Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance issued an endorsement today backing a bipartisan group of legislators in their races for the Alaska State House.
Reflecting her centrism, LaFrance’s endorsements cross the political spectrum. She supports Republican Chuck Kopp in House District 10, Democrat Ted Eischeid in House District 22 and Independent Ky Holland in House District 9.
In prepared comments accompanying the announcement, LaFrance said she’s backing candidates most likely to join bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate. In the last session, the Senate organized into a 17-member bipartisan majority, while Republicans narrowly held the House in an alliance with rural legislators.
“Last session, the majority coalition in the Alaska State Senate provided a model of what effective bipartisan governance looks like,” she said. “I support the incumbents who joined the coalition in the Senate and who want to see a coalition in the House. This cycle, I’m proud to support three challengers who will be critical in delivering a State House coalition.”
The Senate’s organization saw renewed energy for restoring a pension system for public employees, an issue that pretty much everyone, save for anti-union Republicans, says is critical for staunching the loss of public sector workers. The measure passed out of the Senate but was never heard in the House. A similar House proposal was socked away into a special committee that never met.
Kopp, a former legislator and police chief, has made the issue one of his key campaign priorities and said the blockade put up by his opponent, Republican Rep. Craig Johnson, was part of his decision to run.
“I’m just one Alaskan who cares, and I want to step up and get rid of the logjam. My opponent is a key log in that jam,” he said in an interview with The Alaska Current earlier this week.
Kopp has perhaps the strongest chances of the trio of candidates after finishing more than 20 points ahead of Johnson in the open primary. Eischeid finished about three points ahead of Republican Rep. Stanley Wright in their rematch of the 2022 race for the East Anchorage seat.
Holland finished with about 42% of the vote in a four-way race for the South Anchorage and Girdwood House seat, with Republicans splitting the remainder of the vote three ways. Two Republican candidates in that race dropped out, splitting their endorsements between Holland and far-right Republican Lucy Bauer.
The general election is on Nov. 5. Voters can request a by-mail absentee ballot through Oct. 26.
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Twitter.
