Legislative races in Alaska’s conservative Mat-Su region are all-Republican contests

The multiple candidates vying to represent one of the most conservative regions of the state have something in common: All are Republicans.

The races for Senate and House seats in Matanuska-Susitna Borough districts are largely contests among candidates striving to present their conservative credentials.

They have also declared themselves as opponents of Alaska’s new system of ranked choice voting — that system is what allows the races to have more than one Republican on the ballot in the general election.

In two of the races, there are three candidates vying, making ranked choice voting a factor that could determine the outcome.

In Senate District N, which encompasses the heart of Wasilla, incumbent David Wilson of Wasilla faces two challengers: Stephen Wright, a U.S. Air Force veteran, and Rob Yundt, owner of a homebuilding company and former Mat-Su Borough Assembly member.

In the August primary, Wilson received 41.4% of the vote, Yundt got 32.6% and Wright 25.9%.

Wilson is the only Mat-Su member in the Senate’s bipartisan majority caucus, and he is on the powerful Senate Finance Committee, which crafts the state budget. Eight of the 11 Senate Republicans joined the majority.

At an Oct. 2 candidate forum in Wasilla that was hosted by the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce and Susitna Rotary, Wilson pitched his cross-aisle experience as valuable to a region that has seen some of the state’s fastest population growth.

“There’s two things you can do with a hammer: You can tear things down, or you can build things. I prefer to build trust. I prefer to build relationships, and so I continue to be the experienced leader that’s delivered to the Mat-Su,” Wilson said at the event.

Yundt, in contrast, said he would refuse to join any bipartisan caucus if elected to the Senate. “If you run as a Democrat, you should caucus with Democrats, and if you run as a Republican, you should caucus with Republicans,” said Yundt, who was not at the Oct. 2 event. To caucus with Democrats is “not fair to residents” who voted for Republicans, he said.

Wright, whose campaign website prominently features images of and references to former President Donald Trump, took a veiled swipe at Wilson in his official campaign statement as a “RINO,” or “Republican in Name Only,” blaming him and others for what he called “non-essential bloat” and for Alaska Permanent Fund dividends that were smaller than they would have been under the statutory formula. “The RINO-incumbent/ RINO-Non-profit sector challenger will continue this sloppy agenda,” Wright said in his statement that was published in the state Division of Elections voter guide.

Three-way House race

In the race for House District 28, which holds about half of the Wasilla Senate district, the candidates are Steve Menard, Elexie Moore and Jennifer Wright, who is married to Senate candidate Stephen Wright.

The seat is held by Rep. Jesse Sumner, R-Wasilla, and the incumbent appeared poised for possible victory in November after receiving the biggest share of the vote in the August primary, 33%. But Sumner, who is completing his first term, dropped out of the race, citing family reasons and frustrations with the legislative process.

Menard, who got 27.6% of the primary vote, is a member of a prominent Wasilla family. His father, the late Curtis Menard, served in the state House and Senate in the 1980s and 1990s and was a Democrat. After his terms in the Legislature, the elder Menard served as Mat-Su Borough mayor; he died from cancer in 2009 while in office. Linda Menard, Steve’s mother, also served in the state Senate from 2009 to 2013, as a Republican. Steve Menard’s brother, Curtis Jr., a dentist and pilot like his father, died in a 2001 plane crash. The Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center in Wasilla is named in his honor.

Steve Menard, as he campaigns, points to his political experience as a legislative staffer and Wasilla City Council member and, before then, intern for the late Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska. “I do believe experience matters. Since Rep. Sumner did pull out of the race, I believe I am adequate to fill his shoes and go down there and hit the ground running,” he said at the Oct. 2 event.

Moore, who got 23% of the primary vote, is a mother of six and a real-estate agent. Last month, she won the state and district Republican Party’s endorsement in the House race. She has focused a lot of her campaign on education. That interest is inspired by her children, who range in age from 7 to 17 and are enrolled in a variety of school types, including homeschool. “I really want to see universal school choice and see the money follow each child,” she said in an interview.

Sumner’s decision to leave the race to focus on his family, which includes very young children, is understandable, Moore said. “I commend Jesse for knowing when enough is enough,” she said.

Jessica Wright, who got 16.3% of the vote in the August primary, spoke at the Oct. 2 forum about her family’s history and how it shaped her conservative views. She is from Taiwan, and her grandparents in China were killed by the communists there for being landlords, she said, her voice breaking with emotion.

