Alaska

Nick Moe: A wolf in sheep's clothing

Published

1 year ago

August 17, 2024

Nick Moe, a longtime Democrat turned independent, is running against Democrat Carolyn Hall for the open West Anchorage House seat. I know both of them.

I have known Nick for over a decade. He has been on my podcast a few times and he worked as a legislative staffer in Juneau. I consider him a buddy. I have known Carolyn since 2018 when she was working for the Municipality of Anchorage. Her husband Scott Jensen and I started working together in 2019. Scott and I started a production company, Tudor Road Studios, in 2021. Scott owns 15% of the Alaska Landmine. Scott and Carolyn are both friends of mine.

I had purposely avoided really covering this race for two reasons. One, I personally know both of the candidates. Two, this race is less significant in terms of the balance of power in Juneau because whoever wins will almost certainly caucus with the House Democrats.

For over a month Chelsea Foster, a supporter of Nick Moe, has been repeatedly attacking Carolyn Hall by falsely claiming that Hall owns part of the Landmine. Carolyn does not, and never has. Hall has nothing to do with the Landmine. This has been repeatedly explained to Foster, yet she has persisted with this dishonest and underhanded line of attack.

Foster has also repeated the tired and dumb argument that I attack progressive women. The truth is that I attack any elected or public official who does something stupid or that deserves scrutiny. Sometimes those people are progressive women, or men. And sometimes they are conservative men or women.

I exposed Republican Kelly Tshibaka’s illegal fishing when she was a candidate for U.S. Senate. I successfully sued Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska) on First Amendment grounds on access to press conferences. I am currently in litigation against House Speaker Cathy Tilton (R – Wasilla) over the House’s failure to take up veto overrides at the beginning of the last session, something the Alaska Constitution requires. The Landmine broke the story about how then-Mayor Dave Bronson briefly shut off the city’s fluoride supply. That story was picked up by the New York Times, which credited the Landmine.

Until yesterday, all of Foster’s public attacks were on Twitter (X). Which I more or less ignored.

When Nick Moe came on my podcast in early July, he told me before we started recording that he asked Foster to stop attacking Hall by incorrectly tying her to me. Foster, apparently, did not get the message. Yesterday, the Anchorage Daily News printed a letter to the editor by Foster in support of Moe. The letter included:

Nick isn’t just about promises; he follows through with concrete actions that make a difference in our lives. In contrast, his opponent, Carolyn Hall, has a connection to a media outlet known to target progressive women. This raises concerns about her ability to stand firm in her convictions and effectively represent the interests of her constituents. When leadership was needed most, she did not rise to the occasion. Given the stakes, we need a representative who is not only capable but also willing to take decisive action for the betterment of our community.

The irony here is that Foster claims that I attack progressive women… but it’s Foster, not me, who is attacking the progressive female candidate in this race. And she’s doing so in a dishonest effort to support a well-connected white male candidate. Foster’s attempt to use identity politics has things completely backwards here. And that’s not all.

Let’s focus on the two of the sentences in the above paragraph:

“Nick isn’t just about promises; he follows through with concrete actions that make a difference in our lives.”

“This raises concerns about her ability to stand firm in her convictions and effectively represent the interests of her constituents.”

Since filing in late May, Nick Moe has taken several concrete actions that question his convictions.

Moe has worked on and off over the years as a legislative staffer for Democratic legislators, most recently for Senator Bill Wielechowski (D – Anchorage). Wielechowski is well-known to support raising taxes on the oil industry. Moe worked to advance legislation from Wielechowski that would have done just that.

On July 1, Anchorage attorney Robin Brena donated $10,416.89 to Moe. This is over a third of the $28,300 Moe has raised so far. Brena is a huge supporter of raising oil taxes. He has contributed big money over the years in support of ballot initiatives and candidates that aim to do so.

There’s nothing wrong with Moe getting support from people like Robin Brena. But let’s just say it’s unclear where Moe’s loyalties lie.

