Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson speaks in May 2022 at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson said Thursday in Fairbanks that he intends to run for governor in 2026, becoming the 13th candidate and 12th Republican in next year’s race.
Incumbent Gov. Mike Dunleavy is term-limited and unable to run again, which has caused an unusually large number of early entries into the governor’s race.
Only one Democratic candidate, former Anchorage state Sen. Tom Begich, has entered the race. Other Democrats say they are awaiting the possible run by former Democratic U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, who had the highest favorability rating among top candidates, according to one poll this summer.
Republicans face no such obstacle. In addition to Bronson, the Republican field of candidates includes former state Sen. Click Bishop of Fairbanks; Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom of Eagle River; Anchorage businesswoman Bernadette Wilson; podiatrist Matt Heilala of Anchorage; Matanuska-Susitna Borough Mayor Edna DeVries; former teacher James William Parkin IV of Angoon; current state Sen. Shelley Hughes of Palmer; Bruce Walden of Palmer; former Alaska Revenue Commissioner Adam Crum; and former Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor.
All of those candidates have filed letters of intent or statements of candidacy with the Alaska Public Offices Commission, which allows them to fundraise and spend money on a campaign.
They have not yet registered with the Alaska Division of Elections, which officially places a candidate on the August primary ballot.
Republican Henry Kroll of Soldotna, who has not registered with the Public Offices Commission, is the lone candidate to have registered with the Division of Elections.
The deadline to file with the Alaska Division of Elections is June 1, 2026.
In Alaska, the top four vote-getters for a state office, regardless of political party, advance from the August general election to the November general election.
Wilson has vowed to withdraw from the election if she finishes in the top four but isn’t the top Republican. She has encouraged other Republicans to take similar vows in an attempt to consolidate support for the top Republican front-runner in the general election.
Bronson, who delivered brief remarks in Fairbanks before participating in a panel discussion with six other Republican candidates, said he supports increased spending on infrastructure and the Permanent Fund dividend, saying he would like to see a constitutional amendment that would mandate a dividend paid according to a formula that was used from 1982 through 2016.
That would require spending an additional $2 billion per year for dividend payments above what lawmakers and Dunleavy approved this year. As a whole, the state’s operating budget is currently $5.9 billion. Bronson did not explain how he intends to pay for the increase.
An experienced pilot, Bronson was elected mayor of Anchorage in 2021, months after the incumbent Democratic mayor resigned during a sex scandal and amid a conservative backlash against COVID-19 mitigation efforts imposed by the Anchorage assembly.
He served a single term and was endorsed for re-election by Dunleavy and U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan but lost in 2024 to current Mayor Suzanne LaFrance.
Bronson’s time in office was marked by major conflicts with city employees, public health officials and the assembly. In 2023, the city manager Bronson appointed and fired, sued him and the city, alleging illegal and unethical acts. The assembly settled that case in 2024 for $250,000 after Bronson left office.
In January, Dunleavy appointed Bronson to manage Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. After less than eight months, he announced his resignation from that job in August.
