Approximately 700 US Marines have been deployed to Los Angeles to support the California National Guard as it responds to the riots spreading throughout the county and its cities.
The Marines are primarily from Twentynine Palms, and their job is to secure and protect federal property and personnel. They are not involved with law enforcement activities, unless they are being directly attack or unless President Trump invokes the Insurrection Act.
The deployment comes one day after President Trump federalized 2,000 National Guard troops, following the inaction by Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass to stop the riots.
Newsom has criticized the move as unlawful and inflammatory, and he has already filed a lawsuit against Trump for federalizing the US National Guard in California.
Today, the California National Guard were stationed in front of the Veterans Administration hospital in Los Angeles, where violent protesters had set dumpsters on fire. This is a job that could be performed by the Marines.
California National Guard protect the VA hospital in Los Angeles from violent rioters on June 8, 2025.
The use of Marines is not without precedent. In the early 1920s, organized crime was rampant, and gangsters frequently targeted mail deliveries in search of cash. Between 1920 and 1921 alone, there were 36 armed mail robberies, resulting in the theft of more than $6 million in goods and currency, equivalent to over $86 million today.
At the time, the US Postal Service had fewer than 500 inspectors to protect nearly 250,000 miles of railway mail routes, an impossible task given the scale of the threat.
Recognizing the urgency of the situation, Postmaster General Will H. Hays appealed for federal assistance. In response, President Warren G. Harding dispatched Marines to safeguard the nation’s mail.
The initial Marine mail guard force deployed in 1921 included more than 50 officers and 2,000 enlisted men, strategically stationed at high-risk locations across the country. Secretary of the Navy Edwin Denby—himself a former Marine who served in World War I—issued firm orders: Marines were to shoot to kill if attacked. “When our men go as guards over the mail,” Denby declared, “that mail must be delivered, or there must be a Marine dead at the post of duty.”
The impact was immediate. Armed mail robberies came to a sudden halt, and by the end of the year, attacks on post offices, mail trains, and carriers had virtually disappeared. The first deployment of Marine mail guards concluded in March 1922. For the next couple of years, mail theft remained largely under control.
In 1992, following the acquittal of police officers in the Rodney King case in Los Angeles, Marines from Camp Pendleton were deployed to support the California National Guard in restoring order during widespread rioting, looting, and violence. They secured federal property and assisted in calming the situation that was spiraling out of control.
Such domestic deployments typically operate under strict guidelines of the Posse Comitatus Act, which limits military involvement in civilian law enforcement unless authorized by the president through, for example, the Insurrection Act. Marines often focus on securing federal assets or providing logistical support in these scenarios and do not have direct law enforcement duties.
A blistering and provocative opinion column published in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner is drawing sharp criticism for its incendiary accusations and for the editorial judgment behind its publication.
The column, written by activist Rebekah McNabb and titled “Fairbanks fights fascism: The local life of an authoritarian project,” alleges that Gov. Mike Dunleavy and sitting Fairbanks North Star Borough Assemblywoman Barbara Haney are local enablers of a broader fascist movement in America.
McNabb’s piece calls for public protest at a Tuesday Chamber of Commerce luncheon where Dunleavy is scheduled to speak, an event that is supported by Haney.
“This is not business as usual. This is a warning,” McNabb writes in the closing line of the piece, which encourages a demonstration at 10th Avenue and Noble Street during the event.
What sparks concern, however, is McNabb’s unrestrained language, particularly the direct characterization of Haney as a promoter of fascist ideology, and Dunleavy as a “regional manager” of authoritarianism.
“Haney, for example, represents what Ruth Ben-Ghiat calls the ‘authoritarian capture of democratic institutions,’” McNabb asserts, adding that Haney “wraps fascist ideology in the language of community values, economic efficiency, and parental rights … that obscure how deeply exclusionary and violent her politics actually are.”
Haney may have a solid defamation case against the newspaper for allowing such characterization of her.
McNabb goes on to describe Gov. Dunleavy as “what happens when Trumpism is given the tools of the state and the cover of rural respectability,” accusing his administration of “attacks on LGBTQ+ rights,” “undermining tribal sovereignty,” and “handing over… control to corporate interests.”
