter appeared in all five of the USA’s contests and scored in the 3-2 group stage loss to vs. Türkiye. Now he’ll try to help ‘Boro gain promotion back to the Premier League after heartbreak in last season’s promotion playoff final. Berhalter walked straight into coach Kim Hellberg’s starting lineup upon arrival in late July, notching the game-winning assist against Wrexham in his first appearance the following week. The 25-year-old, who would’ve been a free agent this winter, has started each of the club’s five games across all competitions so far. Max Arfsten: Columbus Crew To Middlesbrough Arfsten became the third American at ‘Boro, joining Berhalter and Aidan Morris — one of the final cuts to Pochettino’s roster — when he signed Aug. 4 for a fee of up to $7.5 including incentives, according to the Athletic’s Tom Bogert. The attack-minded left back made one brief cameo as Antonee “Jedi”Robinson deputy at the World Cup. He could play a larger role under Poch this cycle given the 29-year-old Jedi’s history of knee problems. Arfsten, 25, is already gaining crucial experience in the rough and tumble Championship, having appeared in all three league games last month ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Burnley. Jack McGlynn: Houston Dynamo To Stoke City Although an untimely injury cost the sweet-footed lefty any real chance of competing for a place on the Americans’ World Cup squad, McGlynn, 23, will be just entering his prime in 2030. Pochettino likes the Queens, New York product’s profile, having capped him 12 times in 2025 and getting two goals in return. Stoke needs the help, with the longtime Premier League team languishing in 21st place in the 24-strong Championship four games into the 2026-27 campaign. They got some by landing McGlynn on Deadline Day.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
James C. “Jim” McDermott is running for Alaska’s U.S. House seat in the 2026 election. (Division of Elections photo)
On the morning after he became one of four finalists in the race for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat, Libertarian candidate Jim McDermott had to apologize.
He didn’t have much time to talk, he said, because he was busy working as a school tutor at Fort Wainwright, in his home town of Fairbanks.
McDermott, a Libertarian, became an unlikely figure in Alaska’s U.S. House race after four different candidates — three Democrats and a Republican — quit the contest, which put the eighth-place candidate into the last spot in Alaska’s top-four general election.
McDermott said he first learned about his finalist status from the Alaska Beacon.
On Tuesday morning, he said he feels as if Americans are developing a desire for a third party, an option that isn’t Democratic or Republican.
“I’ve been telling the Libertarian Party, ‘Guys, gals, this is our time,’” he said. “And now I see this. I feel like God’s hand is at work here. Here I am now in fourth. I was in eighth. I’m like, ‘How in the world did I get the fourth?’ So I’ll take it.”
McDermott was endorsed by the Alaska Libertarian Party, which advocates for individual freedoms, limited government and a free-market economy. It is the third-largest political party in Alaska, with more than 6,000 members.
Under Alaska’s elections system, the top four primary election candidates, regardless of party, advance to the general election in November.
There, voters are asked to rank the four finalists (and a write-in candidate, if wanted) in order of preference. If one candidate gets more than 50% of the first-place votes, they win.
If no one has more than 50%, the candidate with the fewest first-place votes is eliminated. Any voter who picked them has their vote instead go to their second choice.
The process of elimination continues until only two candidates are left, and the one with the most votes wins.
In certified results for the August primary, Republican incumbent Rep. Nick Begich III had 44.6% of the vote, followed by independent challenger Bill Hill with 32.5%. Democratic challenger Matt Schultz was third but suspended his campaign before the primary and withdrew ahead of Monday’s deadline, which put Democratic candidate Eric Hafner in the third slot instead.
“I’ll gladly run against these wonderful people. They’re good people. They have good hearts for the most part,” McDermott said.
Hafner is serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison for threatening public officials while living overseas. He has never lived in Alaska and — barring a pardon — cannot live here if elected.
