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Alaska Republicans reelect Carmela Warfield as party chair

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Alaska Republicans reelect Carmela Warfield as party chair


Participants at the 2026 Alaska Republican Party State Convention at the Soldotna Field House in Soldotna on Saturday, May 9, 2026. (Iris Samuels/ADN)

SOLDOTNA — Alaska Republican Party leaders on Saturday reelected Carmela Warfield to continue serving as chair, two years after she was first chosen for the role.

The vote took place during a statewide convention in Soldotna, where more than 200 delegates from across the state gathered under garlands of Alaska and U.S. flags to update the party platform and hobnob with both elected officials and candidates.

Warfield was challenged for the chairmanship by Zackary Gottshall, who called on Alaska GOP leaders to do more to oppose elected Alaska Republicans who work across the political aisle.

Warfield beat Gottshall in a 165-45 vote, after Gottshall accused Warfield of appearing “more focused on building personal political visibility and securing endorsements for another term than organizing a serious effort to replace the seven Republican legislators caucusing with Democrats or challenge Sen. Lisa Murkowski.”

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Warfield, ahead of Saturday’s vote, said “the Alaska Republican Party is stronger when we focus on what unites us instead of what divides us.”

Alaska Republican Party leaders on Saturday reelected Carmela Warfield to continue serving as chair. (Iris Samuels/ADN)

Warfield now enters her third year at the helm of Alaska’s largest political organization. She has tightly controlled the party’s public image, declining numerous interview requests from the Daily News during her tenure.

In a departure from the norm, Warfield allowed reporters to attend only five hours out of the two-day convention, denying reporters access to debates on the party rules and a forum featuring several gubernatorial candidates.

Cheerful party staffers were stationed at the entrance to the Soldotna Field House to ensure no reporters had access to the building beyond the allotted window.

But during a brief window of access, divisions over the GOP’s direction and operations were on full display. Delegates spent roughly an hour debating whether to add a sentence to the party platform supporting “granting personhood of the unborn at conception.” The motion ultimately failed 89-109.

Factions of the Alaska GOP have long been critical of elected party members who work with Democrats or deviate from the party platform, which already formally opposes same-sex marriage and abortion access, and supports teaching “the historical Judeo-Christian foundation” of the U.S. in schools.

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The party has a long history of attempting to keep its elected members in line and punishing those who stray.

Party leaders in 2021 censured Murkowski, a Republican who has served in the U.S. Senate since 2002, after she voted to impeach President Donald Trump. They also voted in 2021 to censure Republican Eagle River state lawmaker Kelly Merrick after she supported a bipartisan coalition in the Alaska House. But after both Murkowski and Merrick won reelection in 2022, defeating party-backed challengers from the right, party leaders promised to turn away from censuring GOP candidates for a period of at least two years.

Since then, the number of Republicans in the Legislature joining bipartisan legislative coalitions has grown, despite party leaders’ consternation.

In the Alaska Senate, a 14-member bipartisan majority includes five Republicans. In the House, the 21-member majority includes two Republicans. Republican leaders of the bipartisan coalitions did not attend the Saturday convention.

Under Warfield’s leadership, the Alaska Republican Party has aligned itself closely with Trump, who in turn has endorsed Warfield, along with U.S. Rep. Nick Begich and U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, who are running for reelection this year.

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Trump has also voiced support for the repeal of Alaska’s open primary and ranked choice voting system, which has weakened the party’s tight control over candidate selection.

Both opponents and supporters of Alaska’s voting system, which was adopted by Alaskans in 2020 and withstood a repeal effort in 2024, say it had aided moderate political candidates who are willing to work across the political aisle, ensuring they can more easily withstand challengers from the right.

The Alaska GOP has made repealing the voting system a key tenet of its efforts in the 2026 election. A successful repeal would enable the party to again assert more control over the Republican primary process,

Party leaders on Saturday also elected Jason Perry, a Baptist pastor, as the new Alaska GOP vice chair. Perry received 161 votes in a three-way race against Paul Bauer Jr., a former Anchorage Assembly member who received 23 votes, and Jeanne Reveal, a party district chair on the Kenai Peninsula who received 22 votes.

Voting on party leaders and resolutions was almost derailed — again — by party leaders’ concerns over using an online system to tally the votes of more than 220 delegates.

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Several party members said they wanted to use paper ballots instead of “clickers” that allow delegates to cast votes in real time. A similar motion was made during the 2024 convention.

But the idea this year was met with exasperation and outright derision from some longtime party members. Brett Huber — state director for Alaska’s chapter of Americans for Prosperity, a conservative advocacy group — openly chided some of the delegates.

“Everybody agrees on God and country. Everybody. And then we forget that and fight amongst ourselves,” said Huber.

“If we remember what brought us here — God and country — and we quit misbehaving, we may win,” he added.