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The McNabb column goes further, portraying the Chamber of Commerce’s invitation to Dunleavy as an endorsement of “hierarchy, austerity, and carceral control.” McNabb argues “Civic institutions like chambers of commerce have long played roles in soft-authoritarian movements, providing legitimacy to violent policies under the guise of ‘economic development’ and ‘leadership.’”
Such sweeping allegations, presented without substantiating evidence, are defamatory insinuations against public officials and civic organizations. The column may have crossed the line from opinion into libel, especially in its treatment of Assemblywoman Haney.
Haney, a conservative member of the borough assembly, has not publicly responded to the column, but people close to her campaign expressed disbelief over the newspaper’s decision to publish what they called a “baseless, defamatory, and inflammatory attack.”
“It’s one thing to disagree on policy,” said a conservative activist in Fairbanks. “It’s another thing to accuse your political opponents of enabling fascism. That’s a charge that goes way beyond the pale and strains the expectation of civil discourse.”
The News-Miner, a mainstream news source for Interior Alaska, has taken a hard turn to the left in the past decade.
“Publishing this column is not an act of neutrality,” said another Fairbanks resident. “It’s an act of defamation cloaked as commentary. It’s deeply irresponsible.”
McNabb, who identifies in the column as a “disabled activist in Alaska” and writes under the pen name “Anarchist Jew,” and appears to be a self-published commentator on Substack.
The column’s call to protest specifically targets a luncheon hosted by the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, scheduled for 11:30 am to 1:30 pm on Tuesday. According to McNabb, the goal of the protest is to be “louder than the lie.”
But while peaceful protest is a protected right, the broader implications of labeling elected officials and civic institutions as part of a fascist network raise questions not only about political discourse, but about the role of editorial oversight in Alaska’s Interior newspaper.
As the 2026 campaign season heats up, the media’seditorial decisions, and the limits of political commentary allowed to smear across their pages, will very much be part of the public conversation.
As the nation prepares to mark Flag Day, June 14, and the coinciding 250th anniversary party for the United States Army, two very different American camps are developing:
One, which includes a military celebration this week in the nation’s capital to honor the Army. The other, a nationwide protest by Democrats and Marxists that may turn violent in cities, as the weekend protests in Los Angeles County did over the weekend and Monday.
250th anniversary of the US Army, in DC
The Army is hosting a week-long 250th birthday celebration that began Sunday, culminating June 14 on the National Mall. Key highlights for the week include:
June 11 at 6:30 pm – Army Birthday Twilight Tattoo at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, VA June 13 at 7 pm – Army Birthday Run/Walk at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall, VA June 13-15 at 9:30 am – Philadelphia’s Army 250th Birthday Celebration
June 14 at 8:15 am – Arlington National Cemetery wreath-laying
June 14 at 9:30 am – Fitness events, followed by the public “Army Birthday Festival” at 11 am, featuring soldier meet‑and‑greet, equipment demonstrations, a cake cutting, astronaut guests, Medal of Honor recipients and military displays
June 14 at 6:30 pm, a grand parade comprising 6,600 soldiers in both historic uniforms and and modern uniforms, military vehicles, and flyovers
The evening wraps with a Golden Knights parachute jump, an enlistment/re-enlistment ceremony, fireworks, and music
The parade itself takes place from the Pentagon through Constitution Avenue and is intended to honor the Army’s 250th birthday. However, it coincides with President Donald Trump’s 79th birthday, which has led Marxists to link the military parade with what they view as fascism.
No Kings & 50501 nationwide protests
Also on Saturday, nationwide anti-Trump movement led by “No Kings” and affiliated Marxists groups like 50501 and Indivisible is staging mass protests in over 1,500 cities, including several in Alaska.
Organizers say the demonstrations are aimed at combating authoritarianism and resisting what some view as a spectacle centered on Trump, rather than a neutral military anniversary. Notably, there is no formal protest planned in Washington, DC, as the protesters do not want to clash with the actual US Army.
Though both events coincide with Flag Day, which is traditionally a civic holiday, people will be observing it in vastly contrasting frames:
Patriots and supporters of the Army parade see it as a historic nonpartisan tribute to service and sacrifice.
