Editor's note: The below excerpt from this interview is not the full transcript and has been lightly edited for clarity and length. Listen to the full interview with Shelley Hughes by clicking on the audio link.
Shelley Hughes: "Hello Kodiak residents, I'm Shelly Hughes, and I am running for governor because I think it is very important for us to have a vibrant future, and frankly, I'm concerned we're losing too many young people and things have become quite unaffordable. So, I want to tackle that from the ground up, and I'm full of pragmatic solutions. I welcome everyone to look at my website, alaskansforHughes.com. I abhor one-line slogans, I abhor empty promises, and there are very specific things that we can do, an action plan, and I'm ready to get to work. I've lived here 50 years, and I have a handle on the issues from serving four years in the House and eight years in the Senate. Good relationships across the board, both with Republicans and Democrats, and I'm ready to get to work.
Katherine Irving, KMXT: For Kodiak, the big topic that people are interested in is fishing, and so there's many commercial fishermen here across gear types, sectors, and industry as a whole is sort of struggling right now. So, I guess, how would you propose addressing some of the issues that are currently plaguing our commercial fishing industry?
Hughes: It's the heart and soul of this community, and it comes with ups and downs, and so I've been listening to the fishermen and some of the concerns they have, [I] am very aware of the challenges currently faced, in regards to trawling. I am blessed to have a person that's on the Board of Fisheries, actually, as part of my team. I have a strong policy team, and we've been looking at the Fish and Game department, and how to make things more fair and balanced and science-based. And I'll take the opportunity, because I have my lieutenant governor running mate ….and I'm proud and really happy that retired Brigadier General Blake Gettys agreed to come on board.
Blake Gettys, Lt. Gov. candidate: You can't just have winners and losers, you have to have a compromise and make sure that everybody is listened to and taken care of. So that really applies to our fisheries. We have to ensure that one fishery doesn't lose out at the expense of another or gain at the expense of another fishery. So I'm very interested. I'm not very knowledgeable yet on the commercial side, but I have been asking a lot of questions on the commercial side.
KMXT: Our next question is related to our ferry system, which is another big aspect of Kodiak. It's vital for our transportation, especially in the summer. So, what is your stance on the Alaska Marine Highway system as a whole? How would you support it or change it?
Hughes: Well, having lived in Southeast Alaska, I understand the importance of the ferry system. It has the word highway in it for a reason. I think we have, there have been task force and recommendations that I don't think we have really taken seriously and move forward, and I think we have to look at the solutions that are going to be able to get the system moving, where you can have smaller vessels, maybe more frequent passenger services, larger vessels for the vehicles, and do our best to increase the schedule. And I remember years ago, in the 70s and the 80s, you’d get on the ferry, and you'd want to hurry and get on, so you can actually get a place to sit, because there would be so many people on the ferry. We don't see as many tourists on the ferries, and I think if we could promote that, a public-private partnership with the ferries also might be a solution.
KMXT: And moving on to education, as far as education funding goes in our state, what do you think is an appropriate amount of funding for the base student allocation?
Hughes: I'm not going to name a particular number. My concern is that I look at the academic outcomes, and the entire time I served, I focused on that. In schools across the state, the average proficiency, that means the kids that are on grade level statewide, it's only 30%. That's dismal. In some schools, it's as low as five to 10% That's not acceptable. There have been court cases on that... You have to target to instructional strategies that are proven and that worked. And so actually the Reads Act was originally my bill, which I strategized to be put into a committee bill, which then got folded into the governor's bill and became law, and that's beginning to help our kindergarten through third graders. I also introduced the Math Act before I left, and now that's being carried by Senator Robert Myers and Representative Jubilee Underwood. So, when we target the funds toward things like that, it will actually help our children.
KMXT: And you kind of touched on this at the beginning, but the cost of living in rural Alaska is high and continues to increase with fuel, groceries, and housing prices going up. So, how would you focus on keeping that cost of living down across the state?
Hughes: I'll just say cheap energy underpins everything, so it's going to impact what it costs to run our schools. It impacts the cost of groceries, every good and service, so that's going to help fundamentally over time.
I do want to say, just because we are looking at across the state, because of the Iran conflict and the Strait of Hormuz, in some of our rural villages we're very concerned about the diesel being able to get to those villages in the very narrow time window, as far as getting up river, and so we may be looking at some tough decisions. And even in Southcentral and the gas situation, we may hit a point where there's need for brownouts, hopefully not blackouts, if we have a couple of severe winters before we have gas, that we're going to have the quantity that we need. So, one of the things no one's really talking about is going to take leadership, and Blake and I are that team to handle dealing with that kind of situation, bringing all the utilities to the table, bringing the producers to the table, bringing the local governments to the table."
The primary election is Aug. 18 and the top four candidates, regardless of party affiliation, will advance from there to the general election on Nov. 3. Here is a full list of all gubernatorial candidates running in this year's election as of this month:
- Gregg Brelsford (Independent)
- Former state Sen. Tom Begich (Democrat)
- Former state Sen. Click Bishop (Republican), and Lt. Gov. candidate Greta Schuerch
- Former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson (Republican) and Lt. Gov. candidate Josh Church
- Former state revenue commissioner Adam Crum (Republican)
- Current state Sen. Matt Claman (Democrat)
- Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom (Republican)
- Matanuska-Susitna Borough Mayor Edna DeVries (Republican)
- Organizer Meda DeWitt (Independent)
- Kasilof resident Jessica Faircloth (Independent)
- Anchorage podiatrist and state medical board member Matt Heilala (Republican)
- Former state Sen. Shelley Hughes (Republican), and Lt. Gov. candidate Blake Gettys
- Former state Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (Democrat)
- Author Hank Kroll (Registered Republican) and Lt. Gov. candidate Tommy Nicholson
- Angoon resident and former teacher James William Parkin IV (Republican)
- Former Attorney General Treg Taylor (Republican)
- Palmer resident Bruce Walden (Republican)
- Businesswoman Bernadette Wilson (Republican) and Lt. Gov. candidate Mike Shower
