Reader poll: Who do Must Read Alaska readers think should run for governor?

By
Suzanne Downing
-
52
Bernadette Wilson and one of her garbage trucks.

Bernadette Wilson, a dynamic Alaskan who has tirelessly worked in Alaska’s political realm for 20 years, was the far-and-away winner of the Must Read Alaska Newsletter Question of the Week:

Who should run for governor?

The nonscientific survey only had space for five names. The names that MRAK chose for the five were some possible contenders: Mary Peltola, Adam Crum, Treg Taylor, Nancy Dahlstrom, and Bernadette Wilson.

With the exception of Wilson, all four others have campaigned for office and held high positions in government. Mary Peltola is the former House member for Alaska, Adam Crum is commissioner of Revenue and former commissioner of Health and Social Services, Treg Taylor is attorney general, and Nancy Dahlstrom is lieutenant governor.

Wilson is the only one who has never run for office.

Here are the final result of the three-day poll:

None of the names on the poll has actually filed for the 2026 race for Alaska governor, but all are known to be “kicking the tires” to see if they can mount a credible campaign. All on the poll are Republicans except for Peltola.

The question was sent to the 33,000 people who subscribe to the three-times-a-week newsletter, which generally is opened by about 14,000 recipients for each edition. The question ran in the March 31 and April 2 editions of the newsletter (subscribe here.) The newsletter subscribers are generally conservative, although there is a small but loyal readership among Democrat politicos, as seen in the results above, where Peltola received 4%.

Must Read Alaska newsletter readers might be described as the conservative super-voters of the state, and many are politically active in their communities.

Thus, it’s an interesting result to see that Wilson got more than double the support of the next contender — Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, who ran for Congress last year but withdrew after the primary.

Who is Bernadette Wilson? She owns a garbage disposal company, is a single mother, and got her political start managing the 2010 Parental Notification Initiative, which won statewide with 56% of the vote. She has worked on several campaigns ever since, most recently as a senior advisor to the Nick Begich congressional race. In addition, she was the state director for Americans for Prosperity, and hosted a television show and a radio talk show (coincidentally, the co-host was Democrat Ethan Berkowitz.)

Wilson is known for organizing the People’s Memorial Day in 2020, when then-Mayor Ethan Berkowitz cancelled the Memorial Observance at the Veterans’ Memorial in Anchorage.

And she organized community action against the shut down of the Anchorage economy during Covid, and even held a “dance off” protest in front of the Loussac Library, as a protest to the Berkowitz ban on dancing in 2020, and later a convoy of trucks that rolled through downtown.

Bernadette Wilson, front left, organized a dance protest to show public disapproval of Mayor Ethan Berkowitz’ ban on dancing in 2020, while the Anchorage Assembly met inside the building.

Is this Wilson’s time to run for office? Readers seem to think so.

There are other possible contenders for governor besides those five names. Must Read Alaska will have another Question of the Week with some of the other possibilities. You can vote in that poll in the Monday, April 7 and Wednesday, April 9 newsletter.

Dance party protest goes footloose on mayor’s ban on dancing and loud music
Marketing Mary: Democrats trying to figure where to plug in Peltola in 2026. Will it be Senate?

52 COMMENTS

  4. Dahlstrom would just be another spineless RINO which would be a replay of what we already have.

  7. I would support her, just as so long as she does not support foreign owned pebble on red salmon spawning grounds, like Dunleavy did causing a rift with president Trump.

    • Well, I guess we’ll cancel each other out. I will not vote for any gubernatorial candidate that doesn’t support opening Pebble Mine. There are zero valid reasons for delaying this development.

  9. I was hoping for a “none of the above” button. Just throwing this out, maybe Shelley Hughes or Mike Shower.

  10. If Nancy Dahlstrom runs I won’t vote for her, she hasn’t done nothing about our elections.

  13. I’m sorry, but I only recognized a couple of the names in the list so I did not even vote. Bernadette Wilson, and the hard-core democrat ex-US representative.

  14. Well, I think President Trump has proven that political experience is not necessarily a plus. As with his first term, he is showing the establishment that a businessman can run the government better than a politician. Maybe the states should give it a go?

  15. Sorry, but I will NEVER forget Ms. Wilson running cover for Murky, trying to keep a journalist from asking questions of Murky. It was cringe inducing. Her opponent(s) should just run that bit of video on an endless loop.

    • Nailed my thoughts too Mark R.
      That kind of protectionism tells you a lot about an individual.
      Little off subject that’s why I can’t tolerate a certain afternoon a.m. radio host also. Souls can be bought.

  16. Willy, your idea has been proven too fail.
    Our current political system is awful and we need a new idea.

  17. Seriously, who’s going to get behind the Crum kid?
    The guy couldn’t even distribute food stamps with federal funds successfully. And didn’t Crum increase administrative costs by creating a new department with increasing efficiency and lowering costs?
    Crum should a real job in the private sector instead of hanging around government.

  19. Frank Murkowski with running mate John Lindauer. Perfect fit for our Great State’s politics.

  20. I would never vote for any Democrat. And Dahlstrom is not much better than her. The rest of the names were somewhat recognizable and of those Wilson was the most impressive. Alaska needs a 🔥MAGA governor who will be able to slap back the leftist nutjobs trying to turn AK blue.

  21. The only name that I see on the list that I could vote for is Treg Taylor. Running the state is just like running a business with the extra politics thrown in. People wonder what a governor does. Well he or she attends countless meetings with subordinates and continually adjusts policies to meet new situations. The state is very much a business, as well as a political entity. In addition the governor is the chief salesperson in pitching the state resources and products to other states and countries. If that isn’t enough, with disasters occurring on the average every 54 days, the governor must be a master of recovery for all types of situations. Dunleavy had administrative chops, legislative chops, and disaster experience before he was elected governor. It is not an easy job, especially when a conservative governor has to stand up to a legislature continually out to destroy his term or terms in office.

  22. Move Kristi Noem up here until she gets residency then vote her in as Governor!

  28. I’ll definitely vote for her.. She’s the only one that will/can stand up to the Assembly with the “garbage” they’ve dished out the past 5-? years. I’ve seen some so-call conservatives get on the Assembly(with the eception of ONE) and “caved in” to whatever they threw out.

  29. We need to start electing business people instead of career politicians. The bureaucrats in the background are running the show and they are running it into the ground. This group of leeches need to be greatly reduced because they are sucking Alaska dry.

  30. Is this the menu being chosen for us by the uni-party in Alaska to finalize the destruction of the state?

  36. Who can beat Peltola. One name that I can think of that is also actually a Conservative. Mike Cronk. He will take 50% or more of the bush vote as well as the republican vote, making him virtually unbeatable if well supported. Worked harder in his district than anyone in the legislature and it’s not close.

  37. I posit that Bernie ghost-wrote this self-aggrandizing article, and that she is monitoring the comments. Why do I think so? Because I think she is the worst of the worst, yet my comment did not get published. Screening opinions now, are we, MRAK?

  39. After eight years of do nothing Dunleavy, a dog catcher could beat a Republican candidate.

  40. A successful business EXECUTIVE who has never been in politics.

    F the #AKGOP and their corrupt cowardly weakness.

Comments are closed.