By SUZANNE DOWNING
April 26, 2026 – Sen. Cathy Giessel may be heading into the most consequential political fight of her career.
Word is circulating among Anchorage political circles that Rep. Chuck Kopp is being encouraged to challenge her for the South Anchorage Senate seat (Seat E under the current map) setting up a potential Republican-on-Republican clash that would center on one defining issue: energy.
If that challenge materializes, it wouldn’t be a cheap or inconsequential race. It could make or break the gasline.
Kopp, the House Majority Leader representing District 10, has been steadily building relationships with organized labor while carrying one of their top priorities — the push to restore defined benefit pensions for public employees. At the same time, he has aligned himself firmly with efforts to advance a long-stalled Alaska gasline project, seeing it as essential to jobs, affordability, and long-term economic stability for Alaskans.
That combination — labor backing plus a pro-development energy stance — could make him a formidable contender.
Giessel, meanwhile, has taken a markedly different path on the gasline.
Gasline foe Giessel rolls out new version of bill that could kill AK-LNG project
As reported in The Alaska Story, she has advanced legislation critics argue would slow or potentially derail the Alaska LNG project, reinforcing a perception among some Alaskans and industry watchers that she has become a central obstacle to getting North Slope gas to market. Whether that characterization is fair or not, it has stuck — and in politics, perception often carries more weight than nuance.
The contrast between the two Republicans is hard to miss.
Giessel cements her role as face of resistance to Alaska LNG project
Kopp is positioning himself as aligned with working families, focused on lowering energy costs, supporting large-scale infrastructure, and partnering with labor to bring projects online. His message has been to develop Alaska’s own resources, create jobs, and reduce the cost of living.
Giessel’s approach has raised concerns among those who believe Alaska cannot afford further delays. With Cook Inlet gas supplies tightening and utilities warning about future shortages, the question of whether to develop in-state resources or rely more heavily on imports is no longer theoretical.
The nuts fall from the crazy tree, as Sen. Giessel tries to kill Alaska’s gasline
And that is where this race, if it happens, will likely be decided: Affordability.
South Anchorage voters are not immune to the pressure of high energy costs and broader inflation. A campaign that boils down to “develop our own gas and lower costs” versus “make the Legislature the committee that runs the gasline project” is one that cuts straight to the daily concerns of households.
Behind the scenes, political operatives are already gaming it out. A Kopp candidacy would almost certainly draw financial and organizational support from labor groups eager to back a candidate who has championed their pension priorities and job-creating infrastructure projects. Giessel, as Senate Majority Leader, has over $90,000 in the bank for her reelection bid, but she’s losing the support of unions that once were her big backers.
Both are Republicans. Both hold powerful leadership positions. And both represent overlapping visions of where the party and the state should go next.
If Kopp enters the race, it will be a referendum on Alaska’s energy future.
Nurse Giessel prescribes doubt for Alaska LNG project
Do Alaskans double down on developing their own resources and pushing major projects like a gasline forward? Or do they accept a more socialist-Giessel approach that could include importing energy to meet near-term needs?
For many voters in Senate District E, the answer will come down to a simple question: Which path leads to lower costs and greater security for their families? If the chatter around town turns into a real campaign, South Anchorage may soon heat up, with Democrats lining up to keep Cathy Giessel in the Senate, and Republicans all of a sudden embracing Chuck Kopp.
Suzanne Downing is founder and editor of The Alaska Story and is a longtime Alaskan.
8 thoughts on “Suzanne Downing: Will there be a south Anchorage showdown for Senate Seat E?”
I beg to differ Suzanne, but neither of them are anything close to conservative or Republican..
Call a spade a spade, their both Democrats. Exactly like Rep Louise Stutes and “undeclared” Bryce Edgmon, both pawns of the trawl industry.
Your assessment is correct Willy. The difference will be on how much hate generates votes against turncoat Cathy – who in fairy tale language, “once upon a time” – was a reasonably conservative pro-life Republican. Kopp hasn’t declared… yet. Suzanne shares our excitement at the possibility of dethroning a traitor and wants to get that process started asap, even if it just means trading the lesser of two evils to get it done. And don’t get too cozy with Kopp – he will likely have a short shelf life.
” lesser of two weevils” H/T Patrick O’ Brian
A “showdown” for Senate Seat-E? It’ll depend upon voter turnout.
How much more BS and pain voters going to put up with?
It’s anyone but Greasy Giessel in my book, even though I don’t like Chuck Kopp much. I’ll look forward to seeing his announcement.
There is not any difference between the two of them; they are feathers of the same bird but Kopp is just as Geissel looking to feather his own nest. Its what Alaska voters of his district want both of them: a return to a pension benefit system for state employees and natural resource development and honestly the district neighbors can’t afford not to have a gasline built if they want to continue staying on Alaska and living their Alaska dream with comfort and style
My relatives that work for the SOA would like a return to a SOA retirement system. I tell them the pipeline is operating at 25%. Fill the pipeline with oil, and build the gas line. Then the SOA will be able to afford a defined retirement plan. It is a rather simple equation. So all SOA employees should be banging away at the drill baby drill drum, along with singing the build baby build song.
This can’t be the same Chuck Kopp, who:
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2 years ago, won the dubious title of “Sen. Cathy Giessel” Republican, who can’t be trusted to hold the line on spending, who threatened Rep. Johnson in 2024, saying if he didn’t vote for Sen. Giessel’s defined benefits bill for state employees, Kopp would run against him,
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worked on the campaign of former Gov. Bill Walker, an opponent of Republicanism,
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who was endorsed in 2024 by Rep. Zack Fields, hardest of the hard left in the Alaska House,
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was Governor Palin’s Public Safety commissioner, but was forced to resign when a sexual-harassment scandal followed him from his time as Kenai police chief,
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was a House staffer, one of the architects of Senate Bill 91, the catch-and-release, soft-on-crime bill.
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supports ranked choice voting (RCV) effectively removing choice in the election process,
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consistently voted to reduce PFD’s, while supporting more government spending,
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supports return of a defined-benefit plan for public employees which may bankrupt the state because it guarantees fixed lifetime payouts based on salary and years of service, regardless of state revenue, even though the discontinued defined benefits program is $8 billion in the hole.
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(https://mustreadalaska.com/hes-back-for-more-former-rep-chuck-kopp-files-against-rules-chair-rep-craig-johnson/)
(https://mustreadalaska.com/michael-tavoliero-hey-chuck-kopp-fool-me-once-shame-on-you-fool-me-twice-shame-on-me/)
(https://mustreadalaska.com/strange-bedfellows-chuck-kopp-endorsed-by-hard-leftist-rep-zack-fields-for-house-seat/)
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Hell of a showdown coming if King Kopp shows up with a résumé like this, no?
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Kopp apparently can’t, or won’t, answer simple questions about his gasline, answers which, for something this big, you’d think the boy or his buyers would already have. Questions you’d find, for example, at https://thealaskastory.com/brett-huber-when-did-alaskas-can-do-spirit-get-sandbagged-by-whataboutism/#comment-8402.