The June 1 filing deadline has come and gone, and things got very loose on June 1. The field is set for the U.S Senate race, U.S. House race, governor’s race, and 50 legislative seats, though candidates can still withdraw by June 27. The special session on the gasline bill is more than halfway done, and a deal has yet to come together. The House Finance Committee is set to hear amendments to the bill this week. The full House will then hold a floor session on Friday (6/12/2026) to debate the bill. The Senate Finance Committee is continuing to hold hearings. The full Senate will come in the following week to take up whatever the House ends up passing. The 30-day special session ends on June 19. The Landmine will be on the ground in Juneau covering the end of the special session, which is guaranteed to be maximum loose!

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Check out the tenth episode of Governor Peninsula! In this episode, the other animals wonder where Edna has been. And make sure to tell us what you think.

The June 1 Filing Deadline

Things got hyper loose on June 1 with tons of last-minute filings. Former Governor Bill Walker jumped into the governor’s race with Randy Hoffbeck, his former Revenue commissioner, as his running mate. They are running as independents.

This is a major disruptive force as Walker, with huge name ID, will almost certainly make it to the final four. This makes Walker’s fifth run for governor since 2010. He won in 2014 after teaming up with the late Byron Mallott, a Democrat, as his running mate. Walker dropped out weeks before the the 2018 general after a scandal involving Mallott surfaced. Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska) ultimately defeated Democrat Mark Begich in 2018. Walker tried again in 2022, but Dunleavy won re-election after Walker and Democrat Les Gara split the vote trying to out do each other’s left flank.   

Former Republican Senator Lesil McGuire also jumped into the race. She had talked about getting into the race for months. Her running mate is Elizabeth Rexford, an independent, who has worked for years as a legislative staffer. Rexford left her job in Representative Will Stapp’s (R – Fairbanks) office to run. McGuire and Walker’s entrance into the race will make it harder for Republican Click Bishop, also a former senator, and his running mate, independent Great Schuerch, as they will be competing for the same kind of voters. 

Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom (R – Alaska) ultimately decided not to run. She’s the smartest one in the lot! 

With 18 candidates in the race for governor, it’s sure to be wild between now and the August 18 primary. Democrat Tom Begich and independent Bill Walker are almost sure to make the top four. The question is who will occupy the other two spots. It will likely be two Republicans, but it’s hard to predict who as a lot will happen between now and August 18.

Republican Bernadette Wilson is winning the social media game, but that does not always translate into votes. Republican Click Bishop has labor support and is well known in Fairbanks. Republican Matt Heilala has a ton of money, and picking up former Republican Representative Jesse Sumner, who also served on the Mat-Su Borough Assembly, will definitely help. Former Attorney General Treg Taylor, a Republican, has run a lackluster campaign so far, but he has money and probably has the Mormon vote cornered. Former Republican Senator Shelley Hughes had fundraising challenges when the first fundraising report came out in February, but she is also well known in the Mat-Su Valley. And there is former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson, a Republican with high name ID but also high negatives. 

All of these Republicans will be competing for the conservative votes, meaning if two Republicans do advance they will likely be able to do so with far less votes than what Tom Begich will get, who seems to be consolidating the Democrat and progressive vote. 

The day before the filing deadline, fully half of the 50 legislative races (40 House, 10 Senate) had one or no candidates. That changed on June 1. 

Six incumbents are unopposed: 

1. Senator Bert Stedman (R – Sitka)
2. Senator Löki Tobin (D – Anchorage)
3. Senator Bill Wielechowski (D – Anchorage)
4. Representative Sara Hannan (D – Juneau)
5. Representative Chuck Kopp (R – Anchorage)
6. Representative Genevieve Mina (D – Anchorage)

Just five legislative races have more than four candidates. Only the top four vote getters in the primary will advance to the general election. 

1. The open Western Alaska Senate seat Senator Lyman Hoffman (D – Bethel) is retiring from (5 candidates)
2. Representative Jamie Allard’s (R – Eagle River) seat (5 candidates)
3. Representative Garret Nelson’s (R – Sutton) seat (6 candidates)
4. Representative Kevin McCabe’s (R – Big Lake) seat (5 candidates) 
5. Speaker Bryce Edgmon’s (I – Dillingham) open seat (he is running for the Western Alaska Senate seat) (7 candidates) 

Representative Dan Saddler’s (R – Eagle River) seat also has five candidates. But that includes Saddler, who announced he is retiring at the end of session. So he should withdraw before June 27. 

Many incumbents don’t have serious challengers and there are a few open seats.

