Senate Seat C, which stretches from Cordova to Clam Gulch to Kodiak Island, is a race to watch this election season. All three candidates for the seat are Republicans, and one of those Republicans is Sen Gary Stevens, the grand old man of the Alaska Legislature.
Sen. Stevens, of Kodiak, began serving in the Legislature after winning a House seat in 2000; joined the Senate in 2003. He’s risen to become Senate president, served on the Legislative Council for several years, as majority leader and as Rules Chairman, a position he now holds.
Two credible conservatives from the Homer-Kodiak Senate district are taking on Stevens. If only three are in the race by the close of business on June 1, all three will proceed from the primary election ballot on Aug. 16 to the general election ballot, which is the ranked choice ballot. This poses a real challenge for Stevens in this fairly conservative part of the state.
Walter Jones is from Anchor Point. He’s a truck driver, and also an Army veteran who served for 18 years in the military. Jones’ website is at this link.
“In my 32 years in Alaska, I as many of you have watched at once prosperous State turn into a vacuum for nonprofits, a haven of domestic and foreign interference into the heart of Alaska’s political being, destroying the Alaska spirit, destroying Alaskan jobs, Alaskan small businesses, our resource development, restricting subsistence rights of Alaskan residents while feeding industries that are destroying our oceans by depleting fish stock for future generations of Alaskans,” Jones writes on his website.
Heath Smith is a born-and-raised Alaskan from Homer. He has served on the Homer City Council, is a family man, and is in the trucking business, running a local UPS operation in Homer. Smith’s website is at this link.
“I had the great honor of serving on the Homer City Council for six years. Through that experience I learned that public service is highly rewarding when you get results. It’s time for new energy and a new perspective to lead our district in Juneau. I commit to representing each of our communities interests in the legislature, and will work hard to improve the quality of life for all Alaskans,” Smith writes on his website.
Stevens, also an Army veteran, has a massive resume, including a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon. He was elected mayor of Kodiak, was president of the school board, presiding officer of the borough Assembly, on the board of directors for the Alaska Municipal League and Alaska Conference of Mayors, chaired the Kodiak Mayor’s Conference, was ex-officio member of Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation, and is a retired university professor, having taught at the University of Alaska for 25 years.
In the Senate, Stevens is considered a gentleman and a left-leaning moderate, who has voted against a full Permanent Fund dividend over the past six years, since the Legislature started cutting the dividend. He is one of the only incumbent republicans who has endorsed Sen. Lisa Murkowski for Senate.
