The Alaska Current

Dan Sullivan changes his tune on Alaska’s $5 gas now that Trump’s president Sullivan made a big scene over $5 gas under Biden back in 2022. With gas crossing the $5 mark again, he's been thanking Trump officials: "You’re doing such a great job for our state, for our country." #akelect

Republican former Attorney General Treg Taylor is back in the race to be Alaska’s next governor despite refusing to disclose the details behind more than $1 million in rental income. GOP officials decided at the last minute that Taylor should qualify because the rules can’t be enforced. #akelect

Trump’s coming to Alaska to help Sullivan beat the other Dan Sullivan The president says he'll save Dan Sullivan in the last 30 days. Peltola, voting records, and a $5.60 gallon of heating oil say it won't be that simple. #akelect

Nick Begich downplays his Trumpiness, but his record says otherwise Publicly, Begich has worked to soften his image, but when it comes to votes or closed-door events, he’s all in on Trump. #akelect

Alaska removed 3,048 people from its active voter rolls after a DMV data match flagged them as possible noncitizens. Elections Director Carol Beecher said “old data” contributed to the errors, including the mistaken removal of U.S. citizens. Commentary and illustration by Holly Todd.

A third special session has begun, but lawmakers say time is running out for Gov. Mike Dunleavy to secure agreement on tax incentives aimed at advancing the Alaska LNG project.

Bycatch has emerged as one of the defining issues in Alaska's U.S. Senate race, putting candidates' records, fisheries policy and campaign contributions under a new spotlight. Commentary and illustration by Holly Todd.

With less than a month until the Aug. 18 primary election, the coalition of 23 Democratic, independent and Republican lawmakers is calling on the state to reverse the purge that moved 3,048 voters to the inactive list. Typical purges affect around 200 voters.

According to the memo, the Division of Elections approached the DMV with a “non-routine” request to check the citizenship status of 15,200 voters.

A proposed Mat-Su industrial park reflects Alaska's latest economic bet: leveraging abundant land and energy to attract data centers. The proposal also opens a broader debate over electricity, land use and the future of industrial development in the state. Commentary and illustration by Holly Todd.

OPINION: Elections in our sparse and sprawling state have never really gone over without a hitch.

Schultz will still appear on the Aug. 18 ballot and can formally drop out once the election is held. The general election is Nov. 3.

Sitka Democratic candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins will be running with a fundraising haul that’s nearly double every other candidate save for the Republican who gave his own campaign $1.25 million.

The deadline to register to vote in Alaska’s Aug. 18 primary election is this Sunday, and it’s set up to be one of the more consequential state primaries in recent memory.

Repeal Now is the latest campaign supporting an initiative to repeal Alaska’s open primary system.

At this point, Mike Dunleavy's governing style may be defined less by the bills he signs than by the budgets he vetoes. He's becoming Alaska's veto governor. Illustration and commentary by Holly Todd

A tax deal once considered all but inevitable is now hanging by a thread.

The effort to overturn ranked-choice voting and the effort to remove Petersburg's Dan Sullivan from the ballot share an underlying premise: that Alaska voters can't be trusted to figure things out for themselves. Illustration and commentary by Holly Todd.

COMMENTARY: Rather than relying on Alaska's own attorneys, the Division of Elections turned to a lawyer from a conservative Lower 48 firm to defend its decision to keep Dan J. Sullivan off the ballot.

Petersburg Sullivan's case is scheduled to be heard in the Anchorage Superior Court on Thursday.

Even if Petersburg's Dan J. Sullivan were trying to confuse voters — which he denies — a new lawsuit argues that's beside the point.

Every year, Alaskans eagerly await our summer frenzy. In this June photo essay by Emily Mesner, she spent 24 hours following the light and documenting Anchorage.

Deep in the Tongass, accessible only by boat, a century-old printing press sat silent for seven years. The nearly one-ton Vandercook press at Sea Pony Farm near Pelican has been restored by the Sitka Conservation Society and is being used to connect art, conservation and community.

Alaska election officials say the other Dan Sullivan wasn't really running for Senate — he was running to confuse voters. The evidence? A nickname. Commentary and illustration by Holly Todd.

