Amidst a sea of 11 other Republican gubernatorial candidates, Shelley Hughes argues that she stands out as not “Anchorage-centric.” At a campaign event in Sitka last week [4-8-26], she said she’s lived in several communities across the state, including Hoonah, Bethel, and her current home in Palmer.
“Part of my heart is in every region where I’ve lived, and I’ve heard from people in southeast and the different communities I visited [say] ‘We get forgotten by the governor. The governor gets in, they come down here and campaign, and then they forget about us.’ I will not forget about you,” says Hughes. “I’ve got family in this area, and you’re important. Every region of the state has something to contribute, and is important, and I’m ready to step up and offer my skill set to Alaskans.”
Hughes has served four years as a state representative and over eight years as a State Senator for the southern Matanuska-Susitna Borough. She says that her decade-plus of experience in bipartisan collaboration makes her a suitable leader to collaborate with a president as “pro-Alaska” as Trump.
Hughes is currently vetting Lieutenant Governor candidates, hoping to have them take on more responsibility in helping lead her initiatives in a way that she says “hasn’t happened since territorial days.”
One of her top priorities as governor would be to diversify Alaska’s economy away from oil, and lean into alternative energy sources like geothermal and hydroelectric power.
She also says changes are needed for the Alaska Marine Highway System, which has uncertain funding and declining ridership. Hughes says local partnerships could help.
“I think if we did a private partnership, and maybe had restaurants or bands or things like that on the ferries, people might choose it as an alternative. I think we could get some more independent travelers,” says Hughes. “And I think there’s a revenue stream there. And under the state DOT they don’t have the flexibility to do that kind of thing… but I would also look at where does it make sense, as far as shortening routes by putting in some roads where we can, so we can have a good system that meets the needs.”
On the topic of education, Hughes believes that there should not only be better funding to support teachers, but also vocational training programs. She says schools should also help students prepare for the wide variety of high-paying jobs the state offers that don’t require a college degree. Hughes says this is important given that one in three Alaskans is on public assistance and Medicaid.
“I’ve heard from employers who’ve offered them raises because they’re good workers, and they turn it down because they’re going to lose their Medicaid, for example, and they need their insurance for their families, and that’s a broken system,” says Hughes. “So we need to go in there and fix that system and make sure those people have opportunity for the kind of jobs where they can make the kind of money that you can live [in] and afford a home [and] afford your groceries.”
Regarding environmental regulation, Hughes hopes to hire a Fish and Game Commissioner who shares her perspective on balancing environmental and development concerns. Hughes says she plans to increase trawling restrictions and increase game so that rural Alaska Native residents can participate in subsistence hunting regardless of where in the state they choose to live. Hughes says she wants to partner with federal agencies to develop preventative measures for natural disasters brought on by global warming. On the flip side, she’s also optimistic about the agricultural development opportunities that a warmer climate could bring.
“Scandinavia is on the same latitude on the globe that we are. Now they have a warm ocean current, so it’s a little warmer, but their export for [agricultural] products and food is $10 billion a year,” says Hughes. “We’re going the other direction, we’re importing $3 billion. And so I see a lot of potential there, and when, with a little bit of warming, we can take advantage of that.
Hughes says that more agricultural work opportunities could also attract a wide variety of working-age people to Alaska.
Hughes also talked about transferring government-owned land to private owners, infrastructure development, optimizing the state budget, and public safety reform during her two-day long stay in Sitka.