The conservative nature of the region — and the candidates seeking to win votes — was on display at the Oct. 2 Chamber-Rotary forum. There, candidates delivered heated statements praising former President Donald Trump and blasting President Joe Biden and any diversity and equity efforts.

Additionally, Yundt, who was not at the forum, said in an interview that one of the main reasons for getting into the race was his opposition to transgender athletes in girls’ sport. “I want to get boys out of our daughters’ bathrooms and sports,” he said in an interview. His campaign website includes a section about the subject, saying a “disgusting trend has emerged in women’s athletics & safe spaces: the inclusion of mentally confused men in female sports, bathrooms & locker rooms. "

Local and regional concerns

But at the Oct. 2 forum, moderator Marty Metiva of Rotary directed the candidates away from national and cultural issues to those more focused on the region and on the state’s fiscal and economic needs.

Among the questions he asked: What are your plans for increasing state revenue? What are the top infrastructure needs that you would address? And he asked a hyperlocal question: What would you do to reduce traffic congestion on the Parks Highway where it passes through the heart of Wasilla?

Both Stephen and Jessica Wright cited the proposed but controversial Knik Arm bridge as key to alleviating Wasilla traffic congestion. They and others also called for more investment in Port Mackenzie and completion of a rail link to it, a long-proposed project.

Yundt identified the Parks Highway congestion as a pressing problem for the district, and said there are options for addressing it, though each faces challenges. “Do we go under, around or over?” he said. Tunneling under the highway or building an elevated system above it would be extremely expensive, though technically possible. Going around the existing route would also be challenging because of conflicts with the Alaska Railroad line through Wasilla, he said. If some kind of arrangement with the railroad can be secured, “around would be ideal,” he said.

Moore was not at the candidate forum. In her Alaska Beacon candidate questionnaire, she identified a specific site as a top infrastructure need for the district: Bogard Road, a major artery that connects Wasilla to Palmer.

As for new revenue, all candidates at the Oct. 2 event, as well as Moore and Yundt in their Alaska Beacon candidate questionnaires, supported increased natural resource extraction. Several mentioned increased timber harvesting.

Moore pointed to family members employed in the oil and gas industry. “We’re an oil and gas family,” she said.

Jessica Wright also suggested that the state take advantage of its cold climate to start a semiconductor industry. Menard brought up what he called a “passion project” that he pursued in the past: “I want a seasonal sales tax, state of Alaska, with an Alaskan exemption, from the months of May 1 to October 1,” he said. However, the U.S. constitution’s Privileges and Immunities clause generally forbids states from charging higher taxes on nonresidents than on residents.

Wilson pointed to his work on the finance committee steering funding to Wasilla roads and other infrastructure considered important in a region where the population has grown rapidly. Traffic-clogged roads are a big concern, so “roads, roads, roads” are always a priority for capital spending, he said.

“But we also need water and wastewater utilities as well. We have a lot of wells that just are becoming arsenic wells, community wells that are shifting — water tables are shifting — and our wastewater facilities are outdated, as well,” he said at the candidate forum.

Finding solutions to traffic congestion on the Parks Highway will take coordination between the state, borough, city and even subdivision developers, he said. A possible response is some reconfiguration of the road as it exists, he said. “We would have to give up some of those left-hand turns on the Parks Highway. There is give and take with those things,” he said.

In House District 27, Rep. David Eastman is being challenged by fellow Republican Jubilee Underwood, the president of the Mat-Su Borough School Board. Eastman got nearly 62% of the vote in the August primary, while Underwood got about 38%.

In House District 30, which holds the more sparsely populated areas to Wasilla’s north, Rep. Kevin McCabe of Big Lake is being challenged by fellow Republican Doyle Holmes, a former Mat-Su Borough Assembly member and deputy mayor. In the August primary, McCabe got 54.7% of the vote to Holmes’ 45.2% share.

Some of the most powerful Mat-Su legislators are running for reelection without any opposition.

House Speaker Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, has no opponent. Also in that group are Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, a co-chair of the powerful House Finance Committee, and Rep. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, who chairs the House Energy Committee and is vice-chair of the House Resources Committee.

Originally published by the Alaska Beacon, an independent, nonpartisan news organization that covers Alaska state government.