A new complaint alleges the group behind Alaska's latest ranked-choice voting repeal effort violated campaign finance laws dozens of times.

The Alaska House advanced legislation to reduce taxes on the proposed Alaska LNG pipeline, with supporters arguing it could help deliver lower-cost gas to Fairbanks and Southcentral Alaska.

The decision rests on a series of circumstantial factors rather than evidence of direct coordination with any other campaign and is likely headed for a court challenge.

A squeaky etching press. A thousand hand-printed butterflies. A lifetime of watching the natural world. Meet Ketchikan printmaker Evon Zerbetz, the latest artist featured in the Pressing Silence series.

Chris Hill didn't grow up outdoors. Raised in the D.C. suburbs, she discovered climbing at summer camp, became a conservation leader and eventually found her way to Alaska through a love of wild places — and fly fishing. The latest in the Trail Blazers series.

Cross-country skiing first connected Arleigh Hitchcock to the outdoors as a kid. Years later, Alaska's mountains, glaciers and trails have shaped a life built around adventure, community and stewardship.

The Division of Elections says Petersburg Republican Dan Sullivan is ineligible to challenge U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, though it has yet to publicly detail the evidence behind its decision.

House lawmakers gave AKLNG another boost Wednesday, advancing a bill that would slash taxes on the project. The measure now heads toward a floor vote as the special session enters its final week.

Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom has launched an investigation into whether Petersburg Republican Dan Sullivan is trying to confuse voters — despite questions about whether the state has the authority to police a candidate's motives for running.

OPINION: Lawmakers spent another week digging into the project and found that many of the biggest savings for Alaskans hinge on export markets that don't yet exist.

The filing period for Alaska’s statewide races closed on Monday, setting up an expansive, 17-candidate field for the state’s next governor — and there’s just about someone for everyone. thealaskacurrent.com/2026/06/04/m...

Haines is small, remote and packed with artists. In the latest Pressing Silence, Baylee Pearson shares how printmaking, community and life in Southeast Alaska inspire her work under the name Misfit Prints. thealaskacurrent.com/2026/06/02/p...

The Ninth Circuit has rejected former Sen. Lora Reinbold’s lawsuit against Alaska Airlines, ruling that enforcing COVID mask mandates didn’t make the airline a state actor subject to constitutional claims. thealaskacurrent.com/2026/06/01/r...

Unclear costs, unknown gas sources, future demands on state cash and unanswered questions about whether the project pencils out at all.

“Alaskans are natural nurturers — we take pride in what it means to exist in the harshness of northerness,” writes Emily Mesner in this month’s “Where We’re Anchored” column.

Some Alaska officials are pushing to turn the state into a hub for AI data centers, tying massive energy and gas projects to growing tech demand — a shift that could reshape the state’s landscapes, energy use and economy for decades. Illustration by Holly Todd.

Former Alaska Gov. Tony Knowles, the last Democrat to win Alaska's governorship, has endorsed Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins in the 2026 gubernatorial race.

On a 21-19 vote, the Alaska House on Tuesday approved a change to Senate Bill 24 that would legalize new cigar lounges in Alaska.

Alaska lawmakers failed to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of the public pension bill Tuesday, ending the latest push to restore a retirement option for public workers. thealaskacurrent.com/2026/05/19/l...

Alaska lawmakers spent Monday trying to rush through a massive AKLNG subsidy bill while rewriting provisions on the House floor in real time.

Last week, Alaska lawmakers rejected Attorney General Stephen Cox, making him the first Alaska cabinet-level appointee rejected by legislators since Sarah Palin’s administration. Hours later, Gov. Mike Dunleavy gave him a new job anyway.

Weeks after a tech vendor backed a GOP finance conference hosted by Revenue Commissioner Adam Crum, it received millions in state contracts tied to Alaska’s $90M+ tech and energy deal network.

CORRECTION: We stated that the initial Department of Revenue contract was worth $7.5 million, when in fact, that contract expanded to $11.9 million, according to Saige Managing Partner Charles Hu, who supplied us with the numbers himself.