• Representative Louise Stutes (R – Kodiak) has two opponents for the seat Senator Gary Stevens (R – Kodiak) is retiring from.
• Senators Cathy Giessel (R – Anchorage), Cathy Tilton (R – Wasilla), and George Rauscher (R – Sutton) each have three opponents. 
• Representative Sarah Vance (R – Homer) will once again face independent Brent Johnson, a former president of the Kenai Peninsula Borough. She defeated him in 2024 but there was a third person in the race. This time it’s heads up. 
• Representative Ky Holland (I – Anchorage) picked up two opponents, one of whom is Republican John Boyle, a former Natural Resources commissioner.
• Two Democrats, Lisa Keller and Felix Rivera, a former member of the Anchorage Assembly, are running for the seat Representative Andy Josephson (D – Anchorage) is retiring from. A Republican, Sarah Short, filed but was denied for not submitting a financial disclosure. 
• Representative Mia Costello (R – Anchorage) will once again face Democrat Denny Wells. She defeated him in 2024 but there was a third person in the race. This time it’s heads up. 
• Representative Carolyn Hall (D – Anchorage) picked up two opponents, one of whom is former Republican Representative Liz Vazquez. 
• Former Democratic Representative Cliff Groh will face Republican Dan Sager for the seat Representative David Nelson (R – Anchorage) is vacating. 
• Representative DeLena Johnson (R – Palmer) picked up two opponents, one of whom is Republican Michael Bowels, a member of the Mat-Su Borough Assembly. 
• Representative Jubilee Underwood (R – Wasilla) is facing a rematch with former Republican Representative David Eastman. She defeated him by just 196 votes out of 7,615 votes in 2024. This is going to be a hot race!
• Representative Elexie Moore (R – Wasilla) picked up three opponents, one of whom is perennial Republican candidate Stephen Wright.
• Representative Will Stapp (R – Fairbanks) will face his “friend” and former supporter, Republican Seth Church. Slimy Seth Church filed at the last minute and did not even have the decency or courage to give Stapp a call to tell him. Slimy Seth Church’s brother, Josh the Joke Church, is the running mate of Dave Bronson. Josh the Joke thinks he can get huge magical returns for the Permanent Fund. You know who else thought that? Crooked Adam Crum!  
• Representative Mike Prax (R – North Pole) has two opponents, one of whom is Republican Barbara Haney, a former staffer for Prax! She also served on the the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly. 
• Representative Nellie Jimmie (D – Tooksok Bay) has three opponents, one of whom is former Democratic Representative CJ McCormick. Jimmie narrowly defeated McCormick in 2024. 
• Representative Neal Foster (D – Anchorage) has two opponents, one of whom is independent Tyler Ivanoff. Foster has defeated Ivanoff several times.    
• Representative Robyn Frier (D – Utqiagvik) will face a rematch with Democrat Saima Chase. Frier (then Burke) defeated Chase in 2024, but that was the result of ranked choice voting. Former Representative Thomas Baker was the incumbent in that race. This time it’s heads up between Frier and Chase. Chase and Baker both come from the Kotzebue region. This race could get interesting. 

This Week’s Loose Unit 

There are two legislative seats I left out in the above analysis. And that’s because all the parties involved are this week’s designee. This week’s Loose Unit is a tie between Senator Robb Myers (R – North Pole), Representative Frank Tomaszewski (R – Fairbanks), and his wife Harmony Tomaszewski.

A few months ago three was some chatter that Myers would not seek re-election. Myers was cagey about it when I asked him. Eventually I figured out what Myers and Tomaszewski were planning. The old bait and switch routine. 

Myers tried to pull off exactly what former Senator Tom Begich did in 2022, though Begich did a much better job keeping it quiet. Begich did not tell the public he wasn’t running for re-election in 2022. Then, his staffer, Löki Tobin, filed at the very last minute for the seat. Begich effectively handed her the Senate seat. 

I texted Tomaszewski on May 20 to try and give him a chance to come clean. I texted him “Are you running for Robb seat?” The fucking Loose Unit responded, “Did he get hit by a truck?” I replied, “Ok man. Easier to be honest.” He did not reply. 

On the same day, Myers asked me to not put out the rumors I was hearing. After Tomaszewski’s joke of a response, I put out the above tweet. 

These seats do not belong to the people occupying them. But some people think they do. Good on Senators Stevens and Hoffman for announcing their retirements more than a year in advance and giving everyone in their districts a fair chance to run.

So, as I predicted, Frank Tomaszewski filed for Myers seat at the last minute. Then Myers announced he would not seek re-election. This is hyper loose and corrupt behavior. And it’s too bad because I really like Robb. I have driven the haul road with him twice. He is a genuinely nice person. So it’s really disappointing he would do something like this. 

But it gets even looser. After Frank Tomaszewski filed for the Senate seat, his wife, Harmony Tomaszewski, filed for his House seat. This is purely disgusting and corrupt behavior.

I love it when these “small government” types can’t help feeding from the government trough. If Frank and Harmony both win, they would each take home a government salary of $84,000/year plus around $42,000/year each in tax free per diem. That’s over $250,000 a year. It’s actually more when you factor in the tax free per diem. Loose does not even begin to describe this kind of despicable behavior.

Luckily, Frank and Harmony both have opponents. I encourage everyone in their districts to vote for anyone but them to send a strong message that his kind of corrupt behavior will not be tolerated. 

Between Robb “Tom Begich” Myers, the Tomafuckskis, Slimy Seth Church, and Josh the Joke Church, what the hell happened to Fairbanks?

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.