What a loose week! Even though the Fourth of July was on Friday, a lot happened this week in Alaska politics. First, Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance held an event commemorating her one year in office, which got really weird. Second, Senator Lisa Murkowski (R – Alaska) triggered many left of center Alaska politicos with her yes vote on the Big Beautiful Bill. Finally, Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska) surprised everyone by calling an August special session and then told Republicans not to show up for the fist five days to prevent veto overrides. And yet another Republican filed to run for governor, making it five.

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Mayor LaFrance commemorates one year in office

On Tuesday (7/1/2025), Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance held an event on at the site of the old Native hospital on Third and Ingra. The event was also a groundbreaking for a new “RV resort” that is planned for the site. The event started off with technical difficulties and continued to get worse. 

First, as Mike Robbins – who heads the Anchorage Community Development Authority – started talking, the microphone and speakers were having some serious issues. After a lot of trouble shotting, they gave up. Which would have not been a big deal except air traffic from Merrill Field and cars driving by on Third Avenue made a lot of noise. 

When LaFrance was up, members of her team spent 20 or 30 seconds trying to get a stand setup properly so she could read her notes. It was hard to hear what she was saying due to all the noise and no speakers. She’s really excited about how great things are going in Anchorage…

Next up was Assembly Chair Chris Constant. He spoke at length about the history of the site going back to the days when the Dena’ina people traversed it to when it was the site of the Native hospital. He said the site is “a living and spiritual land acknowledgment.” It was really funny to me considering they are about to bring in a bunch of heavy equipment to make the site an RV park! Oh, if you talk to Mike Robbins he insists it will be an “RV resort” not RV park, whatever that means. Apparently there will be some kind of monument to Native Alaskans on the site as well.

Here is where it started getting really loose. Robbins had a bunch of golden shovels out for the groundbreaking. They did not have enough people for the shovels, so they started asking people in the crowd who had some connection to the project if they wanted to grab a shovel. Then, there was a discussion about where they should put the dirt. That really happened. 

Once that groundbreaking was done, Robbins took questions. Someone asked him who the private sector partner was that is going to invest in and build the site. Robbins said he could not say because they are still getting the details worked out and no contract has been signed. Many of us then wondered what the hell the “groundbreaking” was for. Robbins also said there would be an RFP process, and hinted that there may be several bidders. The whole event was bizarre. 

Lisa loses the left 

After Senator Murkowski decided to cast the 50th vote for the Big Beautiful Bill, calling her decision “agonizing,” Vice President JD Vance was able to cast the tie breaking vote. Love or hate her, you can’t argue with the results she is able to deliver.

In my view, Alaska will only suffer from the bailouts to Medicaid and SNAP requirements we got in the bill. Instead of being incentivized to fix our problems, we just get another pass from the federal government. This Wall Street Journal opinion piece, “The Alaskan Extraction,” is a good read. 

And check this out from the recently released statewide legislative audit. 

But one of the biggest takeaways from her vote was how hard many left of center Alaska politicos were triggered. Many, if not all of them, supported or voted for her in the past when she was facing off against much more conservative challengers. Maybe they will be happier with someone like Kelly Tshibaka in there! Here are just a few posts made on social media:

Dunleavy calls special session to block education veto override

The following is an excerpt from a special edition of the Alaska Political Report. You can click here for more information about the Political Report. A subscription is $1,299/year per organization. Discounted pricing is available for non-profits and government entities. Our coverage of the budget starts with the governor’s proposed budget, and we track everything in detail through the entire process. If you have any questions or would like to subscribe, please email jeff@akpoliticalreport.com.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy surprised legislators and political observers by calling a special session on Wednesday. By law, Dunleavy must give legislators a 30-day notice. The proclamation states the special session will begin on Aug. 2 at 10 am. 

The issues Dunleavy listed for the special session are creating a Dept. of Agriculture (something the Legislature already rejected) and education reform. But the real reason for the special session is to prevent the Legislature from overriding his vetoes.

Article II Section 16 of the Alaska Constitution states, “Bills vetoed after adjournment of the first regular session of the legislature shall be reconsidered by the legislature sitting as one body no later than the fifth day of the next regular or special session of that legislature.”

This means that legislators must take up veto overrides no later than the fifth day of the special session, which is Aug. 6.

The big item is Dunleavy’s veto in the budget of $200 of the $700 increase in the education formula passed by the Legislature. Dunleavy vetoed the bill that included the increase, but the Legislature voted 46-14 to override that veto – six more votes than were required. But 45 votes are required to override a veto of an appropriation, which Dunleavy knows will be a problem to do in a special session.

