By SUZANNE DOWNING
May 28, 2026 – Bryce Edgmon, the veteran lawmaker from Dillingham who has spent nearly two decades in the Alaska House and currently serves as Speaker, is making a move to the Alaska Senate rather than seeking reelection to his House seat.
Edgmon announced he will run for the Senate seat being vacated by longtime Sen. Lyman Hoffman, who earlier this year said he would not seek another term. The Senate district covers a vast swath of western and southwest Alaska and has long been represented by Hoffman, one of the Legislature’s most influential rural Democrats.
There are four others already in the race for that seat: Darren Deacon, Wassilie Guy, Richard Robb, and Wayne Morgan.
Edgmon, who was first elected to the House in 2006 after defeating incumbent Carl Moses in a race ultimately decided by a coin toss, has become one of the most powerful figures in Juneau politics. He has served continuously since 2007 and has twice held the speaker’s gavel, first from 2017 to 2021 and again beginning in 2025. He is one of the most senior member of the Alaska House.
Although Edgmon originally served as a Democrat, he changed his voter registration several years ago to undeclared, aligning himself more with bipartisan coalition politics. He has remained closely associated with the Democrat-led coalition governing style that has dominated portions of the Legislature in recent years.
Edgmon was the first Alaska Native speaker of the House and has long emphasized rural priorities, including fisheries, subsistence rights, public safety, energy costs, education funding, and infrastructure needs in Bush Alaska communities.
Born and raised in Dillingham, Edgmon comes from a commercial fishing background He is three-sixteenths Aleut. Before entering politics, he spent more than two decades commercial fishing for salmon and herring and held several regional leadership roles, including chairman of Choggiung Ltd., the Alaska Native village corporation serving Dillingham, Ekuk, and Portage Creek.
He also served as chief operating officer of the Bristol Bay Economic Development Corporation and chaired the City of Dillingham Planning Commission.
Edgmon earned a business administration degree from the University of Alaska Anchorage after graduating from Dillingham High School.
The open House seat in District 37 is now expected to draw significant interest in the rural district, which includes parts of the Kodiak Island Borough, Aleutians East Borough, Bristol Bay, Lake and Peninsula Borough, and portions of the Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area.
9 thoughts on “Bryce Edgmon throws hat in for Senate seat for Western Alaska”
I did not know that Bryce Edgmon is three-sixteenths Aleut. On a related topic, Bernadette Wilson claims to be Alaska Native. What is her percentage and from which Alaska Native ethnic group?
Also Aleut. Member of Naknek Native Village tribal council.
“3/16 Aleut”….. oh wow! Be sure to market that all he can.
Three sixteenths Aleut. Wow. He’s more Indian than white Pocahontas from Massachusettes. Why do these people have to give their percentages of Native blood. Why not just,……full blooded Alaskan? OK, I get it. They can get their teeth fixed and diabetes under control for free. BIA money. Native Corp money. Medicaid boost through Murkowski. Fringe benefits and crying for more land acknowledgements.
A dog whistle for other Natives with a 1/8 or more Native blood to vote for him. Pretty sad actually. No more credibility to him other than his Native blood, which gets some worship by silly DEI brainwashed liberals. I doubt his IQ is much more than room temperature when stacked up against REAL competition, which is hard to find in Western Alaska. But, this is where we’re at in Alaska today. Far behind the curve in of the rest of the country, still running on Joe Biden time, searching for access in all other ways because merit, accomplishment, and mental ability is otherwise not achievable by these people.
“…….. Why do these people have to give their percentages of Native blood……….”
It’s a federal game. One eighth (two sixteenths) puts you in the game. This was the game board long before Alaska’s subsistence game, which is not racial. It’s zip code. A new game rule.
I’ve got blue eyed, blond haired Indian grandkids. They’re blonder than my Nordic wife.
Some games are fun, others are not. Depends on the cards and how they’re dealt.
Yes, Liz Warren. Stands with Indians. Land acknowledgements for votes. The ultimate Settler. Liberal sell-out.
You mean Psychogawea??
I would love to be a fly on the wall when they try to figure out fractions
Only 3/16 Native?. And getting full benefits as a Native?. I thought you had to be at least 1/4 to apply. Fuzzy math, or someone in the genealogical lineage decided to withdraw early.