Marxist opportunistically are using it as a politically charged spectacle tied to Trump.
On June 14, downtown Anchorage will not only be filled with demonstrators, the Delaney Park Strip will host a Juneteenth Citywide Celebration (12-6 pm), marking the occasion four days ahead of the official June 19 holiday. The festival features events spread across Saturday and Sunday, including live performances, food, vendors, and booths.
More about the planned riots and cautions about safety in cities are in this report:
The historic Chilkoot Trail, a 33-mile international hiking route that stretches from Dyea, Alaska, to Bennett, British Columbia, is now open for the 2025 summer hiking season.
However, hikers are not permitted to cross the international border between Canada and the United States along the trail this year, continuing a restriction that began in 2022.
Both Parks Canada and the US National Park Service confirmed that while each side of the trail is open for hiking — the Canadian side from June 4 to Sept. 13, and the US side for similar dates — the international boundary at the summit of the trail remains closed to through travel. This means hikers must begin and end their journey on the same side of the border.
On June 5, 2025, Parks Canada issued an update to its website and social media, stating clearly: “Crossing the international border on the Chilkoot Trail is not permitted during the 2025 hiking season.” This followed a period of uncertainty, during which earlier messaging had suggested the Canada Border Services Agency was still evaluating whether cross-border hikers could meet legal entry and reporting obligations.
The final determination was the continued ban, aimed at upholding security and reporting protocols in remote border areas.
The Chilkoot Trail was once a major route for Klondike Gold Rush prospectors. It was shut down in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic policies in Canada, and in 2021 and 2022, flood damage on the US portion of the trail delayed its reopening. Although the American side is finally open again in 2025, the cross-border restriction from 2022 remains.
This ongoing limitation stems in part from increased scrutiny of remote border crossings. In January, the CBSA announced it would discontinue the issuance of Pacific Crest Trail permits for northbound hikers entering Canada, thus ending another popular cross-border trail.
The remote and rugged nature of the Chilkoot Trail poses significant challenges for monitoring hikers and verifying legal entry at the border, which lacks any permanent customs infrastructure.
The Canadian government is considering the Strong Borders Act (Bill C-2), a proposed law intended to combat transnational threats such as fentanyl trafficking and to strengthen immigration controls.
“Canada’s borders must be secure, modern, and efficient,” the CBSA stated earlier this year in its strategic vision. Measures include enhanced screening, improved data-sharing with US counterparts, and the discontinuation of leniencies in remote border crossings.
Hikers can still enjoy multi-day trips on either the Canadian or US portion of the trail. Parks Canada continues to issue permits for hikes beginning in British Columbia and terminating at the border, while the US National Park Service has reopened access from the Dyea trailhead up to the international boundary.
HB 123 represents a critical reform to Alaska’s vehicle rental tax system, addressing years of confusion, legal disputes, and economic inefficiencies. Building on the intent of a previous Senate bill, this legislation introduces a smarter, fairer approach that benefits Alaskans, particularly in rural areas, while strengthening the state’s $4 billion tourism industry. With a history of outdated tax policies and the rise of rental scheduling platforms like Turo, the need for this change has long been evident.
Th 10% State excise tax on passenger vehicle rentals, originally designed to target tourists using Alaskan roads, has remained unchanged for years and failed to keep pace with a shifting market. The emergence of Turo, a peer-to-peer rental platform founded in 2009, created new income opportunities for Alaskans renting out personal vehicles. Yet the state’s tax framework lagged behind, leading to inconsistent enforcement and legal disputes between the Department of Revenue and platforms like Turo.
Alaskan vehicle hosts, especially in rural areas, faced retroactive penalties and even bank garnishments, while the state lost revenue due to unclear collection responsibilities. A Senate bill introduced last year proposed an 8% tax rate for platforms and protected hosts from past liabilities; though it had bipartisan support, its failure left the problem unresolved. HB 123 builds on that foundation and delivers a more effective solution.
This bill reduces the rental tax to 9% for traditional rental companies and 7% for platform-based rentals, delivering savings to both renters and small businesses.
