In the coastal district — Alaska’s farthest south — the candidates say they want to support education, fishing and energy, but differ on how.
In House District 1, which includes the hub communities of Ketchikan and Wrangell, there is a three-way race to replace Rep. Dan Ortiz, I-Ketchikan, who served as the district’s House representative for a decade., citing health reasons. The former educator caucused with the mostly Democratic House minority, though his district tends to lean toward Republican candidates.
Agnes Moran, 64, was born and raised in Ketchikan and is the executive director of Women in Safe Homes, the regional shelter for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. Moran served for four years on the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly, co-founded the Ketchikan animal rescue and has been a board member of First Bank and First City Homeless Services.
He was critical of education reform proposals if they come at the expense of meeting what he considers a more pressing need for funding: “I feel like the will of the people was overwhelmingly made clear on what our communities needed. And I was really disappointed that there was a conversation forced into this, of personal projects or items that were not what the people were asking for, whether it came from the executive branch or from the legislative branch.
Bynum said the state could start to help fishing communities and the fishing industry by investing in harbors, so that fishing vessels can stay in Alaska. He also suggested that sport fishermen and commercial charters pitch in on taxes that support hatcheries in Southeast Alaska. He also pointed to sea otter management as a priority for fishermen: “I know that we have the Marine Mammal Act. It’s complicated, but we need to be more vocal. It’s a thing.
Bynum predicted that the energy crisis on the Railbelt will be a main focus of the next legislative session, and said that his role would be to make sure any policy changes do not have unintended consequences for the district and to make sure that the state makes equal investments in Southeast as it solves those problems.
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