According to Moe’s latest campaign finance report, he paid Trevor Jepsen’s company, Pragmatic Data Solutions, $1,265 for “services.” Jepsen is a petroleum engineer and legislative staffer who works for Representative Tom McKay (R – Anchorage). McKay chair’s the House Resources Committee. McKay and Jepsen are both very pro-industry. Jepsen’s dad is Scott Jepsen, a former vice president of ConocoPhillips.

Nick Moe taking money from Robin Brena and then paying Trevor Jepsen is about as loose as it gets.

Moe also paid Rose Larson’s company, De La Rose Management,$1,524 for “consulting services.” Larson is a legislative staffer who has worked for several Republicans, including Representative Jamie Allard (R – Eagle River) and Representative McKay. She currently works for Senator David Wilson (R – Wasilla).

Moe has enjoyed support from several Republican staffers and one Republican representative. All of these staffers work for Republicans who have vocally opposed raising oil taxes. Some Young Republicans have even been doing lit drops in the district to support Moe.

Moe has taken accepted donations from the following people:

Representative Jesse Sumner (R – Wasilla) – $521.15.
Craig Valdez – $52.40. Valdez works for Representative George Rauscher (R – Sutton).
Bernard Aota – $72.19. Aota works for Representative Will Stapp (R – Fairbanks).
Dawson Mann – $104.48. Mann works for Senator Robb Myers (R – North Pole).
Katie McCall – $51.35. McCall works for Representative Dan Saddler (R – Eagle River).
Forrest Wolfe – $100. Wolfe works for Representative Stanley Wright (R – Anchorage).
Joe Byrnes – $49. Works as legislative liaison for the Department of Natural Resources. Previously worked for former Republican Representative Bart LeBon.

In addition to donating money to Moe, most of these Republican staffers were listed as co-hosts for a Nick Moe fundraiser, along with Brena and several progressive Democrats. Awkward.

Former Senator George Jacko also donated $49 to Moe’s campaign. I wonder what Chelsea Foster – who is so concerned with protecting progressive women – thinks about Nick Moe taking money from a guy who was formally censured for harassing female staffers? From a 1993 LA Times article titled, “Sexual Harassment Flap Tops Agenda of Alaska Lawmakers:”

The whole thing started with a 4:30 a.m. call to police.

An Alaska state senator, George Jacko, was on the line. He said he was a state legislator and wanted the police to help him get into the motel room of a female legislative aide. The dispatcher asked why.

“It’s confidential,” the senator said. “It has to do with state government . . . . It’s kind of an urgent situation.”

The skeptical dispatcher said there was nothing she could do. Jacko, who had been knocking on the motel door and trying to persuade the desk clerk to give him a key to the woman’s room, “reeked of alcohol,” the clerk said.

Moe and Jacko actually might have one thing in common. Moe has indicated to some Republicans that he’s open to caucusing with them if elected, while assuring Democrats he will not. From the 1993 LA Times article, “Elected as a Democrat from a rural district the size of Oregon, Jacko angered his party by joining Republicans in a new coalition, giving the GOP a one-vote majority. He was appointed chairman of the Rules Committee.”

In her letter, Foster said, “Given the stakes, we need a representative who is not only capable but also willing to take decisive action for the betterment of our community.” West Anchorage voters should ask themselves what kind of “decisive action” Nick Moe intends to take if elected. Will he listen to the guy who donated a third of the funding for his campaign–or all the Republicans who donated to and did boots-on-the-ground work to help get him elected?

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Alaska

Alaska’s Maxime Germain named to US Olympic biathlon team

Published

11 hours ago

December 23, 2025

Press Room

Alaska’s Maxime Germain named to US Olympic biathlon team

Alaska’s Maxime Germain was named to the U.S. Olympic biathlon team to compete at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games. (Photo provided by U.S. Biathlon)

Alaska’s Maxime Germain has been named to the U.S. Olympic biathlon team and will compete at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games.

Germain, 24, who was born in Juneau and graduated from West Anchorage High School in 2019, will be making his Olympic debut.

“I am stoked to have qualified,” Germain said in a U.S. Biathlon release. “The goal is now to perform there! It is going to be my first Olympics, but it shouldn’t be any different from other racing. Same venue, same racing, different name!”