The 3% tax cut for local vehicle “hosts”, many of which are family-run businesses in rural Alaska, improves tourist access to rental vehicles and supports economic opportunity. By requiring platforms like Turo to collect and remit the tax, HB 123 removes the compliance burden from individual hosts, especially those in remote communities with limited resources. It also shields those hosts from retroactive enforcement, ending an era of arbitrary penalties.
This legislation will significantly boost Alaska’s tourism industry, which relies heavily on vehicle rentals. With most of the projected $9 million in annual tax revenue coming from tourists, the burden on Alaska residents remains light.
In rural areas, where public transportation is scarce, greater vehicle availability through platforms like Turo will improve access to destinations such as Denali and McCarthy. Aligning state taxes with local rates, like Anchorage’s 8%, removes confusion and enhances our competitiveness. The bill’s subpoena provision gives the Department of Revenue the tools to pursue tax cheats without growing the size of government; this ensures fairness and compliance.
Rural Alaska, home to roughly 20% of our state’s population, is a cornerstone of our tourism economy. Attractions like wildlife viewing, fishing charters, and Alaska Native cultural experiences depend on vehicle rentals to bring visitors into remote communities. Historically, high operational costs and limited availability in these smaller markets have limited rental car access. HB 123 addresses these challenges by lowering taxes and encouraging participation from more local hosts, thereby increasing rental availability in places like Healy or even villages like Bethel. The 3% tax cut for local businesses fosters economic diversification, supports job creation, and boosts related industries such as lodging and retail. Revenue from the bill can support community initiatives, from cultural preservation to conservation, tying tourism growth to sustainable development. This long-delayed reform positions rural Alaska to meet increasing demand for authentic travel experiences.
Rental tax revenue in Alaska flows into the state’s general fund, helping support vital services like education, infrastructure, and public safety. Historically, this tax has served as a tourist levy, offsetting the costs that visitors impose without heavily taxing residents. Under HB 123, the $9 million in projected annual revenue, largely from out-of-state renters, will help maintain roads and services critical to rural tourism. This ensures that the economic gains from tourism are reinvested into the communities that host our visitors, striking a balanced and fiscally responsible approach.
Turo’s growth since 2009 has transformed the vehicle rental landscape, offering Alaskans a way to earn income while serving tourism demand. But the absence of clear tax guidelines created friction, penalizing hosts and costing the state lost revenue. HB 123 embraces innovation by integrating Turo and similar platforms into a structured tax system that ensures compliance without stifling entrepreneurship. The bill’s effective date allows time for a smooth transition, reflecting a forward-thinking, solution-oriented approach. It replaces decades of outdated policy, where the rigid 10% tax clashed with the rise of peer-to-peer rentals and created legal uncertainty.
The need for HB 123 has been clear for years. The old tax structure, poorly suited to the growth of platforms like Turo and indeed unknown by many Turo hosts, caused confusion and unfair penalties that hurt both tourism and rural Alaskans. The failure of prior legislation prolonged this uncertainty, costing local entrepreneurs and denying the state much-needed revenue. HB 123 rectifies these shortcomings with lower tax rates, streamlined compliance, and protections for small operators. This is not just a policy adjustment; it is a long-overdue correction to a system that has failed Alaskans for too long.
HB 123 is a win for affordability, competition, and fairness. It aligns with a limited-government philosophy while strengthening rural economies and bolstering our tourism sector. By resolving longstanding inefficiencies, supporting small businesses, and modernizing our tax framework, this legislation helps secure Alaska’s economic future. The time for reform is now, and HB 123 delivers the change Alaskans deserve.
Rep. Kevin McCabe serves in the Alaska Legislature on behalf of Big Lake.
A coalition of groups, some funded by the George Soros-Arabella Advisors network of dark money, is planning protests that may turn into riots on Saturday in cities and towns across America, including Alaska.
The June 14 “No Kings” riots are being organized online, with several protests planned in Alaska communities such as Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Sitka, Nome, Haines, and others that may emerge.
These are anti-Trump protests similar to the ones fomented by Democrats during the first Trump Administration, but with the added intensity of active rioting now taking place in Los Angeles by illegal aliens and their allies. The National Guard has been called out to help restore order in the city, but the Democrat mayor and governor are actively fomenting street violence.
