Homes in the Powder Ridge subdivision on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023 in Eagle River. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

JUNEAU — Eagle River Republican Rep. Jamie Allard handily won last month’s primary, but a crowded field of challengers from both parties say her status as a conservative firebrand puts her at odds with voters and her fellow legislators.

In the Aug. 18 primary, Allard led a five-way race for the state House of Representatives to retain her seat to represent part of Eagle River and the area extending southeast into Chugach State Park.

Allard, one of the Alaska Legislature’s most conservative lawmakers, is a target of big spending this year for political organizations and opponents hoping to replace her. She will face off with three challengers who have expressed an interest in joining a bipartisan coalition and adopting a more conciliatory approach to lawmaking.

Allard comfortably led the primary field with 39.8% of the vote, followed by Democrat Jim Arlington with 31.9%. Republican Ruby Jones took third with 13.9%, followed by Republican Nick Capozzi with 8.6% and Democrat Lee Hammermeister with 5.8%.

Capozzi has since dropped out, leaving Allard, Arlington, Jones and Hammermeister on the ballot for the November general election. His withdrawal means the race will have two Republicans and two Democrats up for consideration.

Jones, the most well-funded challenger, is running with the backing of major labor groups. Arlington is making a second bid to unseat Allard after finishing second to her in 2024. Hammermeister is running without the support of his party, despite being a registered Democrat, and denies accusations that he’s a “false flag” candidate.

Allard did not respond to a request for an interview about the race and her challengers.

Allard’s record

Allard has represented Eagle River in the Legislature since 2023 and won reelection for a second term in 2024 over Arlington with about 62% of the vote in the general election.

She entered state office following two years on the Anchorage Assembly, where she fought pandemic restrictions, clashed with other members of the liberal-leaning Assembly and was a reliable ally to former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson. In 2021, Gov. Mike Dunleavy removed her from the Alaska Commission on Human Rights over her comments on social media defending Nazi-themed license plates. Some Anchorage residents attempted to recall her from office later that year.

Since joining the state House, she’s taken a strong stance on conservative social issues, including sponsoring a bill to establish civil liability for physicians who provide gender-affirming care for minors, and supporting a broad-ranging bill that included limits on sexual education in schools and would have banned gender-nonconforming students from using bathrooms according to their preferred gender identity.

Last legislative session, she was the prime sponsor of one bill that ultimately became law, ensuring that deaf or hard of hearing students have the access to individualized education programs.

Rep. Jamie Allard, R-Eagle River, listens during a House Finance Committee meeting on January 23, 2025. (Marc Lester / ADN)

Unlike Allard, who is aligned with a Republican-led caucus, Democrats Arlington and Hammermeister have said they would join a bipartisan coalition if one forms after the election. Jones, a Republican, has said she wants Eagle River represented in the governing majority and is open to working within a bipartisan coalition.

The three challengers have each criticized Allard’s hardline conservative approach to representing the district, each vowing to be more collaborative with other lawmakers if they unseat her.

Capozzi, a third Republican, opted to withdraw, saying he did not see a path to gaining enough support to win the general election after finishing fourth in the primary. Since withdrawing, Capozzi has endorsed Jones over Allard, even though Jones is a more moderate Republican than he is.

He said he sees Allard as a “disruptive character down in Juneau” and that there is “definitely some animosity” between the two.

Nick Capozzi is a Republican who was running for House District 23, representing Eagle River in the state House of Representatives. He withdrew from the race after the August 2026 primary election. (Photo provided by the candidate)

Throughout his campaign, Capozzi has been critical of Allard’s leadership style, saying that voters he encountered while knocking on doors expressed similar concerns.

“I’ve knocked on thousands of doors in Eagle River, and I have never once knocked on a door where they were just like, ‘Oh, I’m so solidly in Allard’s camp,’” Capozzi said. “Quite the opposite.”

Jones makes case for a more collaborative approach

Policy outcomes over partisanship is a cornerstone of Jones’ pitch to voters.

She said she wants to challenge Allard to take a more collaborative approach to lawmaking, and that she believes a representative should be willing to hear from people with different perspectives before making decisions.

Jones has also said that though she aligns with the Republican Party, her views lean somewhat libertarian. She cited small government, free trade, resource development and fiscal discipline among her priorities, along with boosting public education funding. She also said she wants government programs to be evaluated based on measurable results, instead of a swift rejection of public spending favored by hardline conservatives.

In her bid for the state House seat, Jones, who works for a construction-industry safety consulting firm, has received thousands of dollars from labor organizations and other donors who have frequently supported candidates aligned with the Legislature’s bipartisan majority caucuses.

Asked about the labor groups supporting her campaign, Jones said she did not believe caucus affiliation was the primary concern for those organizations. She said they want to support candidates they believe they can communicate with and who will take a “rational approach” to issues.

