Summer is, unfortunately, coming to a close. Tomorrow is Labor Day, which to me has always signified the end of summer. It’s also the last day of the Alaska State Fair in Palmer. And it also happens to be the last day to withdraw from the November general election, which is just over two months away. Since the August 20 primary – which was officially certified today – a lot of Republican candidates, and one independent, have withdrawn from several legislative races and the U.S. House race. Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska) signed more bills into law this week. And Representative Mary Peltola (D – Alaska) faced off with Republican Nick Begich at the Alaska Oil & Gas Association (AOGA) conference this week in Anchorage. 

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 six years. We are again providing in-depth coverage for both the primary and general elections. 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.

If you have not seen our new film on homelessness and public camping, “Somehow, This is Still Anchorage,” you can see it below. We released it this week after working on it for the last two months. If you like this film and other work we do, please consider making a donation to the Landmine. These projects are not only time consuming, they are expensive to make. Thanks to everyone who has already contributed!  

Lots of Withdrawals 

If you have been following Alaska politics since the August primary, you are aware that a lot of candidates have withdrawn from the November general election, nine total so far. Eight are Republicans. In an effort to sidestep ranked choice voting, many Republicans are treating the open primary like the old closed primary when two or more Republicans are running for a seat. Not all Republicans have adhered to this philosophy, but in many races they have. Some have been pressured to drop in exchange for support in future runs, and some have been told that if they don’t their future in politics won’t be promising. 

Here is who has withdrawn so far from the November general election:

• Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom (R – Alaska) from the U.S House race. Dahlstrom finished a distant second behind Republican Nick Begich, 19.9% to 26.57% in the primary. But Mary Peltola received 50.9% – 4.4% more than Dahlstrom and Begich combined. At first, Dahlstrom said she was going to stay in. But after pressure from Republican voters and donors, she relented and withdrew. Now Begich and Peltola will battle head-to-head in November. There will be two other candidates on the ballot, but they won’t be much of a factor. 
• Representative Tom McKay (R – Anchorage) from the West Anchorage Senate race. McKay actually finished ahead of former Republican Representative Liz Vazquez in the primary, 20.7% to 19.2%. But Senator Matt Claman (D – Anchorage) received 60.1%. McKay said he withdrew because Vazquez refused to. Even though it’s a heads-up race now, Claman is in good shape to win re-election.
• Former Republican Representatives Ken McCarty and Sharon Jackson from the Eagle River Senate race. This race had five in the primary. Jackson finished fifth (7.5%) and McCarty finished fourth (11.3%). Jackson withdrew first, which would have only mattered if McCarty also withdrew. This is because if she had not withdrawn, she would have been moved up to the fourth spot in the general election had McCarty withdrawn. But after she withdrew, so did McCarty. Both endorsed Republican Jared Goecker (32.7%). Goecker will face off against Senator Kelly Merrick (33.9%) and Democrat Lee Hammermeister (14.6%) in November. This is going to be an interesting and high profile race. 
• Republicans Brandy Pennington and Lee Ellis from the open South Anchorage House seat. This is kind of a weird one because even though both Republicans withdrew, Pennington endorsed Republican Lucy Bauer but Ellis endorsed independent Ky Holland. Pennington finished fourth in the primary 18%, Ellis third with 19.4%, Bauer second with 20.7%, and Holland first with 41.2%. Bauer has the edge here based on numbers and her ability to fundraise, but Democrats are going to pour resources into this race to support Holland. 
• Independent Nick Moe from the open West Anchorage House race. Moe finished nearly 25 points behind Democrat Carolyn Hall in the primary. They are mostly aligned and Moe knows if he wants a political future in Democratic politics, staying in would have been a death sentence. Hall is now unopposed in the general election. 
• Representative Jesse Sumner from the Meadow Lakes House seat. This is another weird one. Sumner finished first in the primary with 33%. But he decided to withdraw because of his family and business. The good ones always leave. This leaves three Republicans: Steve Menard (27.6%), Elexie Moore (23%), and Jessica Wright (16.3%). My money is on Menard. 
• Republicans Cole Snodgrass and Dana Mock from the open Interior House seat. Mock is unconfirmed but the rumor is he withdrew. The Alaska Division of Elections has not posted a list of withdrawals yet. This race had six in the primary. Snodgrass finished fourth (13.8%) and Mock finished fifth (11.4%) in the primary. Libertarian James Fields finished last with 6.4%. If Mock did withdraw, Republicans Rebecca Schwanke and Pam Goode will be the remaining Republicans. Schwanke finished second in the primary with 20.5%. Goode finished third with 14.1%. Democrat Brandon Kowalski finished first with 33.8%. My money is on Schwanke winning this one. 

I will write more on this later, but for Republicans to have a shot at controlling the House again next year, they are going to have to run the table in November. 

Other Happenings 

Most of us who moved to Alaska remember when we arrived. For me it was at age 19 at the end of August 2004 – twenty years ago! It’s been a wild ride and Alaska has been very good to me. But things in Anchorage are not what they were when I arrived. I could not imagine coming to Anchorage now at 19 like I did 20 years ago. Finding affordable housing was tough back then, but doable. It’s a nightmare now. And homelessness is totally out of control. We need to fix so much in this state so we can go back to being a place that young people can and want to move to.

AOGA held their annual conference this week in Anchorage. I was there repping the Alaska Political Report! Tons of legislators and legislative candidates were there. It was bizarre seeing so many candidates in competitive races there. There aren’t many voters there, and even fewer undecided ones. For example, Republican candidates Elexie Moore and Jubilee Underwood – who are both in tough races in the Valley – spent both days there. Their time would have been better spent knocking on doors or talking to voters at the fair. 

Mary Peltola debated Nick Begich. But they had both been given the questions in advance, so it was a lot of reading. There was also a panel on ten years since SB 21 was passed. That included former Governor Sean Parnell, Mike Pawlowski, Joe Balash, Leslie Hajdukovich, Jim Jansen, and Linda Leary. All of them had some role in passing SB 21. The best part of that panel was when former Senator Lesil McGuire introduced everyone. She was there repping Vote No on 2, the group opposing the repeal of ranked choice voting. She spoke for several minutes on how great our new voting system is. Several Republican legislators in the room were not happy!

I went to the State Fair today. I saw Senator Shelley Hughes (R – Palmer) checking tickets, Nick Begich talking to voters, and Representatives Jesse Sumner and Will Stapp (R – Fairbanks) hanging out with their families. It was a great day at the fair!

Congrats to Rose Dunleavy on her retirement! I will miss seeing her at the airport in Anchorage.  

Governor Dunleavy signed four health related bills into law on Friday (8/30/2024). Several legislators and Department of Health officials were present for the bill signing. 

This Week’s Loose Unit 

This was kind of a tough week, but a late development made this week’s designee clear. This week’s Loose Unit is Republican Lee Ellis. While all the Republicans withdrawing was fairly loose, Ellis was another level of loose.

After withdrawing, Ellis endorsed Ky Holland, who is running as an independent but may as well be a Democrat. The Alaska Democratic Party donated $7,500 to Holland’s campaign, and he is paying them for access to their coordinated campaign. People can run and endorse whoever they want, but running as a Republican and then endorsing the secret Democrat after the primary is classic Loose Unit behavior.  

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.