Government

WASHINGTON — We’re only one month into election year 2026 and it’s already clear that the incumbents in Alaska’s federal races have a lot of money to defend their seats.

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan raised nearly $7.5 million last year, according to his latest campaign finance report.

“We’re feeling incredibly strong about where our campaign is,” campaign spokesperson Nate Adams said. “Our fundraising is on track, and our support continues to grow.”

The campaign of Democratic challenger Mary Peltola is also touting its fundraising success. Peltola has only been in the race a few weeks and hasn’t had to disclose her contributions yet. But a Peltola campaign press release says she raked in $1.5 million on the first day after she announced. The campaign declined an interview request.

Campaign strategist Jim Lottsfeldt, who led a 2020 group that tried to unseat Sullivan, said the senator’s $7.5 million actually doesn’t give him much of a head start.

“Mary Peltola is in the middle of a money bomb, and she will raise every bit of that and more, and I think ultimately outspend Dan Sullivan,” Lottsfeldt said.

The U.S. Senate race is, so far anyway, a referendum on how people feel about President Trump, he said, and money doesn’t tell the whole story.

“The problem with money in this race is there’s going to be so much of it that most people will shoot their TVs and their computers,” he said. “And I’m not sure how it’s going to all get spent in a way that actually is effective.”

In the U.S. House race, Congressman Nick Begich’s campaign raised $3.2 million last year. Paul Smith, a consultant to the Begich campaign, said that’s an Alaska record for a U.S. House race in a non-election year.

“We feel really good about it and are proud of the start that he has to this election cycle, on the fundraising side,” Smith said.

Democratic challenger Matt Schultz, an Anchorage pastor, filed to run against Begich in October. He reported contributions of $300,000 by year’s end.

Schultz campaign manager Mai Linh McNicholas, said it’s a good foundation, with contributions from more than 2,000 people. She said Schultz set a fundraising record, too.

“It’s the most that any first-time candidate has raised, in an off-year, for this seat in Alaska,” she said.

An Independent candidate is also running for U.S. House — fisherman and retired educator Bill Hill. He hasn’t had to file a campaign finance report yet but his team says he’s raised, like Schultz, more than $300,000, and he did so in his first week.

The reports show Sullivan and Begich, like most incumbents, get significant money from Political Action Committees affiliated with corporations, trade associations and political groups. About half of their 2025 contribution totals are from individuals. The rest largely came from PACs, or “other authorized committees.”

A $300 million project to build a new Coast Guard base in Juneau for the icebreaker Storis likely will not be complete until at least 2029, the service’s top admiral said in a U.S. Senate hearing last week.

The Commandant of the Coast Guard, Adm. Kevin Lunday, testified Thursday in front of the U.S. Senate’s subcommittee on Coast Guard, Maritime, and Fisheries, chaired by Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska.

During the hearing, Sullivan pushed Lunday on his timeline for work in Alaska. Congress approved almost $25 billion earlier this year for new Coast Guard construction, including hundreds of millions for work in Alaska.

In August, the Coast Guard commissioned the icebreaker Storis, a converted oilfield services ship, at a ceremony in Juneau. The Storis will be based in Juneau, the Coast Guard has said, but not until new facilities are built.

“Are we on time, on schedule?” Sullivan asked.

“We’re moving quickly to be able to execute that funding and have that pier and infrastructure there ready by 2029,” Lunday said.

The Coast Guard had previously said its target was 2028.

“They’ve talked about 2028 before with regard to Juneau and the Storis,” Sullivan said in a phone call with reporters afterward. “He did mention 2029, but part of my job is to make sure we have the money, make sure they make the decisions early, and impress them in oversight hearings like this, to get them to keep their timelines if they put them out there, but also try to move them closer in.”

Lunday was only recently confirmed to his position after President Donald Trump controversially fired Adm. Linda Fagan after the start of his term.

Sullivan said it’s only natural for a new appointee to play it safe.

“I think the default position is to be a little conservative on the timelines,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan also pressed Lunday on his plans for a series of new icebreakers the Coast Guard intends to build in coming years.

Sullivan has been campaigning to have several medium icebreakers based in Alaska in addition to the Storis. Lunday was evasive when Sullivan asked him when he would make a decision and whether he would choose Alaska.

“As (my team) develop options, one of the first ones that I want them to present among a range of options for consideration … is for homeporting of up to four icebreakers in Alaska,” Lunday said. “Although we are still pending a decision, that’s clear guidance I’ve given to the team.”

Afterward, Sullivan said he tried to pin Lunday down on the issue because he sees it as important.

“I love the Coast Guard, but I have had real issues with how slow they are,” he said.

