The former mayor of Hoonah is going to make another run at the Legislature, taking on Sitka Democrat Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins for House, for the third time.
Kenny Skaflestad, who is a Republican and Alaska Native, ran unsuccessfully in 2016 and 2020. He said today, “Every ounce of me wanted to run in the other direction, seeing the circus in Juneau. I just think I have something to offer to the district that we are not getting now. The pull to serve is on my heart and always I have always been a fool for punishment.”
Skaflestad finished his service as mayor of Hoonah in 2017. He said if the district doesn’t make a change, Kreiss-Tomkins will continue damaging the state.
The region is now known as District 2, per the new political boundary map from the Alaska Redistricting Board. Formerly known as District 35, it’s not drastically changed from the 2020 election. Major communities are Hydaburg, Kasaan and some of the East of Prince of Wales Island, Whale Pass, Coffman Cove, as well as Kake, Craig, Klawock, Petersburg, Pelican, Elfin Cove, Tenakee, Angoon, and the cities of Sitka and Hoonah. The district now stretches up to Yakutat.
Skaflestad said his website from his last campaign will get worked on over the weekend and be ready by Monday.
He is running on conservative values. He said elected officials should not keep governing contrary to statute, referring to the Permanent Fund dividend and the continuation of not paying a statutory amount to Alaska. If they don’t like the statute, legislators should change it, he said.
Kreiss-Tompkins is the hard Democrat from Sitka who is first took office in 2013. He has been reluctant to approve full dividends and opposes putting the Permanent Fund dividend calculation into the Alaska Constitution, so that it is no longer a political decision.
