Three vie for Sen. Gary Stevens’ upcoming vacant seat; Brent Johnson challenges incumbent Rep. Sarah Vance. 

By Delcenia Cosman

Reporter, Homer Independent Press

The 2026 race for House District 6 will see a repeat of 2024 when former Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly member and Clam Gulch resident Brent Johnson again challenges Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer, for the seat she has held since defeating longtime incumbent Paul Seaton in 2018.

For retiring Sen. Gary Stevens’ Senate District C seat, three candidates have filed: Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, currently representing House District 5; Heath Smith, a former Homer City Council member and current Homer Advisory Planning Commissioner; and Anchor Point resident Carrie Harris. Harris previously ran for the state Senate in 2016 on a write-in campaign.

These races and others were set this week when the filing period for candidates for the 2026 Alaska primary election closed Monday afternoon. Fifty of the 60 Legislature seats are up for election this year. On a broader scale, the 2026 Alaska gubernatorial race has 17 candidates, and the contests for both Alaska’s U.S. Senator and Representative appear just as competitive. 

Stevens, currently Senate President, announced his retirement last May. Stevens has served about 25 years in the Alaska Legislature. Senate District C includes House District 6, covering the Southern Kenai Peninsula, and House District 5, covering the southern and eastern Kenai Peninsula and Kodiak.

Stutes announced her intent to run for Stevens’ seat last year when his impending retirement became certain. 

Two candidates have filed for Stutes’ soon-to-be vacant seat in the House. Sheldon R.J. Prout is a Kodiak resident and a registered Republican. Kathy Simpler, also a Kodiak resident, is registered as nonpartisan.

According to Stutes’ campaign website, she “remains passionate about” implementing a comprehensive fiscal plan to “ensure robust ferry service, healthy fisheries management, consistent PFDs, strong public safety, and investment in education and other essential services regardless (of) the price of oil.”  

“I am running for election to be your State Senator because I believe that my experience and proven leadership, relationship across the aisle, and determination on behalf of my constituents make me the best person for the job,” her campaign website states. 

Stutes did not respond to a request for comment by press time. 

Smith wrote via email Tuesday that he’s running for Senate because he doesn’t accept “that slow drift toward doubt and decline as Alaska’s future.”

“I’ve watched more and more families quietly ask themselves whether their children will really be able to stay, or whether the lack of a fiscal plan, unstable school funding, unreliable ferries and rising costs will push them out,” he wrote. “I believe in Alaska and Alaskans — we have tremendous potential!” 

Smith said that public service runs deep in his family, but he doesn’t believe politics should be a career — rather, those in office should serve for a time and then return home and live with the realities of the laws and budgets they’ve helped create.

“What I want from the Legislature — and what I’ll work for — is simple: decisions that create fertile ground for Alaskans to prosper and businesses to grow, with enough stability and predictability that our kids can see a future here and people feel confident investing in this state again,” he wrote. 

“We cannot reward those in the Legislature for getting a few things right while failing Alaskans on the big things that decide our future. It’s time to stop grading on a curve and start demanding leaders finish the hard work, not just talk about it every election season. It’s time for change.”

Harris said via email that she’s running for Senate “because Alaskans deserve to be represented.”

“Too many people talk about the state as if it’s something separate from us, but we are the state, and the government we set up should reflect the will of the people,” she wrote. “When 74% of Alaskans say they want trawl gear removed from our waters and nothing happens, that’s not a policy disagreement. That’s a system consciously putting itself above the people, and if allowed to continue will never represent the people.”

Harris highlighted several priorities on her campaign platform: cut wasteful spending, remove trawl gear from state waters, constitutionalize the PFD formula, protect Alaskans’ privacy by stopping “intrusive data collection activities,” and move the state capitol to the road system.

“I’m running to represent the people of my Senate district and the people of Alaska. I’m running so the people remember who the government works for,” she wrote. 

Johnson previously ran against Vance in 2024, choosing to enter the race after the State Legislature failed to override Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of an education bill that had originally passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. Vance was one of 20 legislators who voted to sustain the veto.

Education remains at the top of Johnson’s priority list for his campaign platform in this election.

“I’ve just decided that District 6 needs somebody that represents all the people better,” he said Wednesday. “I also feel that education is lagging, and that it needs all the help it can get.”

Fishing is another issue on Johnson’s radar again this year.

“Commercial fishing, and even sport fishing, in the area are suffering,” he said. “Set netting has been closed on the east side of Cook Inlet for three years, with the exception of two eight-hour periods last year. That’s just not acceptable at all.”

He said he thought the Legislature should also look at other fishing-related issues including low halibut numbers, king salmon fishing restrictions and impacts on fisheries by trawlers. 

Vance beat out Johnson in the 2024 election by less than 500 votes, or 4.5 percentage points. Also running against Vance was Anchor Point resident Dawson Slaughter, who was knocked out of the contest in the first round of ranked choice voting tabulation during the general election. Homer resident Alana Greear had also started a campaign for the District 6 House seat, but dropped out mid-race to support Johnson’s campaign instead. 

Johnson said Wednesday that he was “delighted” that this year’s race will be “simple and straightforward with just the two of us.”

Vance did not respond to a request for comment by press time. 

Central Kenai Peninsula

Both House seats for the central peninsula are up for grabs this year.

House District 7, held by incumbent Justin Ruffridge, covers Kenai and Soldotna. Ruffridge is being challenged by Kenai resident Daniel Cooper, a registered Republican, and Soldotna resident Kate Veh, a registered Democrat. 

House District 8 covers the northern Kenai Peninsula, including Nikiski, Sterling, Funny River, Cooper Landing and other communities. Incumbent Bill Elam, who previously sat on the KPB Assembly, is challenged by Hope resident Frank Quinn and Soldotna resident Nissa Savage. Both Quinn and Savage are registered as nonpartisan.

Senate District D covers Kenai, Soldotna and the northern Kenai Peninsula. The seat, currently held by Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, is not up for election until 2028.

The primary election will be held Aug. 18. Absentee in-person and early voting begins Aug. 3. The top four vote-getters advance to the general election.

The general election will take place Nov. 3. 

Learn more at www.elections.alaska.gov/.