GOP candidates for governor take on AI, Greenland and if Trump is better than Lincoln at Juneau forum
- Mark Sabbatini
- 4 hours ago
- 5 min read
Ten hopefuls mostly agree on cutting state spending, repealing ranked choice voting and not moving the Capitol during annual Lincoln Day gathering
By Mark Sabbatini
Juneau Independent
There’s general — not unanimous — agreement about keeping the capital in Juneau, not annexing Greenland and cutting state spending. There’s a wider range of opinions about uses of AI, whether judges should be elected or appointed, and how Abraham Lincoln would decide on an appropriate Permanent Fund Dividend.
Ten of the 12 GOP candidates for governor answered an array of conventional and unorthodox questions during an 80-minute forum in Juneau at the Capital City Republicans’ annual Lincoln Day dinner on Wednesday. While Abraham Lincoln as the first Republican U.S. president was referenced in many of the questions, the topics and responses frequently were about levels of support for current President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Two questions illustrated that while support is generally strong, virtually all of the candidates have their limits.
Eight of the 10 candidates answered Trump when asked to name their favorite president other than Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. Five of those eight — former paratrooper Bruce Walden, former state Attorney General Treg Taylor, former state Sen. Shelley Hughes, Matanuska-Susitna Borough Mayor Edna DeVries, and former revenue commissioner Adam Crum — said or suggested Trump is the best president ever, surpassing Lincoln and Reagan.
The dissenters were former state Sen. Click Bishop naming Teddy Roosevelt and lab technician James Parkin IV declaring "I don’t choose favorites."
Watch the debate: Livestream on Facebook by The Alaska Story
But the answers swung the other way on a question about the U.S. acquiring Greenland, which one of the forum’s emcees — Murray Walsh, a Juneau district chair for the state Republican party — quipped was "disappointing." Walsh, who wrote the question, called the acquisition comparable to the purchase of Alaska from Russia negotiated by William Seward — Lincoln’s secretary of state — and asked if Alaska should "help the U.S. government figure out what to do in Greenland?"
DeVries was the only candidate to answer "yes," although former state Sen. Shelley Hughes said Alaska’s powerful presence means "there’s potential" for such an acquisition. Business owner Bernadette Wilson, in keeping with the "outsider" theme of her campaign, declared "right now Alaska can’t even handle Alaska." Former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson offered a flat "no" and Alaska State Medical Board member Matt Heilala replied "in general, no."
Among the reasons other candidates offered in their "no" responses were Crum stating "I think we have enough problems here," and Taylor asserting "Ultimately, it's a question for Greenland and self-determination." Walden stated the debate about the acquisition may serve a purpose since "what you're seeing right now is the blinders are coming off of our federal government and they're starting to realize we need to start taking the Arctic a little bit more serious."
A question by Walsh that got a more varied and lively response came when he put on a large Uncle Sam hat and "cast" himself in the role of Lincoln while asking candidates a question that couldn’t possibly have existed in that era.
"What Abe wants to know is to what extent is your campaign being aided by AI?" Walsh said. "Please give us a percent. Was your backup preparation for tonight or any of your remarks generated by AI? And how will you use it to govern?"
There was a general consensus AI can be a useful tool, but from there the responses ranged widely.
"I love AI," Heilala said. "I'm optimistic by nature and this technology is here to stay. It's going to hit the world like a supersonic tsunami."
Taylor, the other candidate to offer unreserved support, declared "Alaska is AI’s best friend" because the state can provide critical minerals fueling the technology and "AI is Alaska’s best friend" because it can increase government efficiency.
Strong support was also voiced by Hughes, who said "if anyone is up here is not willing to harness AI for good they should not be governor." But she noted that while her younger staffers are likely using AI for some tasks, "I don't use it for writing and I don't use it for speech prep."
Crum, who also said he didn’t use AI to prepare for the forum, said the technology can be useful to assess vast amounts of data to help determine where the state has natural resources such as minerals that have been overlooked. Bishop said that while the "unknowns are scary," the state is decades behind on collecting certain natural resources data and AI can help.
Comparisons to more old-fashioned technology and tools were offered by some candidates.
"I can remember when TV came in, about how horrible that was going to be, right?" DeVries said. "And it ended up it can either be a blessing or a curse, and that's the way I feel about AI."
Walden, in a similar vein, declared "You can build a house with a hammer. You can also murder somebody with a hammer."
Bronson also said AI offers opportunities and challenges. Parkin said while the technology is imperfect, some claims about its danger are "outrageous." Wilson, noting concerns about false photos and statements created by AI, said "we have to have that conversation about how we can harness, but also put some very strong parameters around it."
The decades-old debate about Juneau’s status as the state capital didn’t create much stir among candidates when asked if the legislative session or Capitol should be moved.
DeVries got a scattering of applause for saying legislative sessions should be held at various locations statewide. Walden said "eventually, yeah," but it doesn’t make sense now. Taylor said he’s in favor of allowing the governor to call sessions where he deems them necessary. All the other candidates answered no, with a few elaborations such as Heilala asserting "We’re not going to waste bandwidth on that conversation right now. We have other priorities."
The "lightening round" questions seeking answers of the yes/no variety offered some clarity on where candidates stand in the moderate/conservative rankings of the Republican party.
Bishop, for instance, was the only candidate to offer a flat "no" when asked if state spending should be cut. Bishop and Parkin were the only candidates to say they will oppose a ballot measure repealing the state’s ranked choice voting. And Bishop, Heilala and Hughes each said they favor the current system of appointing judges, while the other candidates favor elected judges.
Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom and author Hank Kroll did not participate in the forum. There are also three Democratic candidates and one independent candidate seeking to replace Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who is ineligible for reelection after serving two consecutive terms.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at editor@juneauindependent.com or (907) 957-2306.
