At their first candidate forum since the Aug. 18 primary election, the top four gubernatorial hopefuls pitched their visions for the state’s future, revealing sharp political divides.
Speaking at the Alaska Oil and Gas Association annual conference in Anchorage on Aug. 26 were Democrats Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and Tom Begich and Republicans Bernadette Wilson and Dave Bronson.
Kreiss-Tomkins was leading in the primary election vote count as of Aug. 28, with 22.5%, followed by Begich at 20.8%, Wilson at 10% and Bronson at 8.1%.
On Aug. 28, however, Begich announced he was suspending his campaign and endorsed Kreiss-Tomkins, which would allow the fifth-place finisher in the primary to move up to fourth place and run in the November general election.
Kreiss-Tomkins, Begich, Wilson and Bronson emerged as the top vote-getters in the primary among 17 candidates for governor. Alaska’s election system uses open, non-partisan primaries and ranked-choice voting of the four finalists in the general election.
Kreiss-Tomkins and Begich, both former state legislators, presented mostly similar positions at the oil industry forum. Wilson, a talk-show host, and Bronson, a former Anchorage mayor, also presented largely similar positions that contrasted with the Democrats’ views.
Oil and gas taxes figured prominently in the event.
Both Democrats told the petroleum industry audience that they favored changes that would bring the state more revenues from oil producers. Their plans include a state corporate income tax on privately held oil producers the same as the state taxes publicly owned corporations such as Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips.
The main company affected by such a tax would be Hilcorp, a privately held company based in Texas that is a major Alaska producer. As of 2020, Hilcorp had acquired all of BP’s Alaska assets when that oil giant left the state. Unlike BP, Hilcorp pays no corporate income tax to the state. Legislative leaders have been pushing to change that.
Begich said the expanded state corporate income tax changes to the state’s oil production tax system would bring in an additional $400 million to the treasury each year.
He acknowledged that the oil industry crowd might not like those changes at first. But ultimately, “it will be forward-thinking for private investment,” he said. “If we have that revenue coming in, we can improve our education system. We can improve our economy in general and make our energy significantly more affordable up here. In doing that, you’re going to attract people to this state.”
Kreiss-Tomkins said all sectors, including the oil industry, will have to contribute taxes to correct a structural deficit problem in Alaska that, for now, threatens to wipe out the state’s savings.
“I am pro-math, and math just doesn’t lie. And balancing a budget is ultimately a math problem, and I think you have to be clear-eyed about where the state is,” he said. Compromises will be needed to address that, including compromises from the oil industry, he added.
Wilson and Bronson, in contrast, said they adamantly oppose tax changes that would wring more revenue out of the oil industry.
Wilson called for deep slashes to the state budget.
“We do not have a revenue problem in this state. We have a spending problem in this state,” she said.
“The reality is we need to come into this budget, and we need to DOGE the heck out of it,” she said, referring to the mass firings and cuts imposed by the Trump administration through the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.
Bronson said Alaska has made too many changes over the years to its oil and gas tax system, and that “changing the rules of the game and the tax structure midway through” scares off investment.
Kreiss-Tomkins and Begich criticized Dunleavy, describing his policies as a major reason why Alaska has had more people leave the state than move to it for 13 consecutive years — the most ever recorded. They were particularly critical of his policies on education.
Under Dunleavy, they said, Alaska has stagnated.
“This governor has just set a record for the most number of vetoes by any governor in Alaska history since we became a state,” Kreiss-Tomkins said. “That is a sign of political failure, not political success.”
Candidates also discussed national politics at the forum. The two Republican candidates aligned themselves with President Donald Trump, and they portrayed themselves as hard-liners.
“I’m a hardcore conservative, and I’m proud of that,” said Bronson, who described the differences between candidates as stark.
Wilson said the biggest danger to the state came from two of the three men who shared the stage with her.
“The greatest policy threat is, God forbid, this state elects a Democrat to this governor’s office.” she said. Wilson said Democratic Party policies regarding oil and gas “are the greatest threat to this industry.” She urged the audience to stick with Republicans and take advantage of the last two years of the Trump administration.
In contrast, the two Democrats emphasized consensus-building.
Kreiss-Tomkins spoke of his time serving in a bipartisan coalition in the Legislature that “set aside the more fringe and polarizing issues that I think often bring government and the legislature to a standstill” and prevent progress.
“That is a North Star principle for me … trying to find compromise, trying to work from a common-sense, common-ground agenda and get things done to move the state forward,” he said.
The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization, online at Alaskabeacon.com.
