KENAI (AP) — Republican Charlie Pierce, Kenai Peninsula Borough mayor, has picked the chair of the Alaska Parole Board, Edie Grunwald, of the Matanuska Valley, to be his running mate as he campaigns for the governor’s job.
Grunwald previously ran for lieutenant governor in 2018, finishing second in that year’s Republican primary to Kevin Meyer, the current office holder.
Under a new voter-approved election system, which will be used for the first time in Alaska this year, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor will run as a team from the outset.
Grunwald said she resigned as chair of the parole board to run. She was appointed to the board by Gov. Mike Dunleavy and designated as chair in 2019. She had donated to Dunleavy’s reelection campaign before Pierce entered the race.
Pierce, a staunch conservative, announced his selection of Grunwald on March 5 at a Kenai restaurant. The borough mayor, an opponent of mask mandates during the pandemic and supporter of experimental medical treatments, has expressed dissatisfaction with the Dunleavy administration’s efforts toward paying a larger Permanent Fund dividend.
Grunwald said her decision to resign from the parole board and campaign against Dunleavy was “extremely awkward at first, but then, you know, we’re all in this to make Alaska better,” the Anchorage Daily News reported.
Dunleavy is seeking reelection but has not announced a running mate; Meyer isn’t seeking reelection.
Former Alaska Gov. Bill Walker and Heidi Drygas, both independents, and former state Rep. Les Gara and Jessica Cook, both Democrats, are among the tickets that have filed to run with the state Division of Elections. Candidates have until June 1 to file for the August primary.
Republican Rep. Christopher Kurka has said he is running with Paul Hueper. They have not yet filed with the division.
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