Site Logo

Latest politics

teaser

News

Juneau activists ask Murkowski to take action against ICE

A small group of protesters attended a rally and discussion on Wednesday.

News

Controversial political website Alaska Landmine faces defamation suit from Alaska state official

By James Brooks

Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, delivers his keynote address to approximately 40 people, most of whom are from out of state, at the end of the Bitcoin Alaska conference on Sunday. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)

News

Begich and Bitcoin fly to Juneau after passage of ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’

Protesters seek town hall with representative; he delivers keynote address at ticketed conference

U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and John Barrasso of Wyoming, both Republicans, center, walk into the Senate chamber on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. (Photo by Ashley Murray / States Newsroom)

News

Sullivan, Murkowski vote to pass Senate Republicans’ budget bill, with big health care cuts looming

U.S. House may vote as soon as Wednesday on a proposal that brings trillions of dollars in changes…

Jim Duncan, a longtime local Juneau legislator and statewide executive leader, is now retired and living in Anchorage. (Photo courtesy of Jim Duncan)

News

Former longtime Juneau lawmaker Jim Duncan reenters the political ‘Sausage Factory’

Book revisits decades of history at Alaska’s Capitol and issues that remain much the same today.

Boxes of sugary cereal, including those from General Mills, fill a store’s shelves on April 16, 2025, in Miami, Florida. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

News

US House Republican plan would force states to pay for a portion of SNAP benefits

State costs would increase with higher error rates — Alaska currently has the highest.

U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III, R-Alaska, talks with supporters during a campaign meet-and-greet Oct. 12, 2024, at the Southeast Alaska Real Estate office near the Nugget Mall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

‘This is no town hall. This is propaganda’; Begich takes heat at first virtual constituent forum

Congressman set to deliver his first joint address to the Alaska Legislature on Thursday.

Former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola speaks at the Alaska Democratic Party’s state convention on May 18, 2024, at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Report: Former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola likely to run for governor in 2026

Democrat ousted in November would likely face crowded field in open race for Alaska’s top spot.

U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., center, and Rep. Marjorie Tayler Greene, R-Ga., left, talk with fellow representatives as they arrive for the first day of the 119th Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol Building on Jan. 3, 2025 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

News

Louisiana’s Mike Johnson elected U.S. House speaker by GOP in cliffhanger vote

Nick Begich III sworn in as Alaska’s new statewide House member, votes for speaker.

Fay Herold, a delegate at the Alaska Democratic Party’s state convention, expresses concerns about a proposed change to the party’s platform on Saturday at Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Alaska Democrats gather in Juneau to make party plans for national convention in Chicago

Peltola, national party chairman among speakers; delegates get advice from protester at 1968 event.

U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat who became the first Alaska Native in Congress a year ago, discusses issues and adjusting to the national political scene on Sept. 8 as part of a three-day visit to Juneau. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

A year after surprising victory, Peltola a popular target in Congress

Spending 9/11 with Biden, being top target of GOP now part of job while dealing with family matters.

Neil Steininger, appointed director of the state Office of Management and Budget by Gov. Mike Dunleavy in 2020, testifies before the House Finance Committee at the Alaska State Capitol in January. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Governor’s budget director departing

Neil Steininger, head of OMB since 2020, latest in series of staff moves by Dunleavy.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy (right) delivers opening remarks at a bill signing event at Twin Cities Veterinary Clinic on Thursday in Soldotna. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)

News

Dunleavy signs two pharmacy bills into law during Soldotna ceremony

One new law exempts veterinarians from state’s prescription drug monitoring program.

(Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire File)

Opinion

Opinion: The question of term limits

If passed by voters, a proposed ballot initiative would limit all state legislators to serving 12 consecutive years…

Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed a two-year spending plan into law Wednesday in Madison, Wis. The budget was authored by Republicans who control the Legislature, but Evers used his partial veto powers to revise portions of it, including locking in annual education funding increases until the year 2425. (AP Photo/Harm Venhuizen)

News

Another state’s governor does a line-item veto of education funding — and increases it for 400 years

MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed off on a two-year spending plan Wednesday after gutting a…

Waterways in Southeast Alaska are seen from the air in this 2021 photo by a member of the Central Council Tlingit Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska. The Native tribe is among many in the U.S. and Canada seeking faster and more definitive action by the two countries to cleanup polluted mining sites and safeguard areas against harm from future industrial activity. Complaints about contaminated sites in some border areas, including the Tulsequah Chief mine in British Columbia about 20 miles from Alaska near Juneau, have gone largely unaddressed for many years. (Courtesy Photo / CCTHITA)

News

U.S.-Canada summit leads to renewed calls for transboundary mining cleanups

Indigenous leaders — including Rep. Peltola, U.S. and Canadian tribes — seek joint oversight of areas

Heidi Drygas, executive director of the 8,000-member Alaska State Employees Association, addresses a rally outside the Alaska State Capitol on Friday where participants protested the workforce shortage facing various agencies including the state Division of Public Assistance. Drygas on Tuesday gave qualified support to an order by Gov. Mike Dunleavy eliminating the four-year degree requirement for most state jobs, stating it is a small part of a big issue involving poor wages, benefits and morale among employees. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

Change by degrees: Dunleavy nixes college requirement for most jobs

Dunleavy nixes college requirement for most jobs; some say it fails to fix real workforce problems.

Joey Tillson, a state Division of Public Assistance employee in Ketchikan, addresses a state employees’ rally while wearing what she called a warrior hat in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Friday. Participants are trying to convince lawmakers to remedy staffing shortages allegedly caused by problems such as poor wages and poor treatment. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)

News

State employees sound the horns on food stamp crisis during rally

Staff and union leaders hope food stamp crisis gets lawmakers to remedy workforce issues, threats.

Mitchell Haldane, Sealaska’s carbon offset administrator, surveys forest land owned by the Juneau-based Alaska Native corporation that has earned more than $100 million since 2016 by putting the property into California’s carbon credits markets, which is paying to keep the land unharvested for 100 years. (Screenshot from YouTube video by Sealaska Corp.)

News

Could it be easy being — and making — green?

State, Alaska Native corporations among those who see carbon market potential, but questions remain.

Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire Katie Botz, a Juneau school bus driver honored by Gov. Mike Dunelavy for her advocacy on behalf of abuse victims, stands to applause during his recognition of her during the State of the State speech Monday night at the Alaska State Capitol.

News

‘A victory for all of us’: Juneau woman recognized among Resilient Alaskans for her advocacy

Katie Botz’s presence — and brief absence — as a victims advocate led to a big win and…