He also vetoed Senate Bill 183 and House Bill 174. SB 183 aimed to force the Dept. of Revenue to cooperate with the legislative auditor on an oil tax audit, something they have not done since 2020. HB 174 aimed to allow rural school districts to maintain teacher housing using money from the state’s rural school fund. Those bills, which were overwhelming passed by the Legislature, only require 40 votes to override the veto.

The timing creates an issue as several legislators will either not be able to attend or have other plans. Anchorage Democratic Sen. Forrest Dunbar, a yes vote on override, is in Poland on a National Guard deployment. Several legislators are scheduled to attend the National Council of State Legislatures Legislative Summit in Boston from Aug. 4-6. Others, like Anchorage Republican Sen. James Kaufman, are out of state.

All Dunleavy would need to do is prevent two of the 46 legislators who voted to override his education bill from attending the first five days of the special session to ensure his veto of education money in the budget is not overridden. Dunbar, who is in Poland, is one.

Sources confirm that Dunleavy is already telling Republican legislators to not even show up for the first five days, effectively guaranteeing the education veto in the budget will not be overridden. Republicans in the House and Senate majorities won’t be persuaded by Dunleavy. But moderate Republicans in the House and Senate minorities, who would vote yes to override him, may follow his direction to avoid the override vote altogether. This could create other problems for them next year when they are up for re-election, but Dunleavy is clearly playing hardball.

Dillingham independent House Speaker Bryce Edgmon put out a brief statement, calling the special session a “complete surprise.” In his statement, Kodiak Republican Senate President Gary Stevens called Dunleavy’s announcement, “disappointing.”

The Legislature has other options if they fail to override Dunleavy’s education veto. They could pass a supplemental appropriation at the beginning of the next regular session in January and send it to Dunleavy. Once he vetoes it, they can take up the veto override right away with all the members in Juneau.

It’s unlikely legislators will take any concrete actions during the special session. Housing is also an issue in Juneau in the summer.

It’s noteworthy that Dunleavy vetoed half of the $500,000 the Legislature included in the budget for a special session. That amount, $250,000, would not even cover the per diem for half of the members, excluding the of the three from Juneau, for 30 days in Juneau.

The most likely scenario is they gavel out after five days or hold technical sessions with a limited number of legislators in Juneau for the 30 days of the special session.

We are tracking this closely and will have more updates as they become available.

Other Happenings 

After the above edition of the Political Report came out, where I talked about Dunleavy telling Republicans not to show up the first five days of the special session, I made the below post on X. I was the first to report on this loose move by Dunleavy due to the good sources I have. After, KTUU and the Anchorage Daily News did stories about it but gave me no credit. Glad I am able to do their jobs for them. 

It’s kind of humorous that neither Republican minority in the House or Senate put out a statement about the special session. Some individual members did but nothing from the minorities, mainly because they don’t have a unified position on much. And in the case of the House Republican minority, they are out of press people! They let Trey Watson go last week, and then Forrest Musselman quit. By the way, Trey, who is a great guy hard worker, is looking for a job. Get a hold of him if you know about anything. 

This is exactly why I switched from Republican to Nonpartisan five years ago. A few party people in each district, as well as the few who control the Alaska Republican Party, pull this kind of shit all the time. Democrats have similar issues but are able to hide it better in Alaska because they know they are in a red state. In such partisan times, to many of these party people 90% is a failing grade. If I was Representative Elexie Moore (R – Wasilla), I would tell the Alaska Republican Party to, well you know, and then leave the House Republican minority. If she did that, the Republicans would lose a seat on the finance committee. She could then get that seat from the majority, exactly what former Representative Sara Rasmussen did in 2021. Gotta get loose sometimes! 

Republican Steve Menard filed to run against Moore today, setting up a rematch in 2026. 

Another Republican, James Parkin from Angoon, filed to run for governor! This makes five. And correction, he works at Kensington mine, not Greens Creek mine. 

Gotta love this. After this post, Bernadette Wilson deleted the post and made a new one with a different location. You can read more about it in this Landmine article. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alaska is a cesspool. This very loose motion is worth reading. 

This Week’s Loose Unit 

Sometimes in the summer in a non-election year it can be tough to find a good Loose Unit. Not this week! This week’s Loose Unit is a tie between Mayor Suzanne LaFrance, Senator Lisa Murkowski, and Governor Mike Dunleavy. The writeups above basically cover it all, but here is a summary for each one: 

• LaFrance held an outdoor event where the microphone and speakers didn’t work and then had a groundbreaking for a project where no contract has been signed. Very loose. 
• Murkowski voted for the Big Beautiful Bill and then put out a statement hoping the U.S. House would make changes to improve what she called an “awful process.” They passed the Senate version. Hyper loose. 
• Governor Dunleavy called a special session then told Republicans not to show up for five days to ensure his vetoes don’t get overridden. Maximum 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.