Most candidates for Alaska governor pledge to live in Juneau if elected

Three of the four Alaska candidates for governor told a Juneau crowd they would live and maintain the seat of government in the state’s Southeast Alaska capital city at a forum in Juneau on Wednesday. 

The candidates’ commitment signals the potential for a significant shift. Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who has served for eight years and cannot run again because of term limits, has maintained his primary residence in Wasilla and conducted state business primarily from Southcentral, with periodic trips to Juneau.

Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and Republicans Bernadette Wilson and Dave Bronson expressed their commitment to Juneau while answering questions from the Juneau Chamber of Commerce about their views on the economy, business and state government relationships with private industry. 

Republican Treg Taylor did not attend the forum due to scheduling conflicts, according to organizers. Taylor’s campaign did not respond to questions Wednesday about whether he would live and maintain his administration from Juneau, if elected. 

The location of Alaska’s capital has long been debated and there have been  many attempts over the years to relocate the capital to the state’s population center of Anchorage. Juneau is landlocked and only accessible by plane or boat. Some say the state’s government would be more accessible to the rest of Alaska if it were located on the road system. Others say Juneau should remain the capital because it has been so since statehood, with state offices, workers and administrative functions established in Southeast. Many also say the cost of relocating the capital to Anchorage is impractical.

Moderators asked candidates what executive leadership, state agencies and investments would be maintained or expanded in Juneau, and whether their cabinet and commissioners would be expected to be based in the capital. 

Kreiss-Tomkins alluded to Dunleavy’s lack of presence in Juneau, saying he would govern from Southeast. “I want to restore Juneau’s position as the seat of government, and have as many commissioners as possible living here,” he said. 

“(In) Governor (Frank) Murkowski’s administration, and Governor (Tony) Knowles’s administration, that was a reality in Juneau, and people felt it. There was a degree of camaraderie and a degree of connectivity that I think have been lost in the years and administration since, and I want to restore that,” he said.

Bronson said he would require his commissioners to live in Juneau if their department is based in the capital. But he noted that he would be flexible for commissioners who may live elsewhere if they are well qualified: “If the talent says, ‘I live in Anchorage, I live in Fairbanks’ — our commissioner right now of DOT, Ryan Anderson, who was my former boss, he lives in Fairbanks. Are you going to lose talent to compel them to live here and change, uproot their lives that much? I don’t think so.”

Wilson joked that the left-leaning capital city would get a new registered Republican voter if her campaign prevails, and she noted the “gravitas” of hosting at the governor’s mansion. “There is a lot of influence within the four walls of that building that I think have very much been underutilized across the state of Alaska, and quite frankly, for the benefit of all of Alaska,” she said.

Wilson and Kreiss-Tomkins said they would plan to live in the governor’s mansion and host public events, guests and state business there. Bronson said he would commit to living there during the regular legislative session. 

“I will live here, but I won’t be here all year,” Bronson said. “Because a lot of government is spread out throughout the state. And I’ve learned as a young lieutenant in the military — it’s called leadership by walking around — and walking around for government means getting in the car and driving around and visiting people throughout the state.”

Bronson’s views of Juneau have changed from his position several years ago. In 2019, Bronson co-sponsored a ballot initiative to move the regular legislative session to Anchorage, which state analysts estimated could cost up to $42 million. But the petition was not filed in time and failed to advance.  

Bronson agreed Wednesday that the capital should be maintained in Juneau. 

“So is Juneau the seat of government? Should it stay here? Yes, it is, and yes, it should.”