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House District 12: Anchorage: Far North Bicentennial Park

This is a non-partisan top four Primary election. This is an open primary where you can select only 1 candidate regardless of party affliation.The top 4 candidates will appear on the ballot in November where that vote will be Ranked Choice.If there are less than four candidates on the ballot, all candidates will appear on the November ballot.

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  • Candidate picture

    Joseph "Joe" Lurtsema
    (Rep)

  • Candidate picture

    Calvin Schrage
    (NON)

Biographical Information

How do you plan to address the challenges of funding, teacher recruitment and retention, and ensuring educational equity across remote, rural and urban communities in Alaska in order to improve overall educational outcomes?

According to the U.S. Energy Administration in 2023, Alaska generated about 25% of its total electricity from renewable energy sources. What other alternatives do you think would help with our energy issues?

What options would you suggest where Alaska can increase our state revenue?

What could the Alaska legislature do to help restore voters’ trust in the integrity of our elections system?

Do you support or oppose continuation of our current open primary/ ranked choice voting election system.  Why?

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Campaign Phone (907)240-8986
Campaign Instagram URL http://www.instagram.com/calvinforak/
Alaska is faced with a severe crisis in education due to years of flat funding, high turnover rates, challenges with recruitment and retention, and deteriorating school infrastructure. During my time in the legislature, I have fought to ensure our students and teachers have the resources they need to provide quality education through stable and predictable funding, returning our educators to a livable and competitive retirement, funding to ensure we have safe schools, available and accessible Pre-K, and policies to support early learning. Sadly, many of these efforts have been blocked by members of the House Majority and/or the governor but, if re-elected, I will continue fighting for these changes to support all of Alaska’s students.
I am a strong supporter of providing accessible, reliable, and affordable energy for all Alaskan residents. This requires an all-of-the-above approach, including supporting traditional energy sources as well as affordable renewable energy and energy efficiency programs. I am proud of the work done last year to provide historic investments in renewable energy projects across our great state as well as electrical grid upgrades.
Alaskans are sick and tired of the boom-and-bust cycle we’ve seen for decades in Alaska where when the price of oil is high, we overspend, and when it inevitably drops, drastic cuts. Alaska needs a long-term fiscal plan and I am proud to have served on the 2022 bipartisan and bicameral Fiscal Policy Working Group. I am determined to continue working toward a long-term fiscal plan to ensure stability in government and ensure our state budget meets the needs of Alaskans.
Alaska has a history of having some of the most fair, secure, and well-run elections but there are a number of policies that I’ve championed to help make our elections even more fair and accessible while also upholding the integrity of our democratic process. These policies include reinstating fair, reasonable, and legal campaign contribution limits so that Alaskans are not drowned out by millionaires and outside special interests; enabling same-day voter registration; eliminating the absentee ballot witness signature which disenfranchises Alaskan voters every year; and implementing ballot curing to ensure eligible Alaskan voters do not lose their vote due to a minor, correctable errors.
I support the 2020 ballot measure passed by Alaskan voters which provides for open primaries (where every voter has a say who makes it to the Nov. election), ranked choice voting (which allows Alaskans to pick their favourite candidate), and strengthened campaign finance transparency. In my experience, these policies have empowered Alaskan voters and resulted in the election of candidates who better reflect their constituents and incentivizes, instead of punishing, politicians who work together and focus on the real issues facing Alaskans.