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Alaska voters have a chance to reward candidates who can work beyond party lines.
By Freddie Olin IVThankfully, Alaska has adopted ranked choice voting and pick-one open primaries, and there is a large slate of gubernatorial candidates for Alaskans to choose from in the primary on Aug. 18.
It would be hard to imagine having essentially only two hyperpartisan candidates to choose from in the former closed primary system, like a hyper-Trumpian candidate and a hyper-Democratic candidate, even if a hyper-Democratic candidate might be difficult to define post-2024. Not only would the candidates eventually be opposed to each other over just about everything in their platforms in the general election, but each candidate would more or less be cherry-picked by party and elected office leadership.
That reduces strategies and incentives for working across the political aisle. With the range and scale of gubernatorial candidates in the Aug. 18 primary election, I will be selecting the Click Bishop-Greta Schuerch ticket as my choice for governor and lieutenant governor. I have known both candidates professionally and personally for many years, and I have seen firsthand that both candidates — and the people behind the candidacy — are ethical, straightforward and headstrong.
While arguably center-right, I can easily see the candidates working with others who have different political beliefs and ideologies to benefit Alaska rather than only working with Alaskans based on their labels such as Republican, Democrat, Green, defunct Alaskan Independence, what have you. Being undeclared and not privy to any platform, I learned throughout my professional career to work with those who have different perspectives from my own.
After I worked on oil drilling rigs for seven years on the North Slope oilfields in Alpine, Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay, my best friend was someone who called Laurel, Mississippi, home. In today’s political climate, what business would a young Alaska Native have with a middle-aged man from the South? Not just any South, but the Deep South.
Yet there we were, working together often for weeks and months at a time and getting things done quickly and efficiently without any bickering or drama. In the Bishop-Schuerch ticket, I easily see this ethic of teamwork over competition. In the hyperpartisan atmosphere leading up to the 2026 general election, this is a value I believe in.
I know from my own experience that Click Bishop and Greta Schuerch will result in good things for Alaskans from all walks of life through 2030.is an independent small-business owner with family ties to the middle Yukon River, having been born and raised in Anchorage. These views are his own. The Anchorage Daily News welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email
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