While Lunday didn’t make a firm commitment, Sullivan said he viewed the day as “progress.” Sullivan said he wants to see the ships in Alaska because basing them here has an economic benefit that he termed “a virtuous cycle” — the ships create demand for local shipyard work and stores to sell things to the Coast Guard, members of the Coast Guard and their families.

Housing any new arrivals remains an unsolved issue, he noted. Communities throughout Alaska are experiencing critical shortages of housing and child care.

“In almost every community, housing is an issue, and it’s an issue throughout the whole state,” he said.

“This is where we need to get the state, the cities, the boroughs also, to come to the table and say, ‘Hey, we have land here that we can provide. … We have financing that we can help incentivize housing,’” Sullivan said.

He said the Coast Guard is contributing financially for housing, but that he has encouraged elected officials to look for ways to ease the issue.

The Trump administration has denied Alaska’s request for full reimbursement for disaster relief efforts immediately following last October’s devastating Western Alaska storms, despite the Dunleavy administration’s claim that the federal disaster declaration meant the state would be fully reimbursed.

That leaves the state on the hook for millions of dollars for disaster recovery, however the full amount is still unknown.

The state’s request for federal support for 100% of disaster relief efforts in the first 90 days after the storms hit was denied on Dec. 20, according to a spokesperson for the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management on Thursday.

The state appealed the denial on Jan. 15, and asked for a 90% federal cost reimbursement, but has not yet gotten a response from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“We have not heard back from FEMA on approval or denial and there is no timeframe requirement,” said Jeremy Zidek, public information officer for the division, by email.

A spokesperson for Dunleavy’s office did not respond to a list of questions, but confirmed the appeal on Friday. “An appeal has been filed and the administration will await the federal government’s decision,” said Jeff Turner, Dunleavy’s communications director.

In the meantime, the federal government is reimbursing Alaska’s disaster recovery efforts at roughly 75%, leaving the state to cover 25% of its costs, with some exceptions for certain relief programs, Zidek said.

Following the West Coast storm disaster in October, Dunleavy quickly declared a state disaster emergency. On Oct. 22, his office announced that the Trump administration approved the state’s request for a federal disaster declaration, and the state’s full costs would be covered immediately following the storms.

“President Trump was deeply concerned with the wellbeing of Alaskans who lost their homes and livelihoods to this historic storm,” Dunleavy said in a statement along with the announcement. “I want to thank him and his administration for approving the disaster declaration because now Alaskan families have local, state and federal support for rebuilding their lives in the months ahead.”

“The federal disaster declaration authorizes a 100 percent federal cost share for all categories of relief assistance for the next 90 days,” the statement said.

Dunleavy’s office did not respond to questions about his previous statement or whether his office had communication from the Trump administration about why the request was denied.

Alaska’s Republican U.S. congressional delegation applauded the federal disaster declaration and Trump’s support for the Western Alaska disaster response last year. All three members said through spokespeople Friday that they support the state’s appeal.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has been actively engaged with FEMA and state officials throughout the disaster relief efforts, said her communications director, Joe Plesha, in a statement on Friday. “Alaska’s vast geography and many rural communities make disaster response more challenging and recovery efforts significantly more costly,” he said. “She supports the state’s appeal and will work to secure the maximum amount of federal support available to Alaskans who have suffered so much from this devastating storm.”

A spokesperson for U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, Amanda Coyne, said the senator has advocated for the 100% federal cost share, as well as organized a delegation of FEMA and other Trump administration officials to visit Western Alaska.

“Given the severity of the storm and its devastating impacts on communities in Western Alaska, Senator Sullivan believes an increased federal cost share is warranted,” Coyne said. “He will continue strongly advocating with FEMA and other senior officials in the Trump Administration for an increased federal cost share as the state’s appeal goes through the process.”

A spokesperson for Alaska’s lone U.S. Representative, Nick Begich III, said on Friday that he supports the appeal and will continue to advocate for those impacted by Typhoon Halong at the Congressional level. “Our office is in communication with the Administration to ensure recovery efforts in Western Alaska remain a priority,” spokesperson Silver Prout wrote.

Western Alaska storm recovery is ongoing

The Western Alaska storms and particularly ex-Typhoon Halong brought record-breaking winds and flooding — damaging thousands of structures, roads, boardwalks, airports and other critical infrastructure. It prompted the state’s largest mass evacuation of residents from their homes to other villages, Bethel and Anchorage.

While some Western Alaska residents are continuing to rebuild through the winter, other residents who evacuated to Anchorage are living in temporary housing. As of Thursday, the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management reports that 471 residents are still sheltering in hotels in Anchorage.

The state is administering public assistance programs, which reimburse costs of repairing public infrastructure and utilities, as well as provide individual disaster assistance, in partnership with other agencies, including FEMA.

FEMA has awarded $31.2 million in individual assistance to date, Zidek said.

More than 2,000 residents have been awarded state individual assistance, and 1,794 households have registered for federal assistance from FEMA.

