By Delcenia Cosman

Homer Independent Press

Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Crum returned to his hometown recently to celebrate the Fourth of July, having made previous campaign stops in Homer in June. In a followup interview with the Homer Independent Press, he discussed the economy, energy and education funding as elements for his agenda in shaping Alaska’s future. 

Born in Homer and raised in Anchor Point, Crum is one of 17 candidates — and one of 12 Republicans — vying for the governor’s office in next month’s primary. 

Crum graduated from Homer High School in 2003, earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Northwestern University and his master’s degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University. He returned to Alaska after completing his undergraduate degree and went to work for his family’s vocational training company, Northern Industrial Training, where he served as executive vice president and, in 2014, became a co-owner.

Crum was appointed as the state Commissioner of Health and Social Services by Gov. Mike Dunleavy during the COVID-19 pandemic and later served as the Commissioner of the Department of Revenue. He said that his experience in managing state funds as well as sitting on state boards — including the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority, the Alaska Energy Authority and the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, among others — allowed him to see firsthand not only how money flowed into the state but how it was invested and determined Alaska’s long-term future.

“I’d say that overall experience means I’m unlike anybody else in the race,” he said. “It’s a very short learning timeframe for myself to get spun up.”

At the same time, Crum’s experience in state government has potentially led to a liability for his gubernatorial prospects. He recently came under fire in the Legislature following an audit released in April that questioned whether he met his fiduciary responsibilities and complied with statutory obligations as Revenue Commissioner. 

In 2025, Crum invested monies from the state’s Constitutional Budget Reserve Fund into a digital infrastructure firm, a decision that he said Wednesday was “made in the best interest of Alaska.” Alaska Statute authorizes the Revenue Commissioner to invest and manage all state funds — however, those funds must not be needed for at least five years. Legislators had said before the investment was made that they would “highly likely” need to draw funds from the CBRF within the following two fiscal years to balance the state budget.

Members of the legislative finance committees have said that the Legislature should look at reforming the Revenue Commissioner’s authority to prevent similar issues from happening in the future. 

Crum said he welcomed “good-government processes” like the legislative audit as rigorous oversight of how state money is invested. He also reaffirmed that he had clear statutory authority to make the investment and said that “leaving billions of dollars sitting around earning almost nothing” is “bad management.”

“Alaskans deserve a governor who manages their money with discipline and accountability — someone who makes the hard calls, follows the law and answers for the results. That’s exactly what I did, and it’s exactly what I’ll do as governor,” he said.

Growing a revenue base

Crum called for diversification in revenue generation and described how Alaska’s economy has shifted in the last decade from heavy reliance — 95% or more, he said — on oil and gas for revenue to a majority reliance — 60% — on investment earnings.

“That has provided a level of stability to the state over time. But that still means that the oil and gas revenue is a sine wave, because it’s still about 30%, and whether that is up or down depends on if we have a surplus or if we have a deficit,” he said. 

For a long-term fiscal plan, Crum looks at boosting the state’s capital budget using what he called public finance tools.

“We’ve argued far too much about (the) operating (budget), and we have let our capital side languish when it comes to deferred maintenance (and) lack of actual critical buildouts,” he said.

He illustrated one prospect in utilizing general obligation bonds, of which he said the state has a capacity of more than $1.5 billion. 

“For the dollar amount out the door, it’s relatively cheap. A conservative estimate would be $80 million in debt service for a billion dollars in projects — and that can go a long way,” he said. “Our capital budget has historically hovered around the $200 million mark, and the majority of that goes towards highway match. So we could build projects — we could get things going around the state that are necessary to improve critical infrastructure.”

Other candidates in the governor race have named closing the “S corp loophole” as a potential revenue generator and leveling of the playing field. Under the state’s current tax structure, traditional C corporations pay corporate income taxes to the state, but S corporations are exempt. This plays out most prominently with Hilcorp, an oil and gas producer that does not pay state income tax.

Crum called implementing an S corp tax “short-sighted.”

Regarding Hilcorp specifically, he said that because the company is not a greenfield operator — it focuses on “legacy fields,” taking over former BP operation sites, rather than undeveloped sites — the state sees more profit as Hilcorp puts more money into the legacy fields it’s continuing to develop.

