Alaska gubernatorial candidate Bernadette Wilson says she’s a political outsider with a background in business who understands the needs of Alaskans in the way that her late ,great uncle, former Gov. Wally Hickel, also did.
But Wilson is not new to Alaska politics. She’s advocated for conservative causes through work on Republican political campaigns, served as the Alaska director for Americans for Prosperity, and held the interim director position on the conservative think tank, the Alaska Policy Forum.
Wilson said that she’s tired of excuses from Alaska’s politicians on solving issues from the Permanent Fund dividend and education, to fisheries and the proposed gas line.
Wilson has family ties to Bristol Bay as a Naknek Native Village Council member, but was raised in Anchorage, where she is majority owner of the garbage company Denali Disposal.
Wilson entered the governor’s race more than a year ago as the third Republican candidate in a Republican-dominated field of 17 candidates headed into the August 18 primary.
Wilson has picked former state Sen. Mike Shower, a Wasilla Republican, as her lieutenant governor running mate.
Wilson spoke with KYUK ahead of her recent campaign stop in Bethel.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
KYUK (Evan Erickson): What sort of executive experience do you have that you think would qualify you for the state's head office?
Wilson: I own my own business, so I've been the president of my own company for more than a decade now, and I'll tell you [...] I hear a lot of people ask about political experience, what's the political experience, and I'll be very honest with you, I'm the political outsider. I think that experienced politicians have failed us dramatically. So everywhere I go across the state, people comment to me, and they say, 'You know, Bernadette, your great uncle Wally was one of the greatest governors Alaska ever had, one of the greatest visionaries Alaska ever had. How do we get that back?'
My uncle Wally had zero political experience when he came into the governor's office. He owned a small business. He had signed the front of a paycheck. He understood the struggles of Alaskans. He understood the struggles of a paycheck and was frustrated by the experienced politicians. And so I share that same background with my uncle Wally. I think that we share that same kind of level of love for Alaska's people, that same level of grit and determination. I mean, I look at these experienced politicians, and it’s, 'I have this political experience, I have that political experience.' That's what we've been voting for. Are we any better off today than we were 10, 20, or 30 years ago? The answer to that is no. We're not. It's time to do something different. And what we know is, when we look back at Alaska's history, our greatest moments were accomplished by individuals who came from outside [of] government. They were not beholden to lobbyists and special interests, but were responsible to the people.
KYUK: Do you have any ideas floating around in your head about policies the state could have that would have a positive impact for people living on the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta and in remote, rural Alaska in general?
Wilson: I'll start with fisheries. I think that we've got to get the bycatch issue under control. We have got to address this. I have watched governors again, across both political aisles, appoint and nominate all trawlers or people that have conflicts of interest to the different fisheries boards. I think that that needs to end. I think that we need to get a governor into the office that is going to say, 'Hey, listen, we've got to have a conversation about the gear that's used, observers on boats.' How can we bring in new technologies when we tell our kids all over the state, 'you can't pull a king salmon up out of the water,' or 'we're going to limit the halibut,' when we're having conversations about the struggle for people that are living off of subsistence, that's a huge issue.
We didn't get into this situation overnight. This isn't because we failed to act over five years or 10 years. This is because we failed to act for decades. The other thing is, when you look at the high cost of energy, that's another big area that we need to look at. The cost of housing is incredibly high, energy is high. I most certainly support a gas line going in. I think that that will help Alaskans tremendously, but the cost of energy is another big issue that we've really got to dive in and focus on our economy as a whole. But when you look at the cost of heating homes, when you look at the cost of fuel, it's ridiculous in this state. It's no wonder anybody can't afford to live here.
KYUK: What role do you believe the governor should play on issues of climate change, and do you have any plans in that regard?
Wilson: I think that, as my grandmother told me, growing up in the village of Naknek, she said, 'Honey, we learned in Alaska Native culture [...] that the climate was continually changing. It was always warming and cooling,' and all of these different things. She would tell me all the time, she would say, 'You know, honey, your great grandmother used to tell me all the time about how we got out of the ice age.' And so I think that in our Alaska Native culture, that side of the family where I was raised, we were always told that the Earth was constantly warming and cooling, and it was a natural part of the ecosystem and what was going on there. So do I think that the governor should be handing these carbon credits and things that we've seen? No, I don't. I'll be very honest with you. No, I don't support that. I think it's a little bit of monopoly money. I think that we really need to be focusing on our cost of living in our communities. I think that that is a big, huge priority, and of course, especially out in our rural communities, our subsistence.