All that is leading up to the “No Kings” Day events on June 14, which are organized by a coalition of Marxist advocacy groups, with Indivisible, the 50501 Movement, Third Act, Public Citizen, and others playing key roles.
The American Federation of Teachers is a key organizer. In preparation for the rioting, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten is holding a tele-town hall on June 10 to prepare for the nationwide anti-Trump activity. Weingarten is also a board member of the National Democratic Institute, a taxpayer-funded subsidiary of the National Endowment for Democracy, a group that was a proxy organization for the Biden Administration. In Alaska, AFT features such staff members as former Alaska Democratic Party Executive Director Lindsay Kavanaugh.
Much of the organizing activity is taking place on the BlueSky social network, where Marxist activists gather. Some organizing for the planned riots are taking place on Reddit, where on private channels organizers are looking for men in the mood for street-fighting and who will be paid, such as in this Reddit posting:
Funding for the events — fromsign makingto training and organizing — is not transparent.
The protests coincide with Flag Day and the celebration of the US Army’s 250th birthday — and President Donald Trump’s birthday. A military parade in honor of the Army is taking place in the nation’s capital, complete with tanks that protest organizers say is for Trump’s birthday.
“On June 14—Flag Day—Donald Trump wants tanks in the street and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday. A spectacle meant to look like strength. But real power isn’t staged in Washington. It rises up everywhere else,” the group states on its website. “Instead of allowing this birthday parade to be the center of gravity, we will make action everywhere else the story of America that day: people coming together in communities across the country to reject strongman politics and corruption.”
The group says that it will not host a No Kings event in Washington, D.C. but instead will build the contrast by having a counter-event in Philadelphia.
Be aware. Be alert. Be prepared. Be safe.
Because these protest groups cannot control their fringe, law enforcement will likely be put on high alert across the country. The intensity of the organizing and the melding of causes — from pro-illegal immigrants to anti-Israel — may lead to rogue members sabotaging roads, power grids, and other infrastructure. In cities, they may block highways and attack businesses and cars.
This would be a day for Americans to be on alert and guard their families, and in heavily Democrat areas stock up in advance on essentials such as life-saving medicines and foods, and keep children away from areas where violence may occur or from where roads may be blocked or buildings vandalized.
In a major moment for her campaign, Alaska gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson received a high-profile endorsement at a rally in Anchorage on Sunday: Florida Congressman Byron Donalds, a national figure and close confidante and ally of President Donald Trump, taped a special video message for Wilson, calling her a “true conservative, committed to America First principles.” Donalds himself carries Trump’s endorsement in Florida’s governor’s race to replace Gov Ron DeSantis, who is term-limited.
The rally, with a packed house of supporters, featured a lineup of conservative voices from Alaska, including:
Pastor Ron Hoffman of Mountain City Church
Father James Moore, Holy Family
Captain Dino Sutherland, star of Alaska Fish Wars on National Geographic Wild
Jiujitsu fighter and Moms for Liberty Anchorage chapter chair Gabby Ide (not speaking on behalf of group)
Steven Holmstock, with Bikers for America (not speaking on behalf of group)
Pam Melin, business executive and president of the Valley Republican Women of Alaska, who formally introduced Wilson
Theo Ransum, business lending officer and emcee for the event
Wilson, a business owner at Denali Disposal, focused her remarks on the need for action, not just talk, on topics such as infrastructure and education, vowing that her administration would build roads and restore Alaska’s schools to national prominence. When the next cabinet members visit Alaska, she said, it should be for a ribbon cutting for a project that is done.
Supporters at the Bernadette Wilson for Governor rally in Anchorage on June 8, 2025.
Wilson also shared a personal story about a weekend fire that occurred this winter, which destroyed her decade-old garbage business, including garbage trucks and equipment that went up in flames that burned for an entire day before being extinguished by firefighters.
Describing how she worked tirelessly over the weekend to ensure her employees still had jobs when they returned to work on that following Monday morning, she committed to the room on Saturday that she “will bring that level of grit and determination to the governor’s seat.”
Though Wilson is a political veteran, she has never run for office herself. She has run campaigns and state ballot initiatives, and was most recently a senior campaign advisor to Congressman Nick Begich and original sponsor of the Repeal Now, to repeal ranked choice voting in Alaska.