Supporters say that closing the S corp loophole could generate about $100 million a year in additional revenue to the state.

“I think that one is kind of an irresponsible look. Yes, you may be able to go snatch some money away from that, but are we cutting off our nose to spite our face because of the amount of money they are investing not only in Cook Inlet to keep the lights on for us, but also what is going on with legacy wells that they’re drilling new holes in Prudhoe Bay,” Crum said. 

As alternatives, Crum looks at digital services taxes — which he said could bring in $40 to $50 million a year — and projects such as the controversial West Susitna Industrial Access Road.

Last year, current Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a Senate bill that would have expanded Alaska’s corporate income tax structure to capture revenue from online businesses that sell to Alaskans but may not be physically present in the state. The Legislature failed to override the veto in January. 

“This is something I think we absolutely need to do,” Crum said. “I’ve had conversations with the lobbyists with these companies when I was Commissioner of Revenue, and they don’t fight this because it’s such a small portion.”

The proposed West Su Access Road, he said, could bring new revenue to the state through mineral royalties.

“There are mining districts in that area — the largest mining districts on state land — meaning that the state gets to collect all of the royalties and the majority of the mining license tax,” he said. “That is how we can actually do this, because 25% of all royalties get deposited into the Permanent Fund, so we’re saving simultaneously while growing our revenue base.”

Development of the access road is supported by AIDEA to unlock mineral, timber, oil and gas resources and improve public recreation access to state lands. Invested mining companies also support the project to improve access to mining sites.

Conservation groups like the Susitna River Coalition continue to oppose the project because of its potential impacts on anadromous waters and other wildlife habitat.

Crum pointed to implementing economic and infrastructure improvements as a way to “take control” of Alaska’s future and raise the excitement level for younger generations.

“It’s to show our kids and our youth that we’re doing something in Alaska,” he said. “I want to build a healthy Alaska. We have to give them hope that Alaska is willing to change how we’ve gone about things and do things in a creative manner.”

Regardless of the path forward, he stressed public engagement.

“None of these are quick, rapid fixes … so those are things that I want to make sure Alaskans are engaged in the process that we move forward,” he said.  

Energy 

When it comes to energy development for Alaskans and as a revenue source, Crum again called for diversification.

“I am electron agnostic. I don’t care where it comes from. We need more of it. Our grid is tapped,” he said. 

He said he wants more hydroelectric projects and would look at projects like the Dixon Diversion to capture more potential stored energy using glacier runoff. 

He also said he was in favor of projects like the Terra Energy Center, a proposed coal-fired power plant in the Susitna River watershed that “could power the mining district, as well as value-added processing (and) some possible data centers.” A study by the University of Alaska Fairbanks connected the plant to the Alaska Railbelt Carbon Capture and Storage project.

Crum also outlined plans to bolster the current Railbelt grid system by building a state-owned transmission line from Beluga — a remote, small community on the west side of Cook Inlet — to Healy that, combined with a subsea cable from Nikiski to Beluga which Crum said is currently being built, would “create a loop on the Railbelt for the first time.”

Currently the state grid runs in a single line, south to north, from Bradley Lake to Fairbanks. That line was knocked out during the 2019 Swan Lake Fire, cutting off access to “the cheapest power in the state of Bradley Lake” to a massive population base on the Kenai Peninsula and in Anchorage.

Crum said that he would finance the transmission line using a tool called a rate reduction bond. 

“We have the energy potential. We just have to figure out how we can finance it, move this along, and I think it’ll be a field of dreams,” he said. 

Education funding

Crum previously held a meet-and-greet in Homer in June. During that event, he said the greatest issue that attendees approached him about was adequate state funding for education. 

Having grown up on the southern Kenai Peninsula, Crum said he understood the value of community schools and believed that the state needed to increase education funding. He said he was in favor of protecting “critical programs which prepare our kids,” like career and technical education.

To do that, Crum proposes pulling CTE funding out of the base student allocation, or per-student funding that schools receive from the state.

“You pull that out, put it as a separate line item, and you invest in that,” he said.

“The CTE program … truly helps. This gives kids confidence. This gives them hope. Now all of a sudden, geometry and trigonometry make sense, and they’re going to pay a little bit more attention.”

Learn more about Crum’s platform on his campaign website. The primary state election is Aug. 18.