Seven candidates are running for House District 37, which covers Southwest Alaska including the Aleutians and Pribilof Islands. Longtime Rep. Bryce Edgmon, an independent from Dillingham, is leaving the seat after his 20th year to run for state Senate.
Unalaskan Dennis Robinson is vying for the House seat as a Democrat.
Robinson held his first campaign fundraising event at the Norwegian Rat Saloon on June 20, where he shared his goals and talked with more than two dozen locals in the crowd.
This isn't the first time Robinson has run for House District 37. In 1992, when it was known as District 40, he lost to Carl E. Moses who’s also from Unalaska.
“I want to run this campaign just a little bit different,” Robinson said. “I don't want to tell you what I'm going to do, I want to hear what you want me to do. That's the way I intend on running it. I want to listen to people and do the best I can for each community.”
Robinson is Unangax̂ and has lived in Unalaska throughout his life. He spent 18 years on Unalaska’s city council, part of that time as vice mayor. He also sat on boards for both the Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska and the Ounalashka Corporation. Today, he works for the tribe as their community development manager.
Robinson said now is the right time to run, with Edgmon leaving the seat.
“We haven't had a representative in this district [region] since 2007 and it’s time we do,” he said.
Dutch Harbor is consistently the nation’s largest fishing port by volume, so Robinson said fisheries are a big part of his platform. He said the debate over trawling and bycatch is complicated, but his guiding principle in policymaking would be to support what the scientists say.
“The last people in the world you want making fish policy is legislators, lawmakers,” he said. “That would be the same thing as having a grocery store manager manage your subsistence lifestyle. It just doesn't work. It won't work. So leave that in the hands of the professionals.”
Robinson said he plans to reach all of the district’s roughly 60 communities through travel, town halls and online meetings. He estimated that visiting each community once or twice, depending on population size, would cost nearly $85,000. That figure, he said, points to how expensive travel is for residents across the district.
Alaska's primary election is Aug. 18, with the top four candidates advancing to the general election on Nov. 3.
