Former commissioner Annette Kreitzer enters Juneau-Skagway House race, challenging incumbent Andi Story

By SUZANNE DOWNING

June 1, 2026 – A surprise challenger has just emerged in North Juneau’s House District 3 race.

Annette Kreitzer, a longtime state government executive and former chief of staff to Lt. Gov. Loren Leman, has filed to run for the Alaska House of Representatives against incumbent Rep. Andi Story, a Democrat who has represented the district since 2019.

The district includes North Juneau, the northern Lynn Canal communities of Haines and Skagway, and surrounding sparsely populated hamlets and areas.

Kreitzer brings more than two decades of experience in Alaska state government. She began her career as a legislative aide in 1992 and went on to serve in several key positions in both the legislative and executive branches.

She worked for years in the Alaska Senate before becoming chief of staff to then-Lt. Gov. Loren Leman. Later, she was appointed commissioner of the Alaska Department of Administration under Gov. Sarah Palin and continued serving under Gov. Sean Parnell. In that role, she oversaw one of the state’s largest agencies, responsible for personnel, labor relations, retirement systems, benefits, and administrative services for roughly 15,000 state employees. She also served for a time as Alaska’s chief information officer and participated in statewide boards and commissions, including the Alaska Retirement Management Board.

After retiring from state service around 2012, Kreitzer remained active in public affairs. In 2021, she came out of retirement to become borough manager for Haines, a place where she and her husband had owned property since the late 1990s. She served in that position until resigning in June 2024 and later returned to Juneau.

Her entry into the race gives Republicans and conservatives a well-known candidate with extensive government experience in a district that has consistently elected Democrats in recent years.

Story, a retired educator, has represented the district for seven years and is closely identified with public education advocacy. Before joining the Legislature, she served on the Juneau School Board and was president of the Alaska Association of School Boards. She also helped found Great Alaska Schools, a statewide education advocacy organization that pushes for more funding for public schools, and no accountability.

In the Legislature, Story caucuses with the Democrat-led House majority. She holds a master’s degree in social work.

The filing adds another competitive race to an election cycle that is rapidly taking shape as the June 1 candidate filing deadline arrives. Across Alaska, a flurry of last-minute filings and candidate announcements are reshaping legislative and statewide contests, particularly in districts where Republicans hope to expand their numbers in the House.

Kreitzer’s challenge to Story gives voters in the Juneau-Haines-Skagway district a clear contrast between a veteran state administrator with roots in Republican administrations and an incumbent lawmaker whose political career has been centered on public education and the House majority caucus.