The former mayor of Hoonah, “Kenny Karl” Skaflestad, has filed to run against Sitka’s Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins for House District 35.
Skaflestad is Tlingit and Aleut, and works on and off as a commercial fisherman. He attended Petersburg High School and graduated from Juneau-Douglas High School in the 1970s. He has worked in construction as well as being a power troller.
Skaflestad served two terms on Hoonah City Council, helped establish a short-term Chamber of Commerce, the Citizen’s Community Support Team and Hoonah Citizen’s Task Force.
“I began my career in civil construction at a young age,” he said. “Experience in rural Alaska helped me to thrive as Hoonah’s mayor and prompted the founding of the Alaska Hubzone, which is a non-profit corporation serving rural areas. Most of all, the early construction experience developed my strong support for economic development.”
He will focus on jobs and economic growth for the District 35 region that includes places like Kake, Klawock, Thorne Bay, Petersburg, and Sitka.
Incumbent Kreiss-Tompkins dropped out of Yale University to run for legislative office and has not held any other actual job.
The district is evenly split between conservatives and liberals, although Sitka is a liberal stronghold for hometown boy Kreiss-Tomkins, who recently filed legislation to change the Alaska constitutional designation of marriage as between a man and a woman. His earlier legislation was to enshrine 20 Native languages as official languages of the State of Alaska. He has advocated for an income tax along with the Democratic majority that controls the House.
Feted by the mainstream media, Kreiss-Tomkins was featured prominently in Politico for having been recruited by the Alaska Democratic Party to run for House in 2012.
KREISS-TOMKINS BUILDS WAR CHEST FROM SAN FRANCISCO, NEW YORK DONORS
Skaflestad, who filed as a Republican, has some catching up to do in the fundraising department.
Kreiss-Tomkins has a busy online fundraising effort, but of the 56 donors he declared in his recent Feb. 15 required fundraising disclosures, 45 were from out of state; 11 donors were from California and 17 were from the East Coast, including New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Chicago, and Maryland.
Over half of Kreiss-Tomkins donors have not yet disclosed their job titles and/or employers, which is information required by Alaska election laws, and others have not listed their actual home towns, or have listed fake towns, such as Washington, Alaska.
Check out Kreiss-Tomkins’ donors here.
But Kreiss-Tomkins has a nearly $9,000 head start on the Alaska Native fisherman from Hoonah, whom people in District 35 know simply at “Kenny Karl.”
Excellent reporting, Suzanne, just excellent.
APOC needs to jump right down Kreiss-Tomkins throat and disqualify his campaign for non-compliance. Go get him, Kenny Karl Skaflestad!
Don’t hold your breath for APOC to do anything to a Democrat.
GO GETUM KENNY,,,, AWESOME COLUMN,,, GREAT NEWS
Kenny should hire his good buddy, Billy Brown to rustle up support for his campaign!
Let’s get this Kenny!! Glad to see you strive for more!
You have my support Kenny!
A local man with knowledge of our south east communities.
Not east coast money, but South East Alaska Heart!
Congrats to the area he will represent! A very well spoken, dedicated man. I approve of Kenny, his being and soul, are true to being Alaskan through and through. Bless him, for stepping up.
You might be interested in Elfin Cove, another District 35 community and Hoonah’s neighbor on Chichagof Island. Since Jonathan Kreiss- Tomkins became our Representative we have seen Elfin Cove’s deterioration into a caretaker community run by “absentee residents”, many which live in other states. Our government entity, Community of Elfin Cove (CEC), is a community nonprofit corporation not an incorporated city. The Alaska Legislature is legally responsible for the operations of community nonprofits. We have supplied JKT with information and documentation about the issues of Elfin Cove since he was first elected. After 5 years of JKT in office our town is dying. See our latest videos on YouTube or watch them on our Facebook page: Elfin Cove, Alaska is now a Caretaker Community and Elfin Cove, Alaska is now a Caretaker Community Part 2 .
Lane Ply- AlaskansforAlaska
You might be interested in Elfin Cove, another District 35 community and Hoonah’s neighbor on Chichagof Island. Since Jonathan Kreiss- Tomkins became our Representative we have seen Elfin Cove’s deterioration into a caretaker community run by “absentee residents”, many which live in other states. Our government entity, Community of Elfin Cove (CEC), is a community nonprofit corporation not an incorporated city. The Alaska Legislature is legally responsible for the operations of community nonprofits. We have supplied JKT with information and documentation about the issues of Elfin Cove since he was first elected. After 5 years of JKT in office our town is dying. See our latest videos on YouTube or watch them on the AlaskansforAlaska Facebook page: Elfin Cove, Alaska is now a Caretaker Community and Elfin Cove, Alaska is now a Caretaker Community Part 2 .
Lane Ply- Elfin Cove, Alaska
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