She reminded the crowd that Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, and Wilson’s own great-uncle — former Alaska Gov. Wally Hickel — all entered high office without prior elected experience. The same could be said about Congressman Nick Begich, who came from the business community.
Her campaign team, already announced, includes CJ Koan, Paul Smith, Ben Yoho, Brad Herold, and Stephanie Williams, among several others. She revealed that she and Congressman Donalds share a top campaign advisor in Chris Hudson.
Wilson deeply roots her candidacy in her Alaska background, including her family, which has strong business ties, her great-uncle Gov. Hickel. Her heritage includes being a member of the Naknek Native Village Council.
As Gov. Mike Dunleavy reviews the stack of legislation on his desk, a critical June 19 deadline looms. Among the most significant are three major budget bills: the state’s Operating, Capital, and Mental Health budgets. In addition to those, numerous other bills await action — some likely to be signed, others vetoed, and a few potentially allowed to become law without the governor’s signature.
Already, lawmakers have taken the rare step of overriding one of Dunleavy’s vetoes, an increase to Alaska’s education funding formula. Whether the Legislature will take further steps to challenge the governor on other spending matters remains to be seen. A special session to override additional vetoes is possible, though not probable. Such a move would require 40 votes, and several Democrats appear reluctant to pursue that route. More likely, legislators could wait until the 2026 regular session in January, when a joint session could be called to take up veto overrides.
Much of the state’s approved spending this year relies heavily on diverting funds from the 2025 Permanent Fund dividend. Lawmakers allocated roughly 85% of available Permanent Fund available proceeds to state operations, leaving Alaskans with a dividend of just $1,000 — far short of their statutory 50% share. The Legislature also dipped into funds originally intended for college scholarships for Alaska students. The question now is how the governor will see those two funding raids.
Two of the most consequential spending bills have now been formally transmitted to the governor’s office:
HB 53 – Operating, Capital, and Supplemental Budget (Transmitted: May 27, 2025)
HB 55 – Mental Health Budget (Transmitted: May 27, 2025)
Notably absent from the governor’s desk, however, is Senate Bill 113, the controversial internet income tax bill. More than a month after its passage, it still hasn’t been transmitted, suggesting a calculated delay by the Democrat-led majority. Their strategy may be to hold the bill until November, daring Dunleavy to veto it late in the year, with an eye toward overriding the veto during the January session.
Regardless of when it reaches his desk, SB 113 appears destined for a veto. The only question now is when that battle will begin.
The Alaska Center, formerly the Alaska Center for the Environment, has officially secured majority control of the Chugach Electric Association Board of Directors following the 2025 election, which ended May 30. The control by the leftists of Alaska’s largest utility will influence how it governs for years to come and may eventually lead to power insecurity in the Railbelt.
With the election of Katherine Jernstrom to a four-year term, five of the board’s seven directors were endorsed by The Alaska Center.
That gives the group a solid 71.4% majority, with serious implications for future energy policy, ratepayer impacts, and the political influence of the board.
Katherine Jernstrom, Director – Alaska Center-endorsed
Only Dan Rogers and Sisi Cooper are independent of pressure from The Alaska Center. The rest owe their seats to a powerful leftist coalition that includes the Renewable Energy Alaska Project (REAP) and wealthy labor unions such as IBEW 1547 and the AFL-CIO.
These coordinated endorsements on Alaska’s largest utility’s board consistently deliver 6,500 votes in elections that typically see about 10,000 to 11,000 votes cast.
For example, when Bettina Chastain, an independent candidate in 2023, Susanne Fleek-Green got 6,700 votes, Jim Nordlund received 6,400, and Chastain came in with 6,200, beating The Alaska Center’s Shaina Kilcoyne’s 6,000 votes. In 2024, when Alaska Center’s Mark Wiggan ran, he received 6,400 votes, and this year Katherine Jernstrom pulled out 6,500 votes.
The membership of Chugach Electric Association is not quite 90,000. The participating voters, just 11–12% of eligible cooperative members, determine the outcome. For a regular candidate running independently, breaking through is nearly impossible without matching the Democrat-identifying coalition in both funding and visibility. The high turnout for board seat elections came in 2023, when 15% voted. This year’s election season at Chugach Electric Association was more subdued.
