A Q&A with Alaska’s state House candidates ahead of the 2022 primary election

In this year’s Alaska legislative elections, 99 candidates are competing for all 40 seats in the state House of Representatives. The elections will decide control of the state House, and with it, prospects for conservative and progressive legislation on all subjects.

In the Aug. 16 primary election, each voter will pick one candidate for their local House seat. Under the state’s new voting system, the top four vote-getters for each seat would advance to the November general election, where a winner will be chosen through ranked-choice voting.

In all but one House race, there are four or fewer candidates, meaning all of them will advance to the Nov. 8 general election. The lone exception is House District 35, which covers western Fairbanks and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. There are five candidates in that race; one will be eliminated in the primary.

Voters have been receiving updated registration cards this summer, required after Alaska’s once-per-decade redistricting process shifted boundary lines. If you didn’t receive your card or don’t know your Senate district, visit the Division of Elections online.

Ahead of the primary, the Alaska Beacon collected questions from members of the public online and in person, asking voters what they wanted to know about this year’s candidates. We read those questions, picked our favorites, and added a few of our own. The result was a questionnaire with 15 questions — 10 open-ended and five multiple-choice — which we sent to the candidates’ listed email addresses on July 13.

We followed up with phone calls and emails during the week of July 25 and received written responses from 46 candidates. You can see links to their responses below. The answers have not been edited.

Candidates

House District 1

Jeremy Bynum (Republican) — Responded in full

Shevaun Meggitt (Nonpartisan) — Did not respond

Daniel “Dan” Ortiz (N) — Responded in full

House District 2 

Rebecca Himschoot (N) — Responded in full

Kenny Skaflestad (R) — Responded in full

House District 3

Andrea “Andi” Story (Democratic) — Responded in full

House District 4

Sara Hannan (D) — Responded in full

Darrell Harmon (Unaffiliated) — Responded

House District 5

Louise Stutes (R) — Did not respond

Benjamin Vincent (R) — Did not respond

House District 6

Ginger Bryant (N) — Responded

Louis “Louie” Flora (N) — Responded in full

Sarah Vance (R) — Did not respond

House District 7

Ronald “Ron” Gillham (R) — Did not respond

Justin Ruffridge (R) — Responded in full

House District 8

Ben Carpenter (R) — Did not respond

House District 9

David Schaff (D) — Responded in full

Laddie Shaw (R) — Did not respond

House District 10

Mikel Insalaco (Libertarian) — Responded

Craig Johnson (R) — Did not respond

Sue Levi (D) — Responded in full

Caroline Storm (D) — Responded in full

House District 11

Ross Bieling (R) — Did not respond

Julie Coulombe (R) — Did not respond

Walter Featherly (N) — Responded in full

House District 12

Jay McDonald (R) — Did not respond

Calvin Schrage (N) — Responded

House District 13

Katherine “Kathy” Henslee (R) — Did not respond

Timothy Huit (Alaskan Independence) — Did not respond

Andy Josephson (D) — Responded in full

House District 14

Nicholas Danger (R) — Responded in full

Alyse Galvin (N) — Responded in full

House District 15

David Eibeck (R) — Responded in full

Thomas “Tom” McKay (R) — Did not respond

Denny Wells (D) — Responded in full

House District 16

Jennifer “Jennie” Armstrong (D) — Responded in full

Richard “Rick” Beckes (Constitution) — Did not respond

Joel McKinney (R) — Responded

Liz Vazquez (R) — Did not respond

House District 17

Harriet Drummond (D) — Responded

William “Zack” Fields (D) — Responded in full

House District 18

Lyn Franks (D) — Responded in full

Cliff Groh (D) — Responded in full

David Nelson (R) — Did not respond

House District 19

Genevieve Mina (D) — Responded in full

Russell Wyatt (D) — Responded in full

House District 20

Paul Bauer (R) — Responded in full

Andrew Gray (D) — Responded in full

Jordan Harary (R) — Did not respond

Scott Kohlhaas (L) — Did not respond

House District 21

Donna Mears (D) — Responded in full

Patrick “Ian” Sharrock (N) — Did not respond

Forrest Wolfe (R) — Did not respond

House District 22

Ted Eischeid (D) — Responded in full

Lisa Simpson (R) — Did not respond

Stanley Wright (R) — Did not respond

House District 23

Jamie Allard (R) — Did not respond

Roger Branson (R) — Responded in full

House District 24

Sharon Jackson (R) — Responded in full

Daryl Nelson (D) — Did not respond

Dan Saddler (R) — Responded in full

House District 25

Delena Johnson (R) — Did not respond

Larry Wood (R) — Responded in full

House District 26

Daniel Stokes (L) — Did not respond

Cathy Tilton (R) — Did not respond

House District 27

Brendan Carpenter (R) — Responded in full

David Eastman (R) — Did not respond

Stuart “Stu” Graham (R) — Did not respond

House District 28

Rachel Allen (R) — Did not respond

Steve Menard (R) — Did not respond

Jesse Sumner (R) — Did not respond

Jessica Wright (R) — Did not respond

House District 29

Elijah Haase (N) — Did not respond

George Rauscher (R) — Did not respond

House District 30

Doyle Holmes (R) — Responded in full

Kevin McCabe (R) — Did not respond

Joy Mindiola (D) — Did not respond

House District 31

Maxine Dibert (D) — Responded in full

Bart LeBon (R) — Did not respond

Kelly Nash (R) — Did not respond

House District 32

Timothy Givens (R) — Did not respond

Van Lawrence (D) — Did not respond

Will Stapp (R) — Responded

House District 33

Glenn “Mike” Prax (R) — Responded in full

House District 34

Nate DeMars (R) — Responded in full

Grier Hopkins (D) — Responded in full

Frank Tomaszewski (R) — Did not respond

House District 35

Kieran Brown (C) — Did not respond

Ashley Carrick (D) — Responded in full

Kevin McKinley (R) — Did not respond

Ruben McNeill Jr. (R) — Did not respond

Tim Parker (N) — Responded in full

House District 36

Mike Cronk (R) — Did not respond

Angela “Fitch” Fowler (D) — Responded in full

House District 37

Bryce Edgmon (U) — Did not respond

House District 38

Conrad “C.J.” McCormick (D) — Did not respond

House District 39

Neal Foster (D) — Did not respond

Tyler Ivanoff (AIP) — Responded in full

House District 40 (North Slope)

Josiah “Aullaqsruaq” Patkotak (N) — Did not respond

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