By SUZANNE DOWNING
Feb. 12, 2026 – On Wednesday evening, Juneau Republicans gathered downtown for their annual Lincoln Day Dinner at the Baranof Hotel, an event that doubled this year as an early-stage forum for the party’s growing field of candidates for governor.
Roughly 130 people attended the dinner, giving activists, donors, and party regulars a chance to see many of the Republican hopefuls in the same room and get a sense of who looks ready for prime time.
You can watch the livestream at The Alaska Story on Facebook:
Rather than a “gotcha” style debate, the evening’s program leaned into the Lincoln theme and offered a straightforward forum-style format, with candidates introducing themselves, sharing priorities, and making their case to a friendly Juneau audience.
The list of gubernatorial candidates who appeared reflected just how wide open the Republican contest is shaping up to be.
Those participating included Click Bishop, Dave Bronson, Adam Crum, Edna DeVries, Matt Heilala, Shelley Hughes, James Parkin, Attorney General Treg Taylor, Bruce Walden, and Bernadette Wilson. Nancy Dahlstrom sent her regrets, as she was hosting a deaf and hard-of-hearing event on behalf of the governor.
The dinner also drew a contingent of Republican lawmakers:
Sens. Mike Cronk, Bert Stedman, Cathy Tilton, and James Kaufman, along with Reps. Sarah Vance, Rebecca Schwanke, Garrett Nelson, Steve St. Clair, Jamie Allard, Delena Johnson, Julie Coulombe, Mike Prax, Kevin McCabe, and Justin Ruffridge.
Former Juneau Mayor Ken Koelsch was also present, as were Transportation Commissioner Ryan Anderson and Labor Commissioner Cathy Munoz.
The Lincoln Day Dinner is a traditional fixture on the Republican calendar, but this year’s event carried added significance as the first opportunity for many voters in the capital city to size up the potential next governor of Alaska in one setting.
With the campaign season still in its early months, the Juneau forum served less as a showdown and more as an introduction, a chance for Republicans to take stock of a crowded field and begin sorting out who has the experience, message, and presence to lead the ticket in 2026.
3 thoughts on “Juneau Lincoln Day dinner showcases crowded GOP field for governor”
It’s worth attending the candidates’ meet and greets to ask them questions and hear their answers to others’ questions as well. Their campaign websites and FB pages showcase their positions, but if you want to get a real sense of whether or not they’re up for the job and whether or not they possess a working knowledge of the actual powers the Executive branch has to address the hot topics (pfd, trawling, election reform, financial audits and elimination of wasteful spending, etc), you need to see and hear from them in person. Candidates who respond to questions by re-stating the issues, telling us where they stand, and affirming their intent to “have a conversation about it” are not qualified for the job.
No Clicky in the Republican Party. There are already enough Democrats and turncoats disguising themselves as conservatives and moderates in Alaska politics. Click Bishop is a Democrat. Period.
I get the same feeling from Heilala