Ten out of the twelve Republican Candidates for Governor participated in the State Convention hosted by Alaska Young Republicans on Jan 10. The convention featured a recorded speech from U.S Representative Nick Begich III, a live speech from U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan, and a panel with the Candidates for Governor.
Question #3: Successes and Failures of Current Leadership
Question #3 was addressed specifically to Click Bishop, Bruce Walden, Dave Bronson, and Matt Heilala. The question: What is current leadership getting right and where is it falling short?
Click Bishop gave kudos to Governor Dunleavy, specifically for his land policy bills. He expressed his desire for more road infrastructure, pointing to the ASTAR road as a priority. The ASTAR (Arctic Strategic Transportation and Resources) project seeks to build year-round, all-weather roads from the Dalton Highway to remote communities on the North Slope.
Bruce Walden also talked about the need for more roads. He stated, “The pipeline does not pencil out; it will not be built.” Instead, he recommends Alaska expand its railroad system to transport gas.
Dave Bronson praised Dunleavy for getting the federal government to take Alaska seriously instead of treating it as a colony.
Matt Heilala said that current leadership has been good at identifying the problems, which run downstream of a revenue problem. To grow Alaska’s economy, Heilala emphasized the need to address the “disease of a bureaucratic culture of delay and gridlock.” He calls for heavy deregulation.
Prior Coverage
In case you missed it…
Read MRAK’s coverage of Begich’s and Sullivan’s speeches and introductions from the 10 gubernatorial candidates: Alaska Young Republican State Convention Part I: Who Are the 2026 Gubernatorial Candidates?
Hear from Hughes, Crum, Taylor, and Wilson: AKYR State Convention Part II: What Is the Biggest Challenge Alaska Faces in the Next 5 Years?
Next in Series
Part IV will feature Candidates for Governor Edna DeVries and James Parkin IV, who will address the question “What issues do we face that we are not talking about enough?”