Many hundreds of Alaskans turned out in force Thursday night for empty-chair town halls in Anchorage and Juneau to register their outrage at the support – and general silence – U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and U.S. Rep. Nick Begich have shown for President Donald Trump’s first two months in office.
At Anchorage’s Loussac Library, it was standing room only for a town hall organized by the 907 Initiative and other local groups that featured a handful of invited speakers as well as open mic time for attendees to voice their discontent to two chairs filled with signs reading “Chicken Nick” and “Doormat Dan.”
Attendees shared concerns about everything from the future of Medicaid, USPS and USAID to Trump’s softball treatment of Russia and heavy-handed treatment of longtime allies like Canada. Many warned that the haphazard cuts handed down by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency would cause long-lasting, painful impacts for Alaskans as critical services are gutted. As the night went on, one attendee kept a running list of all the topics that had been mentioned across large poster boards.
Mike Macans told the audience he’s been fired nearly a half-dozen times from his job at the Small Business Administration and that the chaos will cause real pain for the state. He noted that if not for Trump and Musk, he would likely be working on preparing the state for the looming Mt. Spurr eruption.
“Everyday Alaskans are the ones left reeling from the destruction of our critical services,” he said. “Representative Begich and Senator Sullivan refused to sit down with us. They refused to stand up for everyday salt-of-the-earth Alaskans. … Where the hell are you?”
Others took direct issue with the Republicans’ actions, particularly around Sullivan’s support for Trump’s appointees like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has been credibly accused of sexual assault.
“Dan, what were you thinking!” said a woman who had been a longtime Republican voter but said she was done voting for Sullivan. “Obviously, it’s not the American people, not the defense of the country. Maybe you have a little Russian in you, Dan!”
Sullivan has refused to hold a general public town hall and has instead favored smaller closed-door meetings. On Thursday, he spoke to the Alaska Legislature, where he spent most of the speech praising Trump’s promises to “unleash” resource development in Alaska and blamed Democrats reaching all the way back to the late President Jimmy Carter as having worse records than Trump on pretty much anything and everything, including their handling of Russia.
In a meeting with reporters, he rejected the need for him to engage with angry Alaskans, insisting that meeting with legislators and smaller groups – such as a $100-per-plate fundraiser in Fairbanks on Friday – were better uses of his time.
“My No. 1 priority has always been constructive and meaningful engagement with my constituents,” he told reporters in Juneau, according to the Alaska Beacon. “And by the way, you want to talk about a town hall? That was the ultimate town hall. There were 60 elected officials who could ask me any question they wanted, on any topic they wanted, and they represent the people.”
He also said he’s not willing to meet with people who are just going to yell at him.
“And if there’s constructive engagement, I’m all for it,” he said. “If it’s all about screaming and yelling and viral moments that they want to send out to their colleagues? You know, it’s not necessarily the most constructive way to do what I just did in there: an hour and a half with Alaska elected officials.”
He also didn’t attend an empty-chair town hall in Juneau held on Thursday night or one held in Fairbanks on Monday night.
While some of the attendees at the Anchorage town hall bristled at what they felt was name-calling with the Chicken Nick and Doormat Dan signs, others were insistent that anger and outrage are warranted when the very identity of the country is under attack.
“Don’t be so polite!” one attendee yelled.
At another point, a testifier told the crowd that “if there’s a time to get angry, that time is now.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Mike Macans’ last name.
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 Bluesky.
