Five candidates filed for local legislative seats as deadline approaches

With the filing deadline about a week away, a handful of candidates have officially entered the primary races for the Alaska House and Senate seats that represent the Susitna Valley.

Senate Seat E, which was occupied by Mike Dunleavy until earlier this year, has three Republicans vying for the nomination. Senator Mike Shower is serving the remainder of Dunleavy’s term after being appointed by Governor Bill Walker and approved by Senate Republicans. Shower is running to retain that seat in the August primary.

His opponents, as of now, also currently hold office. Representative George Rauscher serves District 9 in the House of Representatives, and is looking to make the move to the Senate. Randall Kowalke currently serves on the Mat-Su Borough Assembly, and is also running in the Republican primary. Kowalke was selected by Governor Walker to replace Dunleavy at one point, but Senate Republicans rejected his appointment on the grounds that he was not on the shortlist provided by the party. No Democrats have filed to run for Senate Seat E according to the Alaska Division of Elections.

Two candidates, a Republican and a Democrat, have filed for the primary in House District 10.

Incumbent Representative David Eastman has filed for the Republican primary, and former Mat-Su Borough School Board member Neal Lacy has filed for the Democratic primary. Patricia Faye-Brazel, who ran in 2016, has filed paperwork with the Alaska Public Office Commission to run for office this year, but she is not yet listed on the Division of Elections website.

As of Wednesday, no candidates have filed to run independently outside of the primary system. Of note is the fact that, for the first time, independent candidates will be allowed to run in the Democratic primary this year. Primary election day is August 21^st.