The announcement was made Sunday at the conclusion of the World Cup stop in France. He is currently 34th in World Cup rankings, the second-best American behind Olympic teammate Campbell Wright.

Germain has raced for the APU Nordic Ski Center and trained with the Anchorage Biathlon Club.

“Maxime has worked really hard throughout the off season, improving his mental game and bringing an overall level up to the World Cup this year,” U.S. Biathlon High Performance Director Lowell Bailey said in the release. “This showed right away at the first World Cup in Ostersund, where he proved he can be among the world’s fastest and best biathletes. Maxime will be a great addition to the U.S. Olympic team!”

Before coming to Anchorage, Germain grew up in Chamonix, France, and started biathlon there at age 13.

Germain is a member of Vermont Army National Guard as an aviation operations specialist and is studying to become a commercial pilot. Germain has trained with the National Guard Biathlon Team and races as part of the US Army World Class Athlete Program.

Germain joins Wright, Deedra Irwin and Margie Freed as the first four qualifiers for the 2026 Olympic Biathlon Team. The remaining members of the team will be announced on Jan. 6 following completion of the U.S. Biathlon Timed Trials.

The 2026 Winter Olympics run from Feb. 6-22 in Italy.

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Alaska

Trump administration opens vast majority of Alaska petroleum reserve to oil activity

Published

23 hours ago

December 23, 2025

Press Room

Trump administration opens vast majority of Alaska petroleum reserve to oil activity

The northeastern part of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska is seen on June 26, 2014. (Photo by Bob Wick / U.S. Bureau of Land Management)

The Bureau of Land Management on Monday said it approved an updated management plan that opens about 82% of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska to oil and gas leasing.

The agency this winter will also hold the first lease sale in the reserve since 2019, potentially opening the door for expanded oil and gas activity in an area that has seen new interest from oil companies in recent years.

The sale will be the first of five oil and gas lease sales called for in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that passed this summer.

The approval of the plan follow the agency’s withdrawal of the 2024 activity plan for the reserve that was approved under the Biden administration and limited oil and gas drilling in more than half the reserve.

The 23-million-acre reserve is the largest tract of public land in the U.S. It’s home to ConocoPhillips’ giant Willow discovery on its eastern flank.

ConocoPhillips and other companies are increasingly eyeing the reserve for new discoveries. ConocoPhillips has proposed plans for a large exploration season with winter, though an Alaska Native group and conservation groups have filed a lawsuit challenging the effort.

The planned lease sale could open the door for more oil and gas activity deeper into the reserve.

The Voice of the Arctic Iñupiat, consisting of elected leaders from Alaska’s North Slope, where the reserve is located, said it supports the reversal of the Biden-era plan. Infrastructure from oil and gas activity provides tax revenues for education, health care and modern services like running water and sewer, the group said.

The decision “is a step in the right direction and lays the foundation for future economic, community, and cultural opportunities across our region — particularly for the communities within the (petroleum reserve),” said Rex Rock Sr., president of the Arctic Slope Regional Corp. representing Alaska Natives from the region, in the statement from the group.

The reserve was established more than a century ago as an energy warehouse for the U.S. Navy. It contains an estimated 8.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

But it’s also home to rich populations of waterfowl and caribou sought by Alaska Native subsistence hunters from the region, as well as threatened polar bears.

The Wilderness Society said the Biden-era plan established science-based management of oil and gas activity and protected “Special Areas” as required by law.

It was developed after years of public meetings and analysis, and its conservation provisions were critical to subsistence users and wildlife, the group said.

The Trump administration “is abandoning balanced management of America’s largest tract of public land and catering to big oil companies at the expense of future generations of Alaskans,” said Matt Jackson, Alaska senior manager for The Wilderness Society. The decision threatens clean air, safe water and wildlife in the region, he said.

The decision returns management of the reserve to the 2020 plan approved during the first Trump administration. It’s part of a broad effort by the administration to increase U.S. oil and gas production.

To update the 2020 plan, the Bureau of Land Management invited consultation with tribes and Alaska Native corporations and held a 14-day public comment period on the draft assessment, the agency said.

