By SUZANNE DOWNING
Oct. 29, 2026 – Fairbanks City Councilman Aaron Lojewski says the man calling himself “Zane” also tried to recruit him to run against Republican US Sen. Dan Sullivan, and he has text messages documenting the outreach.
Lojewski, a conservative business owner and former Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly member, says Zane flew to Fairbanks to try to persuade him to enter the Senate race.
His account adds another prospective recruit to the unfolding story of efforts to stack Alaska’s Senate ballot. Anchorage resident Matt Salisbury has described being approached by a man using the same name, an encounter that became part of national reporting on the recruitment operation. The phone number used to reach Lojewski was an Ohio prefix, where Zane, whose real name is Jarid Kurtz, is located.
The screenshots supplied to The Alaska Story show messages dated April 25 and April 26. The sender introduces himself as a donor adviser working on an Alaska project and repeatedly seeks a meeting in Fairbanks.
“I’m a donor advisor working on a project in Alaska,” the sender wrote April 25. “I’ll be in Fairbanks this coming week and would love to catch up if you have a few minutes.”
Lojewski replied that Monday would be his last day in town for about a month.
The sender then asked whether they could get together during the latter part of Monday.
The next day, April 26, Zane followed up with a more explicit description of the financial interests he said he represented.
“To give you more detail, I work for a group of donors that financially back unique candidates,” he wrote.
He said he would be in Fairbanks late the following morning and was visiting for “a few conversations related to the 2026 elections.”
“Would love the chance to chat if you have a few minutes tomorrow,” the message continued.
Lojewski’s answer was direct:
“Probably tomorrow afternoon, I’m not running for anything though.”
The visible messages document the contact, the proposed Fairbanks meeting, and the sender’s claim to represent donors interested in financing candidates. Lojewski said the man specifically wanted him to run against Sullivan.
Portions of the sender’s identifying information are blacked out in the screenshots.
The New York Times investigation identified Democratic operative Jerid Kurtz as the man who used the name Zane in approaching Salisbury. According to that reporting, Salisbury was encouraged to enter the Senate race and was offered the prospect of outside financial support. The Peltola campaign and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee denied involvement in recruiting candidates.
Lojewski’s account places similar outreach in Fairbanks, with another conservative who already had experience campaigning and serving in public office.
He served on the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly from 2017 to 2023, including as presiding officer, and founded Fairbanks Aurora Tours in 2017. He was also the Republican nominee for Alaska House District 5 in 2016. This month, he won Fairbanks City Council Seat E in a three-way race.
The Alaska Story has reviewed the text messages from “Zane” and found them to be credibly from the same man who is the recruiter who traveled the state to stack the ballot.