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Alaska

Lavrov Challenges Rubio: Kremlin Says Trump-Putin Reached Deal as Moscow Questions Washington’s Neutrality

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Lavrov Challenges Rubio: Kremlin Says Trump-Putin Reached Deal as Moscow Questions Washington’s Neutrality


The Kremlin has pushed back against US claims that no agreement was reached between US President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin during the August 2025 Anchorage summit in Alaska.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Washington presented proposals to settle the war in Ukraine during the talks and that Moscow accepted them.

Lavrov was responding to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has publicly rejected Russian claims that Washington and Moscow reached an agreement on Ukraine during the Alaska summit, saying no deal was ever finalized.

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As reported by DRM News, Rubio said the summit produced only a proposal, not a binding agreement.

He added that the US remains ready to play a constructive role in bringing the parties together and helping end the war, but stressed that while proposals were discussed in Alaska, “there was no agreement.”

Lavrov struck back by calling the response “not very elegant.”

“When my colleague says that in Alaska there were only proposals and no agreement, I wonder what we mean by agreement,” Lavrov said.

“If one side, in this case the US, put proposals on the table, and the other side expressed agreement, then saying there was no agreement is somehow not very elegant,” he added.

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According to Lavrov, White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff visited Moscow days before the summit and delivered the same US settlement plan.

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“Already in Anchorage, when the two presidents sat down for talks, Putin began listing the American proposals point by point. After each point, in the presence of Trump and Rubio, he asked Witkoff whether he had correctly described the ideas brought to Moscow. Witkoff answered affirmatively to each question,” Lavrov said.

He called for clarification from Washington, adding that recent US statements about playing a constructive role in ending the war sounded like an attempt to position itself as a mediator.

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Previous claims

In early June, Lavrov claimed Russia had accepted what he described as US proposals presented at the Alaska summit.

Lavrov alleged that Washington initially acted as a mediator but later stepped back from the process after failing to pressure Ukraine to accept the proposed terms.

This week, he also suggested that the Alaska summit may have been used to “buy time” for Ukraine to rearm itself, further arguing that Russia no longer views the West as a credible broker amid sanctions pressure.

Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov also said Moscow remained committed to implementing the understandings reached in Alaska, while accusing Washington of “apparently [failing] to complete its part of the process.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov argued that Washington cannot be considered fully neutral in the war because of its military support for Ukraine.

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“If we’re talking about absolute neutrality, then, of course, the term is probably inapplicable, because the United States supplies the majority of weapons to Ukraine and provides other forms of assistance,” Peskov said.

At the same time, he said Moscow highly values Washington’s willingness to help resolve the war, as well as its influence over European allies and Kyiv.

Peskov also dismissed remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron, who recently said at the G7 Summit that Washington had abandoned neutrality and was now openly backing Ukraine’s territorial integrity, continued aid, and sanctions against Russia.

“Regarding President Macron’s statements, it is difficult to judge. I don’t think President Macron can in any way claim to be Washington’s lawyer or press secretary,” Peskov added.



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Alaska, Hawaiian Airlines expand free Wi-Fi on flights

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Alaska, Hawaiian Airlines expand free Wi-Fi on flights


HONOLULU (KHON2) — Free Wi-Fi is available on more Alaska and Hawaiian Airlines planes.

The company said that 150 aircraft are now equipped with Starlink.

“For years, T-Mobile has played a key role in keeping our guests connected, and we’re proud to now offer Starlink, the fastest Wi-Fi in the sky, to Atmos members for free, made possible through our work with T-Mobile,” said Shane Jones, Senior Vice President of Fleet, Products and Guest Experience. “We’ve seen an overwhelmingly positive response from our guests, and we couldn’t have done it without T-Mobile as we continue to raise the bar for the experience across Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines.”

Passengers must now be Atmos Rewards members to take advantage of the free service. The company said a new onboarding portal started in June, with the experience to become standard by mid-July.

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Existing Atmos Rewards members will connect automatically, and new guests can sign up in just a few steps.

“Our relationship with Alaska Airlines has helped redefine what travelers can expect from inflight connectivity, and today’s milestone is another important step forward, said Mike Belcher, Head of Partnerships and Business Development at T-Mobile. “Bringing complimentary inflight Wi-Fi to more travelers across both Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines makes it easier to stay connected throughout their journey. The new, streamlined experience for accessing Wi-Fi reflects our shared commitment to delivering a better, more seamless travel experience.”

The airline expects to finish installing Starlink across its remaining mainline fleet by 2027.



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Pilot’s quick thinking averts disaster in Alaska emergency landing

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Pilot’s quick thinking averts disaster in Alaska emergency landing


A small plane made an emergency landing in Alaska after a loud noise was heard about 20 minutes into the flight, according to one of the nine passengers on board. The pilot reported engine trouble and began searching for a place to land. Helicopters later rescued everyone. Passengers praised the pilot’s experience and quick thinking, crediting him with saving their lives. The FAA and NTSB are investigating.



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