Voters now have a third option in the race to represent southern Southeast Alaska in the state House. Agnes Moran, who heads a regional domestic violence shelter, filed to run as nonpartisan just ahead of the June 1 deadline.
House District 1 essentially covers the bottom-right corner of the state. It includes Wrangell, Ketchikan, Saxman, and Metlakatla, plus Whale Pass and Coffman Cove on Prince of Wales Island. The region has been represented by independent Rep. Dan Ortiz for the last decade, but his sudden decision to not seek reelection over health concerns has now prompted two new candidates to enter the race.
Moran said she offers a moderate option between the other two candidates, Republican Jeremy Bynum and independent Grant EchoHawk.
“If you look at Jeremy Bynum, he’s gonna be fairly conservative. And you look at Grant EchoHawk, he’s fairly liberal,” Moran said. “And I felt there was a lane for myself, who would be more of a moderate, consensus-type candidate.”
Moran ran as a Republican for state House in 2012 and 2014, but didn’t advance past the Republican primary either year. She said she’s fiscally conservative, but leans more left or right depending on the issue.
When it comes to state politics, Moran said her top issues would be improving the Alaska Marine Highway System and diversifying the economy.
“I have a son and a daughter, both college graduates, and they would like to come back to Alaska. But right now, if you look at the environment, what are your choices? You work for the government or you have seasonal employment,” Moran said. “We need to diversify this economy so we can bring our kids home.”
Moran was a member of Ketchikan’s Borough Assembly from 2010 to 2014. She currently serves on the boards of the Alaska Mental Health Trust Authority and of First Bank, in addition to her day job as Executive Director of Women in Safe Homes (WISH). Moran said running WISH is like running a small business, and that she’s dealing with the shared business challenges of inflation and skyrocketing insurance rates.
Moran said she has experience bringing the right people to the table to address problems like Southeast Alaska’s shortage of mental health care.
“We brought a lot of resources to the community, basically by forming relationships with other service providers,” Moran said. “For example, we’ve partnered with the police department on several grants, which just really wasn’t heard of before we did it. You don’t usually have domestic violence programs and law enforcement partnering on initiatives.”
Since the top four candidates from the August 20 primary advance, all three District 1 candidates will appear on the ranked choice general election ballot in November.
Michael Fanelli is the News Director at KRBD. He can be reached at michael@krbd.org.