Those applications for state and federal assistance are still open until Feb. 20.

State disaster relief funding under debate

The state’s disaster relief funding is a point of ongoing debate among lawmakers and the governor, as they kick off discussion of Dunleavy’s proposed $7.75 million budget and its $1.5 billion deficit.

Last year, legislators approved $23.3 million in state disaster relief funds, but Dunleavy vetoed $10.3 million of that sum last summer, leaving $13 million in the budget. In November, following the federal government shutdown, Dunleavy announced a state disaster to help provide food aid, transferring $10 million to the state’s disaster relief funding from the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Village Safe Water and Wastewater Infrastructure program.

This year, the governor has requested an additional $40 million in the state’s supplemental budget, which is a routine ask for additional money to pay the state’s bills for the previous year.

Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, a co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, didn’t mince words about the governor’s back and forth with disaster spending. “Ill-advised and foolish,” he said. “It makes no sense what he did to me, frankly, and it’s embarrassing for him, his veto.”

But Stedman said he hopes the state’s federal appeal is approved, and expects legislators to pass the governor’s request for the additional $40 million. “Obviously, 100% is better than 90 and 90 is better than 75,” Stedman said of the federal cost share. “So that’s pretty much a given there. But we will fund the disaster request as the governor puts it on the table, through next week’s amendments.”

Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, also a member of the Senate Finance Committee, commended the governor for his record on disaster response, and echoed hope for the appeal to move forward. “There’s no question in my mind that this is exactly what the federal disaster relief programs exist for. So I think the governor’s request was the right thing, and if it came back at less than full funding from the feds, that’s the wrong call,” Kiehl said.

Kiehl described the state’s fiscal picture, with rising costs and ongoing debates on how to raise more revenues, as “bleak.” “So there isn’t cash just sitting around for disaster assistance,” he said. “We have to step up for western Alaska financially. That’s going to stink, but we have to do it, as far as I’m concerned.”

A typical cost share between the federal government and a state for disaster relief efforts is a 75% federal and 25% state cost split.

“We have dozens of federal declared disasters we are currently working on that have the 75/25 cost share structure,” said Zidek, with agency. “Large disasters are occasionally given a modified cost share structure adjustment, but it is not guaranteed. When we have a large disaster, we ask for modification to reduce the amount of state funding needed because as managers of state funds it is the responsible thing to do.”

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Friday passed a bill funding the departments of Defense, Health, Labor and Transportation, among others, with both Alaska senators voting yes.

Still, hours later, at 8 p.m. Alaska time, funding will lapse for those departments, comprising much of the government. The U.S. House still has to pass the bill, and House members don’t return to the Capitol until Monday.

The shutdown, or lapse in funding, could last just one weekday. That would be minimal compared to the 43-day shutdown in 2025, the longest in U.S. history.

Nonetheless, the Office of Management and Budget says it will follow its usual shutdown practices.

Unless they’re told otherwise, all federal employees who would normally report to work on Monday should still go, according to the OMB’s plans. It’s standard practice on the first weekday after a funding lapse for federal workers to be on duty to launch the orderly shutdown procedures.

Then, if the shutdown continues, agencies are expected to notify their employees if they are essential and have to come to work, or if they will be put on furlough.

This time, the impact on Alaskans will be more limited than the shutdown last fall, because Congress has already funded many departments for the rest of the fiscal year. Those include NOAA and the departments of Commerce, Interior, Justice and Veterans Affairs.

Democrats held up a funding bill for the Department of Homeland Security. They demanded reforms to curb the kind of harsh immigration enforcement tactics deployed in Minneapolis, where agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens.

Now, Congress and the White House have two weeks to reach an agreement on what those reforms will be. Both of Alaska’s senators say they support some type of reform.

The Alaska House of Representatives passed a bill Friday that would tighten residency requirements for Alaskans buying hunting or fishing licenses.

House Bill 93 aims to ensure that only people who spend enough time each year in Alaska to qualify for a Permanent Fund dividend can buy resident hunting and fishing licenses, which tend to cost less and offer higher bag limits than nonresident licenses.

State law currently limits resident licenses to people who are physically present in Alaska with no plans to leave, do not claim residency in another state and have maintained a home in the state for 12 consecutive months. But it does not require that resident hunters and fishermen actually live in the state for a full year.

Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, a Sitka independent who sponsored the bill, said that definition leaves a big loophole.

“The last point means that we allow someone who rents a room in a home from friends, or someone who has a liveaboard boat that’s on a trailer but actually is in the state for less than a month — less than two months, potentially less than a week — to hunt and fish and enjoy the higher bag limits that are reserved for residents who are here year-round, shoveling snow, volunteering in their communities and putting their kids in our schools,” Himschoot said.