Ruby Jones is a Republican running for House District 23, representing Eagle River in the state House of Representatives, in the 2026 election. (Photo provided by the candidate)

The AFL-CIO at its convention last month announced plans to spend more than half a million dollars supporting legislative candidates hoping to join a bipartisan coalition in 2026. Jones was one of more than seven House candidates on the list of bipartisan-inclined candidates running to win seats currently held by Republican minority caucus members.

Jones topped the list of planned recipients, with the group pledging to spend $100,000 to support her campaign in independent expenditures.

Leading up to the primary, Jones far outpaced other candidates in fundraising, bringing in just over $64,000 since February, including thousands from various labor organizations. That pot also includes a donation from an executive linked to Eklutna gaming hall, who put $20,000 toward Jones’ campaign just days before the primary.

Jones has spent $23,000 on her campaign in the same period.

Allard has raised the second-largest sum, bringing in a total of $27,000 since January 2025, spending about $9,500 in that same time frame.

Jones has not committed to a particular House caucus if elected, but said she would likely join a majority caucus. She said that her final decision would depend on the makeup of the Legislature and who succeeds Gov. Mike Dunleavy after the 2026 gubernatorial election.

“I would say it’s likely that I will be in the majority, because I believe that we should not leave Eagle River and our district and Republican values for our district off the table and out of the conversation and in irrelevance,” Jones said.

A coalition has led the state Senate since January 2023, and the state House followed suit in January 2025, led by a majority caucus made up of Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans.

Based on the primary election results, the bipartisan coalition could emerge stronger in 2027. Coalition-minded candidates led in several key primary races, and candidates who said they would join a bipartisan coalition raised nearly twice as much as candidates aligned with the Republican minority.

Arlington stays in race despite pressure to drop out

Arlington, a Democrat, is making a second run against Allard in one of the state’s more conservative districts.

In the August primary, he finished second, about eight points behind Allard. Arlington, president of the Alaska Natural Gas Corp. and a former member of the Anchorage School Board, said he was contacted by several labor organizations who asked him to leave the race to consolidate support behind Jones, but he declined.

“I said, ‘I’m by far the best candidate for the job,’ so I’m energized for the race. I think the results speak for themselves that I’m the one that’s best positioned to beat the incumbent, and that seems to be what most people are interested in, is taking the incumbent out of office,” Arlington said.

He said he sees the results of the primary as an indication that he is well-positioned to take on Allard in the general election.

Jim Arlington is a Democrat running for House District 23, representing Eagle River in the state House of Representatives, in the 2026 election. (Photo provided by the candidate)

Arlington said that when he goes door-to-door, Republicans, independents and Democrats alike tell him they are ready for a change.

In his campaign, Arlington has focused on addressing the high cost of living, and funding public education. He has also called for upgrades to the Railbelt energy grid and investments in energy efficiency and alternative power sources to help reduce utility costs.

He said he sees his political party as less important than his views on policy, and that he would be more willing to consider positions from both sides rather than approach issues strictly through a partisan lens.

Arlington has raised $13,000 since February, spending slightly over half that sum on his campaign in the same period.

Hammermeister rejects claims that he is a ‘red herring’

Hammermeister, a Democrat, finished fifth in the primary with 5.8% of the vote, but moved into fourth place after Capozzi withdrew. He is not endorsed by the Alaska Democratic Party and has raised just $120 for his campaign, entirely self-funded.

Lee Hammermeister is a Democrat running for House District 23, representing Eagle River in the state House of Representatives, in the 2026 election. (Photo provided by the candidate)

Hammermeister has been involved in Eagle River community organizations for nearly a decade, including the local road board and community council as well as Eaglexit, the movement seeking to separate Eagle River from the Municipality of Anchorage.

His main campaign points include supporting increased funding for public schools, as well as speeding up permitting for public projects and private development.

Arlington accused Hammermeister of only running as a Democrat only to siphon votes from Arlington and benefit Allard, calling him a “red herring — no pun intended,” joking about the accusations that Hammermeister is a Republican.

Similar claims arose when Hammermeister ran in 2024 for the state Senate seat now held by Sen. Kelly Merrick, a bipartisan coalition-inclined Republican. Some local Democrats expressed skepticism two years ago about the sincerity of his campaign because Hammermeister co-hosted a fundraiser for Allard in 2023.

Hammermeister was also a contractor working for the effort to repeal Alaska’s open primary election system in 2024, which was opposed by the Alaska Democratic Party.

But Hammermeister has rejected claims that he is a “false flag” or fake Democrat, and said that he signed up to help with Allard’s fundraiser before he knew he wanted to get involved in state government.

“It’s just hearsay from people that have never run into me. So I don’t really think those are reliable sources for any kind of political analysis of myself, my character, or what I have to offer the community,” Hammermeister said.