“At stake in this election are vastly different ideas about the direction of the country and, and in particular, about the direction that President Trump is taking us.” - Gunnar Knapp, a retired University of Alaska Anchorage economist and emeritus professor at the Institute of Social and Economic Research.
Fishing boats line a dock at Kodiak's St. Paul Harbor on Oct. 3, 2022. Fishing issues have become a top campaign issue in the race between U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and his challenger, former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
By Yereth Rosen
Fish are central to Alaska’s economy, Indigenous cultures and identity.
With critical salmon runs in Alaska rivers struggling, commercial operators squeezed by higher costs and stiffer market competition, fish are now at the center of the hard-fought campaign for Alaska’s U.S. Senate seat.
Former state Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, third from left, speaks at a gubernatorial candidate forum on Sept. 16, 2026, while former Attorney General Treg Taylor, Anchorage business owner and talk-show host Bernadette Wilson and former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson listen. The forum was held by the Alaska Hospital and Healthcare Association and the organization’s annual conference in Girdwood. Taylor, Wilson and Bronson are Republicans. Kreiss-Tomkins is a Democrat. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
By James Brooks
In a candidate forum Thursday, three of the four candidates to be Alaska’s next governor voiced support for a long-debated plan to restructure the Alaska Permanent Fund in order to permanently cap the amount of money that can be spent from it without a statewide vote.
A campaign sign for Cliff Groh, candidate for Alaska House District 18 is seen in the Muldoon neighborhood of northeast Anchorage on Sep. 23, 2026. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
By Corinne Smith
A Fairbanks fire captain’s campaign raised over $72,000. A retired Kodiak school teacher and union leader’s campaign raised nearly $71,000. A Clam Gulch fisherman’s campaign raised over $45,000. All three candidates are independents running for Republican-held seats in the Alaska State House.
Democratic and independent candidates for the Alaska State House are largely out-fundraising Republican opponents in races for Republican-held seats. Of 17 seats held by Republicans that have a Democratic or independent challenger, that challenger is outraising the Republican in 11 races.
Expansive view of downtown Juneau and waterfront, Alaska. Morning, waterfalls and fog nestled in the mountains. Mount Roberts tram operating at right.
COMMENTARY
By Bruce Botelho
The ICE dragnets that dominated headlines earlier this year and led to the deaths of two United States citizens and several immigrant victims in communities around the country may now attract less attention. But the machinery of detention and deportation continues to hum along—perhaps more quietly, but no less relentlessly.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Mixed signals for housing costs in Alaska | Yereth Rosen
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