All three state House primary candidates will advance to general election

The Aug. 20 primary election for the state House district that covers Wrangell is a preview of the Nov. 5 general election.

All three primary election candidates to succeed Rep. Dan Ortiz in representing Ketchikan, Metlakatla and Wrangell in the House will advance to the November round under Alaska’s voting system that sends up to the top four primary finishers to the general election.

Competing for the seat are Jeremy Bynum, a Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly member and Ketchikan Public Utilities electric manager; Grant EchoHawk, also a member of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough assembly and a business loan specialist with the Tongass Federal Credit Union; and Agnes Moran, executive director of Women in Safe Homes and a former Ketchikan borough assembly member.

Bynum is a registered Republican. EchoHawk and Moran list no party affiliation.

Alaska’s switch to ranked-choice voting in 2022 eliminated political party primaries, running an open primary where the top vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the general election.

Wrangell voters can choose one between Bynum, EchoHawk and Moran for House District 1 when they cast ballots from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 20, at the Nolan Center. The area’s state senator, Bert Stedman, of Sitka, is not up for reelection until 2026.

Ortiz, who is in his 10th year in the Legislature, cited health reasons in deciding not to seek reelection.

In the November general election, voters will rank the three candidates one, two and three. The candidate who gets more than 50% of first-choice votes will win, unless no one reaches that threshold, in which case the candidate who gets more than 50% of first- and second-choice votes will win.

Moran, 64, a Ketchikan High School graduate, has lived in Alaska 45 years. She is a member of the First Bank board of directors; a board member of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority, which manages an investment portfolio that generates income to pay for mental health services in the state; and co-founded BARK Animal Rescue in Ketchikan.

EchoHawk, 49, has lived in Alaska for 19 years, in Fairbanks, Metlakatla and Ketchikan. He is board treasurer of the Ketchikan Tribal Business Corp .; served as board president of the Ketchikan public radio station; and has served on the Ketchikan Area Arts and Humanities Council, Ketchikan Wellness Coalition and Ketchikan Public Library advisory board.

Bynum, 49, has lived in Ketchikan since 2016. He has served on the University of Alaska Southeast Ketchikan Campus Advisory Council. He has a degree in electrical engineering, electronic experience in the U.S. Air Force, and serves on the board of the Southeast Alaska Power Agency, which manages the Tyee and Swan Lake hydroelectric power projects.

All three candidates support a permanent increase in the state funding formula for K-12 public schools. The base formula has not noticeably moved since 2017, despite years of inflation, squeezing school districts that depend on state funding for more than half of their operating budgets.

The Legislature and governor this year settled on a one-time boost in state funding, which means the question will be back before lawmakers next year.

Moran believes the one-year increase for the 2024-2025 school year is about half of what districts need to cover the cost of inflation since 2017.

All three candidates are strong supporters of the Alaska Marine Highway System, and all agree the state ferries need more funding to adequately serve coastal communities.

“The only way to improve the ferry system is to help other legislators around the state understand how important it is,” EchoHawk said of winning support for more funding.

Besides for more state money, Bynum believes the ferry system needs to resume service between Southeast Alaska and Prince Rupert, British Columbia. The route, which the state abandoned a few years ago, offered a lower-cost option for travelers to connect with the North American highway system than riding a ferry all the way to Puget Sound.

Moran cited the “heavy lifting” the state’s congressional delegation did to win more than $700 million in federal funding under the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for the Alaska Marine Highway System. The multi-year funding is for new vessels and operations.

The problem, she said, is the governor’s reluctance to support the state matching dollars needed to receive the federal money.