Republican candidate for Alaska governor Christopher Kurka chooses Homer man as running mate

Republican candidate for governor Christopher Kurka on Monday named Paul Hueper of Homer as his lieutenant governor candidate for this fall’s general election.

Hueper and his wife, Marilyn, were the target of a mistaken April 2021 FBI raid seeking a laptop stolen from the office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi during the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Marilyn Hueper had been identified as a possible culprit; the FBI later arrested a New York woman after following the same tips that led them to the Heupers.

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan asked the Department of Justice in October to apologize for the raid.

The Huepers have not been charged with a crime. They attended the protests preceding the riot, and they shared pictures of themselves approaching the Capitol, but they say they did not enter it.

Speaking at a Monday night campaign event in Mat-Su, Hueper said the Jan. 6 rally in Washington, D.C., by supporters of former president Donald Trump “did light a fire inside of us,” and the FBI raid “made fighters out of us.”

Alaska’s new election system requires a governor and lieutenant governor to run together as a single ticket. In the state’s Aug. 16 general election, voters will select one governor-lieutenant governor pair. The four tickets that receive the most votes will advance to the general election in November.

Alaska’s lieutenant governor is in charge of the state’s elections. Wearing a black T-shirt with the slogan “We the People are pissed,” Hueper called the Alaska Division of Elections a “disaster” and said he would fire its current director, Gail Fenumiai.

On Monday night and in an interview Tuesday, he said he supports development of the Pebble mine and limits on deep-sea trawling, opposes vaccination mandates and abortion rights, and wants to see government based on the “Judeo-Christian beliefs” of the founders of the United States. That doesn’t mean a government consisting only of white men, he said.

He praised his pastor, Mark Edens, for supporting “kingdom government” and for supporting a “heaven in government” program that aims to elect people to “every seat on the (Kenai) Peninsula.”

“We have to think in terms of independence from the federal government,” he said, denouncing federal debt.

Kurka said he met Hueper on the campaign trail and asked him to run as his lieutenant governor because they are aligned on issues.

He said he initially thought Kurka was going to ask his wife to run, and he was slightly surprised when Kurka asked him.

He said he and Kurka believe they will win the election “because people are tired of compromise. We’re tired of people who are going to fold.”

As of Monday, seven people have signed up to run for governor by filling out a letter of intent with the Alaska Public Offices Commission or registering with the Alaska Division of Elections.

Incumbent Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Democratic candidate Les Gara and Republican candidate Charlie Pierce have not yet announced candidates for lieutenant governor.

Independent governor candidate Bill Walker is running with lieutenant governor candidate Heidi Drygas. Libertarian Billy Toien is running with Shirley Rainbolt. Republican candidate Bruce Walden is running with Tanya Lange.