Haines Assembly candidate Beau Bradley says he is committed to Haines and its small businesses and families, but he has only lived in Haines since 2024 after moving from Seattle. Furthermore, the “Abolish ICE” sticker in his store window supports an incendiary left-wing message that fits better in a Seattle storefront than Haines, Alaska. The race raises an important question about how much time and experience in a specific community a public office seeker should have to adequately represent that community. A question Haines voters will be deciding on October 6, 2026.
In a subscriber-exclusive article titled “Opinion: What’s going on in Haines,” a long-time Haines resident traces years of unfinished fights and the significance of this year’s Assembly race. The author details controversies such as the 2023 property-assessment controversy that helped push statewide reform; a failing Lutak Dock that won $20 million in federal money and then never reached construction after a new Assembly steered the project toward a smaller design; and a wave of staff and elected-official turnover, including six Assembly resignations in six years.
The author argues the recurring question is not the latest controversy. It is how much voters value local knowledge when today’s disputes are often continuations of older ones.
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