Two years ago, an Alaska state judge ruled that while it is unlikely that Hafner could serve if elected, neither Alaska law nor the U.S. Constitution prohibit him from running for office.
The Alaska Supreme Court has not taken up the issue.
Hafner earned 3.8% of the vote in the August primary and will be the sole Democrat on the ballot in November.
The fourth spot on the ballot could have gone to two different Democrats — including one whose listed address is in Massachusetts — or a Republican, but each of those candidates withdrew from the race before a Monday deadline.
That left McDermott, who earned 1.2% of the vote — 1,951 votes out of 162,932 in the race — enough for eighth place among 15 candidates in the primary.
This is McDermott’s second run for Alaska’s U.S. House seat. In 2014, he received 7.61% of the vote in the general election. Republican incumbent Rep. Don Young won the race with 51% of the vote; Democratic challenger Forrest Dunbar finished second.
McDermott’s website from that campaign is still active, and as he spoke Tuesday, his stated policy priorities weren’t significantly different from what they were back then.
“I would look for more independence for people, and when I’m talking about that, it’s very simple. I’m just looking at less laws that are in place that hinder small businesses, hinder big businesses, but I kind of lean towards the small business,” he said.
McDermott favors term limits and was noncommittal about whether he would caucus with Democrats or Republicans in the U.S. House if elected.
“I would look for like-minded (people). I know I’m not going to be very popular with either group,” he said. “I’m a Libertarian. Personal liberties are our No. 1 core, and that’s what I’m going to be driving home.”
The U.S. House is closely divided between Republican and Democratic control, and Alaska is one of a relative handful of tossup states that could decide control of the House.
A former noncommissioned officer in the U.S. Air Force, McDermott stayed in Alaska after his last tour of duty brought him to Anchorage. After 15 years in that city, he moved to Fairbanks in 2006 and has lived there ever since, working at the University of Alaska and in a variety of other roles.
McDermott said he’s looking forward to campaigning and introducing himself to Alaskans.
“I have a pretty decent resume, and so I’d love to give it a shot,” he said.
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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.
LAS VEGAS — Vice President JD Vance tried to make inroads with Jewish Republicans. Not everyone is sold.
Vance’s closed-door speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership summit Monday night went a long way in alleviating top pro-Israel donors’ concerns about his support for the U.S.-Israeli relationship, and it cemented their view that Vance would be a preferable choice to whomever the Democratic Party nominee is in 2028.
But some attendees still have questions for Vance — particularly around his relationship with conservative pundit Tucker Carlson, who has long drawn ire from the Republican Jewish leaders for his criticism of Israel and outraged many when he hosted the antisemite Nick Fuentes for a lengthy podcast interview last year.
“He allayed a lot of concern, but he failed to address his relationship with Tucker Carlson, and that left a lot of people wondering why,” said Josh Katzen, a real estate developer and member of the RJC board, speaking in his personal capacity.
Vance, the current front-runner for the Republican nomination in 2028, has long faced skepticism from Jewish Republicans who question his commitment to the U.S.-Israeli relationship and his response to antisemitism within the GOP. In his speech Monday, he took both issues head-on, and largely appeased the skeptical crowd with his answers, declaring that “Jew-hatred is corrosive to the soul” and saying Republicans need to articulate to young Americans why an alliance with Israel is in the best interest of the U.S.
But his meandering response to a question about Carlson and other podcasters left some in attendance yearning for more.
“A few names: Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Joe Rogan, Nick Fuentes. They have platformed antisemites,” former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), the RJC’s board chair, asked Vance. “How do you draw the line, in terms of … the platforms that you appear on?
“I recognize a lot of people in this room may disagree with things that Tucker Carlson or Megyn Kelly or Joe Rogan have said,” Vance said, before pivoting to discuss Rogan and Fuentes, saying those are “two very, very different categories of people” and suggesting people like Rogan should be reasoned with, even when there are disagreements.
