14-05-2025
Third Republican candidate, Bernadette Wilson, enters Alaska governor's race
Republican governor candidate Bernadette Wilson is seen on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in front of the Alaska State Capitol. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
An Anchorage business owner, Republican campaigner and former talk radio host is running to be Alaska's next governor.
Bernadette Wilson announced her campaign on Tuesday with a video broadcast from the steps of the Alaska Capitol and has filed a letter of intent with the Alaska Public Offices Commission.
She joins Republican former state Sen. Click Bishop and Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, both of whom announced their campaigns last week.
In a Juneau interview, Wilson said she's disappointed with the condition of the state and worried about what it has to offer her children.
'I see the opportunity that Alaska has here, but I also see the lack of leadership, the lack of vision. And I feel I share the frustration of Alaskans. You know, we have people who get down here and they're more concerned about keeping a job than they are about doing a job,' she said.
Wilson, a former competitive figure skater, was born on the Kenai Peninsula and raised in Anchorage. A parent to three children, she is the great-niece of former Gov. Wally Hickel. She owns Denali Disposal, a private trash collection service in Anchorage.
Wilson has extensive experience in Alaska politics, having worked on more than a dozen political campaigns, including the effort to elect Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson and a 2010 ballot measure that would have required parents to be notified if a child is seeking an abortion. Alaskans voted for that measure, but it was later ruled unconstitutional.
She hosted a talk radio show with Democrat Ethan Berkowitz until 2015 and organized protests in 2020 to oppose Anchorage's anti-COVID-19 precautions.
In addition to her governor's race, Wilson is campaigning for the ballot measure that is again attempting to repeal ranked choice voting in Alaska.
Wilson advised Nick Begich's successful congressional campaign last year and previously worked as the Alaska director for Americans for Prosperity and for the Alaska Policy Forum, two limited-government groups that have opposed the revival of the state's pension plan, among other issues.
She has never held elected office before, but said that isn't an issue.
'Republicans love President Ronald Reagan. When Ronald Reagan ran for governor of California, it was the same thing. He didn't come up through a bureaucratic system,' she said.
When asked whether she would continue Gov. Mike Dunleavy's policies, she said she hasn't been impressed with Dunleavy's performance. The incumbent governor is term-limited and unable to run for reelection.
'I'll be honest with you, I haven't seen a whole lot of what the state has done in the last few years, not just under this administration, but under multiple administrations,' she said. 'You know, name me the major infrastructure projects, name me the big things we've got going. We're at the bottom of education, the same place we were years ago. We are in no better spot financially. We're in no better spot with our education. Our PFD is spiraling, with people now trying to turn it into a welfare program. You know, I don't think there is a whole lot there to continue.'
Wilson said she intends to actively campaign this year and listen to Alaskans' concerns about the state.
'We are going to be out talking to Alaskans from now, clear on until — hopefully for the next several years,' she said.
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