In 2024, Dan Rogers pulled off a rare upset by unseating then-chair Sam Cason. But Rogers was uniquely positioned. He is well-known in the electric utility sector, a former Chugach Electric employee, and was able to finance a significant campaign. Chastain, once a longtime board chair, also managed to win in 2023 by spending her own money and benefiting from name recognition. But even she barely edged out an Alaska Center-backed challenger.
Now, with Jernstrom’s win, the door has effectively closed on independents. The Alaska Center is the new gatekeeper.
In utility association elections, there are no campaign finance disclosures, spending limits, or election transparency laws that govern the races. That lack of oversight has allowed advocacy groups to dominate what are supposed to be member-owned cooperatives, and it’s beginning to show.
Readers of Must Read Alaska will recall that The Alaska Center gets funding through the shadowy Arabella Advisors network of donors, with funding coming through subsets that include the Sixteen Thirty Fund and the Tides Foundation, League of Conservation Voters, another 501(c)(4) environmental advocacy group that gets funding from Arabella Advisor groups.
The board’s Alaska Center-aligned majority is expected to push hard for environmental policy priorities, including the controversial removal of the Eklutna River dam, a push that is concerning to ratepayers and those concerned about long-term energy reliability in Southcentral Alaska.
Group photo of The Alaska Center staff and board, which now effectively is the puppet master for Chugach Electric Association.
Meanwhile, the looming natural gas shortage, which is expected to become acute after 2028, demands urgent strategic planning. However, the majority of the board of Alaska’s largest electric utility are firmly anti-fossil fuel and deeply committed to renewables, even as some experts warn that large-scale wind and solar projects for the region are neither economically viable nor technically feasible as replacements.
By resisting cheaper natural gas options in favor of renewables, the board may be steering the utility toward higher rates, less reliability, and costly infrastructure changes that burden ratepayers.
Compounding concerns about the environmentalist takeover of Chugach Electric, board member Susanne Fleek-Green recently took a job as Chief of Staff to Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance. That’s raised eyebrows in the wake of a new Anchorage Assembly ordinance that permitted Assemblywoman Anna Brawley to also serve as partisan legislative staffers to Democrat Rep. Andrew Gray, who represents Anchorage in the Legislature. Fleek-Green being both on the board of the utility and running the city of Anchorage raises questions about political loyalty vs. sound energy policy.
Katherine Jernstrom’s successful 2025 campaign shows just what has happened to Chugach Electric. She was backed by a long and influential list of endorsers, as published on her campaign website. These endorsers include Democrat Mark Begich, who was the person who negotiated the deal to sell Municipal Light and Power (the Anchorage utility) to Chugach Electric and for whom Fleek-Green was a paid congressional staff member when Mark Begich was in the Senate:
The Alaska Center
IBEW 1547
Alaska AFL-CIO
Renewable Energy Alaska Project (REAP)
Alaska Carpenters Union
Rep. Andrew Gray
Sen. Forrest Dunbar
Rep. Zack Fields
Rep. Carolyn Hall
Rep. Ky Holland
Assemblyman Daniel Volland
Former Anchorage Mayor and U.S. Senator Mark Begich
Former Rep. Jennie Armstrong
Former Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins
Jimmy Miner
Matt McDaniel
Ben Kellie
Jon Bittner
Karen King
Lori Davey
John-Henry Heckendorn
Katie Scovic
Eric McCallum
Andre Horton
Kate Consenstein
Radhika Krishna
Kirk Rose
Laile Fairbairn
Claire Pywell
Gretchen Fauske
Jenna Wright
Brit and Jerrod Galanin
Veronica Slajer
Isaac Vanderburg
Penny Gage
David McCarthy
Bill Popp
As the power dynamic on the Chugach Electric board shifts sharply toward a Green New Deal ideological direction, ratepayers may soon feel the impact in the form of higher bills, costly and unreliable experimentation projects, and fewer checks and balances at the utility’s top level. The governance of Alaska’s utility cooperative is no longer representing the members, but is now representing the Democratic Party and its surrogate — The Alaska Center (for the Environment).