The answer was not sufficient to some, who wonder about his longtime relationship with Carlson. Vance was a regular on Carlson’s Fox News show and creditedCarlson for helping carry him to victory in his 2022 U.S. Senate primary in Ohio. In 2024, Carlson pushed for Trump to pick Vance as his running mate.
“JD Vance allying himself with an individual who has called for Trump’s immediate removal from office will make it harder for many of us Jewish conservatives to consider his candidacy,” said Shabbos Kestenbaum, a pro-Israel campus activist who spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2024 and spoke at last year’s RJC conference. “We hope this issue is resolved quickly so we can focus on policy, not personality.”
Eric Levine, a major GOP donor and member of the RJC board, said Vance could’ve had “an incredible Sister Souljah moment” if he took on Carlson.
“In my view, on the issue of Jews and Israel, there is no difference between Hasan Piker, Zohran Mamdani, Abdul El-Sayed and the DSA writ large on the one hand and Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes, Marjorie Taylor Green and neo-Nazis on the other hand,” said Levine, speaking in his personal capacity. “That is why I wish the vice president had unambiguously separated himself and condemned Tucker by name.”
Conservative radio host Sid Rosenberg also wasn’t satisfied. Just hours after urging RJC attendees in a speech onstage to “give Vance a chance,” he was critical of how Vance handled that opportunity.
“He had a chance to hammer @TuckerCarlson and @megynkelly but instead spent all his time defending @joerogan over Nick Fuentes,” Rosenberg wrote on X. “Look, he’s still better than any Democrat candidate but I don’t think he wowed the STRONG Jews in the room tonight.”
Carlson, in a text message, said, “An organization that promotes and defends genocide is continuing to insist that they’re the real victims? I can’t imagine who buys this nonsense anymore.”
Human rights groups have accused Israel of genocide over its conduct in the war in Gaza, which the country’s leaders vehemently deny. Vance’s office did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
An individual close to Vance, granted anonymity to describe sentiment within the vice president’s orbit, said there was no illusion Vance would win over every person in attendance, “or that every single person would love every single answer.”
“The goal was to lower the temperature, extend an olive branch, and make clear that the vice president is an ally, not an enemy,” the person said, arguing that goal was “achieved.”
Sam Markstein, spokesperson for the RJC, emphasized that the organization is a coalition.
“There will always be many opinions within the organization,” Markstein said. “In an hour when too many public figures are walking away from the Jewish community and the U.S.-Israel relationship, the Republican Jewish Coalition will always stand with the leaders who show up. Vice President JD Vance shows up — and received multiple standing ovations with thunderous applause.”
Vance, who was elected to the Senate in 2022, faces a fundamental disadvantage among potential Republican 2028ers: He’s still a relative newcomer to the Republican political scene.
Others, like Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), have developed relationships with pro-Israel Republicans in both the Jewish and evangelical Christian communities for years, going well back before their respective 2016 presidential runs. Rubio has pushed to revoke visas from individuals accused of promoting antisemitism or supporting terrorism. Cruz has publicly sparred with Carlson, criticizing him of antisemitism. A Cruz-aligned nonprofit recently launched to take on right-wing antisemitism.
Vance’s speech was his first at an RJC leadership summit, though he attended in 2022. It was the first time since 2019 a sitting president or vice president attended the conference, which draws some of the country’s most influential Republican donors.
Not being a favorite among RJC leaders wasn’t an impediment to Donald Trump’s political outsider 2016 presidential bid. During that campaign, he was accused of invoking antisemitic stereotypes during a speech to the RJC and in a social media post. But upon taking office, he formed a strong relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, culminating in the Abraham Accords and moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Speakers at the RJC’s two-day summit this week frequently referred to Trump as the most pro-Israel president in U.S. history.
But Rubio and Cruz have been fixtures at past iterations of the RJC’s annual leadership summit, and they maintain strong ties with the group’s leadership. (None have announced whether they’ll seek the presidential nomination, though Rubio has stated he will not run if Vance does.)
