Photo credit: PSL Anchorage
By SUZANNE DOWNING
Sept. 15, 2026 – The Anchorage chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation is shutting down, just days after one of its organizers helped launch an effort to recall Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance.
“Effective immediately PSL Anchorage will cease operations,” the organization announced Monday on social media. “All current local organizers are moving on to other projects, where they will continue the struggle.”
The abrupt announcement comes a little more than a week after The Alaska Story reported that longtime PSL organizer Michael Patterson was serving as the media contact for the campaign to recall LaFrance.
The recall group submitted its application and initial sponsor signatures to the Anchorage Municipal Clerk on Sept. 3. The clerk verified the sponsors as qualified Anchorage voters that day, but that preliminary step did not authorize the group to begin collecting signatures.
The municipality has until Oct. 5 to determine whether the allegations against LaFrance constitute legally sufficient grounds for recall.
The application accuses LaFrance of failing to perform duties required under Anchorage Municipal Code. It alleges that annual reports concerning the municipal government’s use of drones, facial-recognition programs and other surveillance technology were not submitted to the Anchorage Assembly and posted publicly by the required deadlines.
If the application is certified, organizers would have 60 days to collect signatures equal to 25% of the votes cast for mayor in the most recent regular election.
It is unclear whether PSL Anchorage’s shutdown will affect the recall campaign. The recall organization has operated under the separate name “Recall Mayor LaFrance,” while Patterson was listed as its media contact.
The socialist group said its organizers are moving to two other organizations: Empowerment Advocate Alaska and the Anchorage Tenants Union.
Empowerment Advocate Alaska will continue the campaign for “civilian oversight” of the Anchorage Police Department and the creation of a municipal inspector general, according to the announcement. The Anchorage Tenants Union will “start to ramp building tenant power in Anchorage.”
The PSL Anchorage Facebook page is scheduled to be deactivated Sept. 21.
Despite its name, PSL was not a recognized political party under Alaska election law. The Anchorage organization operated primarily as a small protest and advocacy group rather than an electoral party fielding candidates.
The national Party for Socialism and Liberation was established in 2004 following a split within the Workers World Party. It describes itself as a revolutionary socialist organization seeking to replace capitalism with socialism. Its national website declares that “capitalism must end.”
The Anchorage chapter emerged around 2020, initially describing itself as a “pre-branch.” Patterson, an East Anchorage activist and former Army member, was frequently identified as one of its founders and most visible organizers. The group was never sanctioned as a chapter by the national party.
PSL Anchorage first attracted broad public attention during the protests following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. It led demonstrations outside Anchorage Police Department headquarters and presented local officials with 13 demands.
Those demands included defunding the police, disarming officers, banning the use of tear gas and flash-bang devices, creating civilian oversight through neighborhood councils, decriminalizing certain drug and sex-work offenses and expanding housing for homeless residents.
The group also demanded that authorities reopen the investigation into the February 2020 police shooting of Lufilufilimalelei “Daelyn” Polu. Although PSL Anchorage supported the Black Lives Matter movement, organizers said it was not formally affiliated with the national BLM organization.
In subsequent years, the organization expanded its work into housing and homelessness. In 2021, it helped organize the “Say No to Bronsonville” protest against then-Mayor Dave Bronson’s proposed mass homeless shelter. Demonstrators advocated placing homeless residents in vacant apartments and hotel rooms instead.
The group also served meals at the Sullivan Arena, protested rising rents, participated in public forums on housing and promoted transgender participation in sports.
PSL Anchorage protested LaFrance’s inauguration in July 2024, demanding the release of police body-camera footage and the creation of a civilian police-oversight body. Two years later, an organizer associated with the group helped initiate the effort to remove her from office.
After the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel, PSL Anchorage organized pro-Palestinian events, promoted the slogan “From the river to the sea” and urged the Anchorage Assembly to pass a ceasefire resolution. The organization described the Hamas-led attack as a “historic new counteroffensive” by Palestinian resistance.
More recently, its efforts centered on opposing federal immigration enforcement. PSL Anchorage helped launch the Anchorage Rapid Response Network to document immigration operations, train observers and operate a hotline. Members protested outside the Anchorage Correctional Complex, where federal immigration detainees have been held under an agreement with the state, and at Department of Homeland Security offices.
The chapter remained small, generally drawing dozens rather than hundreds of participants, but maintained a visible presence among Anchorage’s left-wing activist organizations for about six years.
