The Alaska Democratic Party State Central Committee meets this weekend at the historic Baranof Hotel in Juneau, starting with an executive committee meeting and legislative welcome on Friday, along with the annual McKinnon fundraiser, and the SCC meeting itself from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, followed by the Tongass Democrats’ winter auction.
On Sunday, the Democrats will have their caucus meetings before heading back to their respective corners of the state. Caucuses that may have meetings include the Black Caucus, Labor Caucus, LGBTQ Caucus, Progressive Action Network Caucus, Climate Caucus, and Young Democrats. There is no “economy caucus.”
The Alaska Democratic Party has kept a low profile since suffering major losses in 2024. After Rep. Mary Peltola spent $13.4 million in donor funds to try to get reelected, she was badly beat by now-congressman Nick Begich III, who only had $2.8 million to make the case that she needed to be retired.
Also, after telling Alaskans that Kamala Harris would win the presidency because of ranked choice voting, Democrats saw Donald Trump win the state by more than 54.4% of the vote.
But the Democrats will fight on for things like lavish retirement benefits for government employees and more surgical mutilation of children, who they have worked to confuse about their biological selves.
The Democrats are also going to do a victory lap because they gained total control of the Legislature in Alaska, with the help of Republicans such as Sen. Cathy Giessel, who may even make an appearance at the event, since she is now de facto key leadership in the Democratic Party.
Will Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, who also owes his win to Democrats and who is one of the highest ranking members of the Democrat caucus at this point, attend? Will Representatives Alyse Galvin, Bryce Edgmon, Rebecca Himschoot, Calvin Schrage, and Ky Holland, attend, since they owe their seats to the Democrats and caucus with them, while saying they are independent?
The Democrats have not yet announced who their speakers will be, but it’s likely that there will be a cameo by former Rep. Mary Peltola and other politicians who may have big plans for the future, including those planning to run for higher office. Rumors abound that the Democrats will back Peltola for governor, but that Sen. Forrest Dunbar also has aspirations. The Democrats will also begin vetting candidates for the 2026 cycle for U.S. House and U.S. Senate. The Democrats’ goal is to contest every race, even those it cannot win, if only to keep the Republicans busy.
The governor’s race may be their most important opportunity in 2026 to pull Alaska to the left.
At the national level, the party has gone even more fringe than the Alaska Democratic Party, with the election of anti-second Amendment activist David Hogg as one of the three vice chairs. He will work to ensure the national party has gun control at the top of its agenda, something that will make it even more difficult for Alaska Democrats to win converts. The party is still wedded to identity politics and DEI quotas.
The Baranof Hotel will be swarming with Democrats starting as early as Thursday. The hotel, built in 1939, is located downtown in a precinct that has 782 registered Democrats and 180 registered Republicans, with nonpartisans and undeclared voters making up most of the rest — 492 and 844 respectively.