Many attendees said Rubio is still the favorite amongst the crowd.
“Every time Marco Rubio’s name is mentioned in this conference, there’s a spontaneous round of applause,” said Katzen, the RJC board member. Indeed, when Rosenberg urged attendees to welcome Vance in a speech Monday, he mentioned the hypothetical, “If Marco Rubio was here tonight—” and was drowned out by applause.
Should Rubio not run for the nomination against Vance, other observers think Cruz will have the inside lane among the RJC crowd.
“Ted Cruz is loved here, and he deserves to be loved here,” said Levine, prior to Vance’s speech. “Look, if it’s Cruz and Vance, I expect that this crowd would be 90 percent Cruz.”
Ari Fleischer, an RJC board member and a former White House press secretary, said Vance made inroads — but building a relationship with the pro-Israel community takes time.
“It’s fair to say hearts and minds are changing, but I think it’s also fair to say that when you come before the Republican Jewish Coalition, it’s like when you come to New Hampshire to campaign,” Fleischer said. “After the third or fourth time, we let you know how you’re doing.”
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.
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A demonstrator holds a sign protesting the proposed AKLNG gasline project outside the Alaska State Capitol, as lawmakers prepare to vote on a tax cut bill on July 16, 2026. (Photo by Corinne Smith/Alaska Beacon)
President Donald Trump has a lot of irresponsible ideas: Igniting a trade war with Canada because I figure he never liked hockey; declaring that Lake Ontario should forevermore be called Lake America because it’s easier to spell; and taking much of Venezuela’s oil because no one can stop him and he loves the idea of the U.S. government owning shares in private businesses.
But rather than criticize the guy, the president’s actions give me an idea: The state needs to go full Trump if it is ever going to get a North Slope gas pipeline project built.
Clearly, trying to make the uneconomic project magically economic by giving it free gravel from state lands, billions of dollars in property tax relief, and not taxing the corporate profits of the private developers hasn’t worked.
Nor has the more than $1 billion the state has spent on the effort in the past quarter-century changed the outcome.
And we aren’t alone in spending money: North Slope oil and gas producers have spent hundreds of millions of dollars too, searching for an economically viable project to sell the gas to customers somewhere, anywhere. The companies gave up in 2016 and turned over the project to the state.
The state’s decision to give away 75% ownership of the stalled project for free to a private developer in 2025 has not resulted in much more than pledges, promises and promotional press releases.
To use one of the president’s favorite words, the state needs to leverage the remaining 25% stake it holds. We need to think like Trump, just without the obscenities and insults in his social media posts.
I propose a two-front war, using that word because it appeals to the president’s love for fighting, whether he uses the U.S. military or watches cage fighters on the White House lawn.
First, the state offers a share of its 25% stake in the project to the president’s sons, in-laws, friends, whatever it takes to buy their support, much like the Trump family has embraced deals with Middle East oil and gas producers the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
That 25% share isn’t doing the state any good anyway. Alaska’s profits from a gas pipeline could more easily come from taxes and royalties and jobs, without the risk of ownership. So why not donate much of our stake to the Trumps to buy political favor.
The second part of my proposal is that Alaska win the president’s attention by making his enemies our enemies.
We let Trump know that if Alaska does not get a gas pipeline, utilities in the Anchorage-dominated population center may have to import natural gas from Canada for heat and power. No way he could let that happen. Maybe he would commit the federal treasury to invest in the gas line just to deny Canada. Spite is a strong motivating factor with the guy, so we should play to that emotion.
Of course, the Trumps may decide they don’t want an ownership stake in the losing project, even if it’s free. And the president may have moved on to a trade war with someone else by the time Alaska can get the idea of Canadian gas into his head.
But what if Alaska plays its trump card and the president imposes a tariff on Canadian natural gas imported into the U.S., same as hockey sticks? The risk may be worth it. Nothing else has worked to get the pipeline built. We need to start thinking like Trump.
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