“The plan approved today gives us a clear framework and needed certainty to harness the incredible potential of the reserve,” said Kevin Pendergast, state director for the Bureau of Land Management. “We look forward to continuing to work with Alaskans, industry and local partners as we move decisively into the next phase of leasing and development.”

Congress voted to overturn the 2024 plan for the reserve, supporting bills from Alaska’s Republican congressional delegation to prevent a similar plan from being implemented in the future.

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Alaska

Opinion: Alaskans, don’t be duped by the citizens voter initiative

Published

1 day ago

December 22, 2025

Press Room

Opinion: Alaskans, don’t be duped by the citizens voter initiative

Voters received stickers after they cast their general election ballot at the Alaska Division of Elections Region II office in Anchorage as absentee in-person and early voting began on Oct. 21, 2024. (Bill Roth / ADN)

A signature drive is underway for a ballot measure formally titled “An Act requiring that only United States citizens may be qualified to vote in Alaska elections,” often referred to by its sponsors as the United States Citizens Voter Act. Supporters say it would “clarify” that only U.S. citizens may vote in Alaska elections. That may sound harmless. But Alaskans should not sign this petition or vote for the measure if it reaches the ballot. The problem it claims to fix is imaginary, and its real intent has nothing to do with election integrity.

Alaska already requires voters to be U.S. citizens. Election officials enforce that rule. There is no bill in Juneau proposing to change it, no court case challenging it and no Alaska municipality contemplating noncitizen voting. Nothing in our election history or law suggests that the state’s citizenship requirement is under threat.

Which raises the real question: If there’s no problem to solve, what is this measure actually for?

The answer has everything to do with election politics. Across the Lower 48, “citizenship voting” drives have been used as turnout engines and list-building operations — reliable ways to galvanize conservative voters, recruit volunteers and gather contact data. These measures typically have no immediate policy impact, but the downstream political payoff is substantial.

Alaska’s effort fits neatly into that pattern. The petition is being circulated by Alaskans for Citizen Voting, whose leading advocates include former legislators John Coghill, Mike Chenault and Josh Revak. The group’s own financial disclaimer identifies a national organization, Americans for Citizen Voting, as its top contributor. The effort isn’t purely local. It is part of a coordinated national campaign.

To understand where this may be headed, look at what Americans for Citizen Voting is doing in other states. In Michigan, the group is backing a constitutional amendment far more sweeping than the petition: It would require documentary proof of citizenship for all voters, eliminate affidavit-based registration, tighten ID requirements even for absentee ballots, and require voter-roll purges tied to citizenship verification. In short, “citizen-only voting” is the opening move — the benign-sounding front door to a much broader effort to make voting more difficult for many eligible Americans.

Across the country, these initiatives rarely stand alone. They serve to establish the narrative that elections are lax or vulnerable, even when they are not. That narrative then becomes the justification for downstream restrictions: stricter ID laws, new documentation burdens for naturalized citizens, more aggressive voter-roll purges and — especially relevant here — new hurdles for absentee and mail-in voters.

In the 2024 general election, the Alaska Division of Elections received more than 55,000 absentee and absentee-equivalent ballots — about 16% of all ballots cast statewide. Many of those ballots came from rural and roadless communities, where as much as 90% of the population lacks road access and depends heavily on mail and air service. Absentee voting is not a convenience in these places; it is how democracy reaches Alaskans who live far from polling stations.

When a national organization that has supported absentee-voting restrictions elsewhere becomes the top financial backer of the petition, Alaskans should ask what comes next.

Supporters say the initiative is common sense. But laws don’t need “clarifying” when they are already explicit, already enforced and already uncontroversial. No one has produced evidence that noncitizen voting is a problem in an Alaska election. We simply don’t have a problem for this measure to solve.

What we do have are real challenges — education, public safety, energy policy, housing, fiscal stability. The petition addresses none of them. It is political theater, an Outside agenda wrapped in Alaska packaging.

If someone with a clipboard asks you to sign the Citizens Voter petition, say no. The problem is fictional, and the risks to our voting system are real. And if the measure makes the ballot, vote no.

Stan Jones is a former award-winning Alaska journalist and environmental advocate. He lives in Anchorage.

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