Himschoot’s bill seeks to close that loophole. If the bill becomes law, Alaskans would have to be physically present in the state for at least 180 days each year to get resident licenses, though there would still be numerous exemptions, including for military servicemembers, students and others allowed to be outside the state while remaining eligible for Permanent Fund dividends.

In some cases, people ineligible for dividends would still be eligible for resident hunting and fishing licenses. For example, new Alaskans moving to the state would be eligible for resident licenses 12 months after they arrive. Permanent Fund dividend eligibility rules generally require new residents to live for an entire calendar year in the state, from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, before applying for a dividend.

People who do not qualify for a resident license would have the option to buy a nonresident license instead.

The deputy director of the Alaska Wildlife Troopers, who enforce fish and game laws, told a House committee in 2024 that the current definition makes it difficult to prosecute people who violate the residency requirements. By contrast, state prosecutors often bring charges against people who fraudulently apply for Permanent Fund dividends.

“The problem is that our enforcement officers don’t have the right tools,” said Rep. Donna Mears, an Anchorage Democrat.

A wide range of local governments, tribes and fish and game advisory committees spread across the state backed the bill.

Twelve House Republicans opposed the bill, including Big Lake Rep. Kevin McCabe, who said he was concerned the bill would exclude some Alaskans from the benefits of a resident license.

“What about those pilots that have vacation homes elsewhere, that would like to go spend two months in Hawaii, say, and then they have to fly out of state for 15 days a month?” McCabe said.

The bill, however, had broad support and passed with a bipartisan two-thirds majority in favor.

“Is there a problem? I think that we all acknowledge there is,” said Rep. Dan Saddler, an Eagle River Republican. “Is this a solution? I think it is. Is it the perfect solution? No, it’s not. But we don’t deal in perfect and ideal. We do what’s best and what we can do.”

The bill now heads to the Senate, which passed a similar bill in 2024.

“An Alaskan is and always will be an Alaskan,” Himschoot said. “But if you live outside Alaska, and you enjoy those lower prices at the grocery store and other costs of living that are much reduced compared to what we experience here in Alaska — if that is you, we ask you to please hunt, fish and trap as a nonresident.”

Some storefront owners in Juneau spoke out against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or shuttered their doors Friday as part of the nationwide general strike following recent killings in Minneapolis. 

Downtown, small businesses including Drip Drop Wonder Shop, Liaise Studio and Alaska Robotics Gallery closed, joining businesses across the country protesting ICE. 

Aaron Suring is co-owner of Alaska Robotics Gallery, a game and book shop. He said he participated in the strike because he wants to see ICE defunded. 

“There’s limited things that we can do so far away from what’s happening in Minneapolis, and we wanted to show our support in what way we could,” he said. 

He said he thinks joining the nationwide response can raise awareness and lead to action. Across the country, people are refraining from attending school, going to work or spending money in solidarity with those impacted by ICE. 

Some Juneau stores that remained open took a stance against ICE in other ways. 

Kindred Post, a gift shop and post office downtown, posted on social media that 25% of its revenue between Friday and Sunday will be donated to the International Rescue Committee in support of immigrants and refugees. 

Travis Smith, co-owner of The Rookery Cafe and In Bocca al Lupo, said he decided to keep the restaurants open because he can’t afford to close. But he encouraged patrons to pay in cash. 

“We’re going to basically take what would have been the credit card processing fees that we’re not paying, since people are paying in cash, and then we’re going to match that amount as a donation,” he said. 

He said that will amount to 6% of their sales from the day, which they plan to donate to funds on Stand With Minnesota, a directory aimed at supporting people impacted by ICE in the state. 

“The reality is that our businesses both rely upon immigrants, our communities are built on them,” he said. 

Smith called the ICE raids “atrocious” and said the U.S. should not allow masked officers to kill people. 

Across the street, a chalkboard sign stands in front of Bustin’ Out Boutique.

“It says, ‘fight fascism, not your bra.’ We’re just a full-service bra-fitting store,” said Hollis Kitchin, owner of the boutique. She said she’s been using the sign to speak out against the current administration since President Donald Trump’s inauguration last year. 

She said she couldn’t afford to close for the day, but set up a snack and tea station in her shop to create a welcoming space for protestors. 

Kitchin said she’s a descendant of people who immigrated to the U.S. to escape fascism before World War II and the issue is close to her heart. 

“I have friends in Minnesota that are afraid to leave their houses because they’re not white, they’re carrying their passports and stuff with them,” she said. “It’s just disturbing and horrifying.”

The response from local business owners comes after organizers hosted an anti-ICE rally Thursday and a recent vigil remembering Alex Pretti and Renee Good Sunday. Another anti-ICE is planned for Friday evening starting at 5 p.m. at the whale statue. 

Correction: This story has been updated to correct when Hollis Kitchin’s family migrated.