Jared Goecker, a conservative and longtime Eagle River resident, filed with the Alaska Public Offices Commission to run for State Senate for the seat now occupied by Sen. Kelly Merrick, who is also a Republican who has chosen to be part of the Democrat-dominated Senate majority caucus.
Born in Montana to an Air Force family, Goecker has lived all over the world, but has lived primarily in Eagle River.
While in college, he interned in the nation’s capital and then became the regional field director for Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, before Pence was chosen as President Donald Trump’s vice presidential pick.
In 2016, Goecker started working for Weidner Apartment Homes and volunteered on Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s campaign. He was hired by Dunleavy and eventually became the deputy director of Labor Relations, where he led negotiations with the state’s most powerful labor unions.
He joined the Municipality of Anchorage in 2022 as deputy human resource director, and said he has overcome many challenges related to a polarized political environment.
Goecker said he is pro-family and pro-life. As a father, and husband he knows how important it is to honor your word and protect those you love. The tragedy that struck the Goeckers last year, when his brother was murdered, has motivated Jared to make real changes in Alaska’s criminal justice system so other Alaskans don’t have to endure what his family has suffered.
Goecker is active in his local community council, with the District 23 Republicans, volunteers with cleaning up Eagle River trails, and serves dinner weekly at the Downtown Hope Soup Kitchen.
While he lived in Japan duking the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown, he took part in humanitarian and recovery work with his parents and Air Force Base personnel (assembled and delivered food/supply packages to stricken areas, cleaned up/sorted through rubble, visited local schools to spend time with the children traumatized from the 9.1 quake/tsunami).
His website is found at this link.
