I hope everyone is enjoying the Labor Day weekend! Unfortunately, that also means summer is winding down. You may have noticed that this week’s Sunday Minefield is out uncharacteristically early. My good friend Cale Green is getting married to Taylor Thompson today, so I got the column done on Saturday to allow for maximum looseness at the wedding! I am very excited for their matrimony. I have known Cale for twelve years and Taylor for six, since she started dating Cale. We even met up in Argentina last December when we were all there! Cale is an accomplished videographer and political consultant. Taylor is an accomplished attorney. I wish them the best and can’t wait for that baby! 

The Alaska Oil & Gas Association (AOGA) held their annual conference this week in Anchorage, which attracted a lot of politicos. Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska) said he will not call another special session after the current one ends tomorrow, but told legislative leadership if they don’t enact education reforms next year he will keep them there after the regular session ends. Treg Taylor’s last day as attorney general was Friday (8/29/2025). Governor Dunleavy appointed Stephen Cox – who was admitted to the Alaska Bar in May 2025 – as the new attorney general. And some politicos are on the move. 

A friendly message and reminder to all our readers. The Landmine is made possible by myself and a team of awesome Alaskans. I have been covering the legislative session in Juneau for the last seven years and returned from Juneau in May. If you enjoy the content we provide, please consider making a one time or recurring monthly donation. You can click here to donate. We have a system that makes it super easy. We would really appreciate it. And thanks to everyone who has been supportive. And a well-known Eagle River representative picked up an opponent. 

AOGA conference 

AOGA held their annual conference on Wednesday and Thursday at the Dena’ina Center. It was the first time in many years that Kara Moriarty, who left as the head of AOGA in May for a position at the Department of Interior, was not in attendance as she has to limit contact with AOGA for one year due to her new job. It definitely felt different without her there. But it was still a great conference. 

Many politicos were in attendance including Representative Nick Begich (R – Alaska), several U.S. representatives, Governor Dunleavy, Deputy Interior Secretary Katherine MacGregor, and many legislators. 

Begich spoke about the benefits of the Big Beautiful Bill for Alaska, saying, “Alaska is back!” He was also part of a panel with Representative Bruce Westerman (R – Arkansas), who chairs the House Natural Resources Committee, Representative Pete Stauber (R – Minnesota), and Representative Harriet Hageman (R – Wyoming) – the woman who took out Liz Cheney in 2022. They spoke about the Trump administration’s focus on resource development, specifically in Alaska.  

Dunleavy spoke on Thursday afternoon. It was bizarre. He basically gave an Alaska history lesson, starting with William Seward’s purchase of Alaska from Russia to the Japanese attack on the Aleutians to statehood and beyond. He was really animated. Lots of attendees seemed confused about the history lesson. Maybe he was just reverting to teacher mode. The best part was during a Q&A he did after he spoke. It was moderated by Walter Hufford, the VP of government affairs for Repsol.

An app allowed attendees to submit questions. Usually the real questions get filtered out, but Hufford asked Dunleavy a great one. He asked who Dunleavy wants to replace him. There was a collective gasp from the crowd! Hufford joked that he was just reading the questions. Dunleavy did not give a name, instead he gave a long and rambling answer about someone who is strong and can block out the noise. 

Joe Balash from Santos moderated a discussion with Deputy Interior Secretary Katherine MacGregor. She was great and interesting to listen to. She served in the first Trump administration from January 2017 to January 2021, including for a year as deputy secretary. She spoke about the extreme waits on permits, often many years, and emphasized the Trump administration’s focus on getting this, and other problems, fixed. She also had some great Don Young stories, including how she once did shots with him at a Christmas party! 

Treg Taylor moderated a panel with several conservative attorneys general. His gubernatorial campaign trajectory is nearly complete. Liz Murrill, Louisiana‘s attorney general, was also on the panel. Taylor is the chair of the conservative Attorney General Alliance, which he brought up to Alaska this week. Taylor held other events with them this week, including one with the Anchorage Republican Women’s Club and one with some new non-profit, Advancing Alaska. Tickets for that one were not cheap! 

Other Happenings 

Governor Dunleavy says he won’t call another special session after the current one ends tomorrow. This came as good news to legislators, who did not want to deal with another special session. They also can’t raise money while they are in session. But Dunleavy did say that if the Legislature fails to enact education reforms next year, he will call them back in the summer. That could get very loose as legislators will want to be campaigning next summer.  

Governor Dunleavy appointed Stephen Cox as the new attorney general. It appears Cox moved to Alaska in May. He served as the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas under the first Trump administration from September 2020 to January 2021. He definitely has political ambitions and seems to be the latest person who has identified Alaska as a place where he can be a big fish in a small pond. His confirmation process in the Legislature should prove to be entertaining.  

Weston Eiler left his government affairs role at the University of Alaska Anchorage to join the government affairs team at Hilcorp, where he is working under Matt Shuckerow. Congrats, Weston! He seemed to be fitting nicely into the new role at the AOGA conference. 

Quincy Azimi-Tabrizi, daughter of Treg Taylor, recently left her role as deputy director for Americans for Prosperity Alaska. She was there for three years. She will likely be working on her dad’s gubernatorial campaign after he launches, which should be in the next few weeks. 

This is a really messed up situation. I have known Ella Ede for 15 years. She is an incredible person with a true passion for the mission of Alaska Resource Education (ARE). The back story of this whole situation is wild. The only positive news, so far, is the attempted coup by the mean girls of ARE, led by Beki Toussaint, has failed. 

John Hendrix, owner of Furie, is at it again. It’s wild how much the state has done and continues to do for this hustler. 

With a Reddit name “SnakeboyAK” and leading off the introduction by identifying as BIPOC, I can’t wait for this person to get into the race! 

This Phil Izon dude has some serious delusions of grandeur. You might recall when he freaked out during a 2023 Alaska Public Offices Commission hearing about all the reporting mistakes he made in his attempt to repeal Alaska’s open primary and ranked choice voting. He’s a very serious person! 

This Week’s Loose Unit 

This week’s designee is about as loose as it gets. This week’s Loose Unit is Chris Barazza. Barazza worked at the Anchorage Police Department as the deputy director of community relations from December 2024, until this week…

Barazza went full Loose Unit. He was charged with shoplifting from Target, which is maximum loose but on another level of loose for an APD employee. He was even wearing an APD jacket while nabbing the goods! And sources tell me this was not an isolated incident. Apparently Target had been trying to catch this kleptomaniac Loose Unit for a while. Turns out the APD jacket helped identify him. Classic Lose Unit behavior.

And it gets even better. This dude was one of the Alaska Journal of Commerce Top 40 Under 40 this year! We rarely get a Loose Unit who is this loose. 

If you have a nomination for this week’s Loose Unit, or if you have any political news, stories or gossip (or any old pics of politicians or public officials) please email me at jeff@alaskalandmine.com.