KYUK: What is your view on the way the state of Alaska should interact with the federal government?
Wilson: I think that for too long the federal government has wielded an incredibly heavy hand over Alaska. We see this with the federal government owning so much of Alaska's land, with the federal government constantly trying to tell Alaska what they can and can't do. When my uncle Wally passed away, before he passed away, I should say, he said, 'You know what? Make sure you bury me standing up facing Washington, D.C., so I can make sure that I push back against the federal government.'
I think it's incredibly important to remember that we do it better, safer, cleaner than anywhere in the world. Alaskans, they know their land, they know their communities. We need to be very careful that we are constantly pushing back against what I would call federal overreach and making sure that the decisions are being made for Alaskans by Alaskans. Now, are there aspects where the federal government can most certainly come in and help? Absolutely. We see that with disaster relief, right? Money that's coming in for disaster relief. We see that with infrastructure, you know, if we go to build a road, the fed will cover 90%, State of Alaska can cover 10%. So, there's most certainly a good, mutually beneficial situation there that works. But by and large, I'll tell you that I think we need a governor who's going to put the interests of Alaska first.
KYUK: Do you intend to step out of the race if another Republican candidate wins the August primary? And are you still backing this ballot measure to repeal ranked choice voting?
Wilson: Whoever Alaskans decide to put forward as their top Republican candidate, that's who I'm going to support, absolutely. I get tired of Alaskans being told, 'You're too stupid to understand what's going on. You're too stupid to understand the strategy,' or there's this strategy to having multiple candidates. I'm tired of Alaskans being told, 'I know that I wasn't your first choice, but if you give me another 60 days to run radio ads and to send you a bunch of mail, you're going to like me more.' I don't want to do that. I don't think that this race is about ego. I don't think it should be about arrogance, and if there is someone else, if there is someone else that Alaskans choose is their top person that they want to send to Juneau, then by God, I'm going to back that person, whomever that person is, that's who I'm going to back and support, because I'm going to back and support the will of Alaskans. It's not about me. This is about what is best for our state.
I do not support ranked choice voting. I think that ranked choice voting is very convoluted, and quite frankly, I think it's very discriminatory. We have a lot of people who still walk in to vote with ranked choice voting and do not understand it at all. There's people who come to me and tell me, 'Bernadette, I'm going to rank my ballot in August.' They don't even know that you don't rank your ballot in August. That's not how that works. You only vote for one. You're not ranking till you get to November. When you look at the number of Alaskans who don't rank down the ballot, what we see is that it completely disenfranchises people who don't understand it. They're frustrated by it. I'm going to stand next to Alaskans on that one.
KYUK: What plans do you have for dealing with the Permanent Fund if elected?
Wilson: I 100% support paying out a statutory Permanent Fund dividend. I think that that is critical. I hear all the time, well, we can't afford it. Well, we can't afford it in a state where you already have an incredibly high cost of living. The reality is, if the money wasn't there and legislators followed the formula, then it would be a smaller Permanent Fund dividend. But most importantly, that Permanent Fund dividend is a royalty check, because Alaskans own the right to the resources, and when you concede on the Permanent Fund dividend, what you're saying is that you don't think that Alaskans own those resources anymore. I don't think that your right to the resources in the ground should fluctuate based off of legislator spending habits. Those resources belong to the individual. That check is owed to the individuals. [...] I hear a lot of people, 'Oh my gosh, the fight for the Permanent Fund dividend is over. We just got to give it up. We just got to let it go.'
I'll tell you, if there's one thing that frustrates me the most, I am tired of hearing people in Alaska, experienced politicians talk about how they can't do something, or you just don't understand, or all of these excuses. I want a governor that's going to get in there and fight, and if you're going to concede on the Permanent Fund dividend, if you're going to concede on that issue, and you're not going to go fight for Alaskans and fight for the rights to their resources, then quite frankly, they need to sit down, they need to get out of the way, and they need to let the rest of us at least give it a shot. But I don't want a governor who's going to concede defeat already and doesn't have the energy for a fight. That is an issue that I intend to double down on, and it's one, I'm not going to let it go. I feel incredibly strongly about that.
