Rep. Gary Knopp, R-Kenai, talks to the media about his nomination for Speaker of the House in this February 2019 photo. Knopp died July, 31, in a plane crash near his home town. (Michael Penn/ Juneau Empire File)

Rep. Gary Knopp, R-Kenai, talks to the media about his nomination for Speaker of the House in this February 2019 photo. Knopp died July, 31, in a plane crash near his home town. (Michael Penn/ Juneau Empire File)

Knopp’s name to remain on Aug. 18 primary ballot

Should he win, the Alaska Republican Party will be able to petition for a replacement candidate.

By Becky Bohrer

Associated Press

JUNEAU — The late-Rep. Gary Knopp’s name will appear on the Aug. 18 primary ballot, and should he win, the Alaska Republican Party will be able to petition for a replacement candidate, a Department of Law spokesperson said.

Knopp, a Kenai Republican who was seeking a third term in the state House, was among seven people killed in what authorities described as a midair collision Friday between two airplanes on the Kenai Peninsula. Knopp was a member of the House’s budget-writing committee and seen as a key figure in the formation of a bipartisan House majority in 2019, for which he faced criticism from members of his own party. The House majority, largely composed of Democrats, includes independents and some Republicans.

Early voting started Monday. Besides Knopp, the Republican primary for House District 30 includes Kelly Wolf and Ronald “Ron” Gillham. Should Knopp win the primary, Maria Bahr, a Department of Law spokesperson, noted that state law lays out a process by which the party can petition to have a replacement nominee on the November general election ballot. A non-affiliated candidate, James Baisden, already qualified for the general election, according to the Division of Elections’ website.

Meanwhile, arguments in a lawsuit alleging discrimination by state elections officials over the unprompted mailing of absentee ballot applications to voters 65 and older are not scheduled until after the primary. The complaint, which was transferred from state to federal court, initially sought to have applications sent to all registered voters for the primary and general elections. Jason Harrow, executive director and chief counsel with Equal Citizens, a group involved in the case, said the litigants have taken the state “at its word that there is no way to send out an additional large mailing of absentee ballot applications and process them in time for the primary election.”

More in News

Syverine Bentz, coastal training program coordinator for the Kachemak Bay Research Reserve, displays a board of ideas during a Local Solutions meeting focused on salmon at the Cook Inletkeeper Community Action Studio in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
In search of salmon solutions

Cook Inletkeeper hosts meeting to develop community project to help salmon.

Lisa Gabriel, left, watches as beach seine nets are pulled from the waters of Cook Inlet at a test site for the gear near Kenai, Alaska, on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
CFEC to consider seines for east side setnet fishery

The change is contingent on the State Board of Fisheries approving the gear during their March meeting.

A map of 2025 construction projects scheduled for the Kenai Peninsula. (Provided by Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities)
Department of Transportation announces construction plans

Most of the projects include work to various major highways.

Seward City Hall is seen under cloudy skies in Seward, Alaska, on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward adds full-time staffer for recently restarted teen rec room

Seward’s Parks and Recreation Department reclaimed responsibility for teen programming at the start of this year.

Gavin Ley stands with the “Go-Shopping Kart” he designed and built in his career and technical education courses at Nikiski Middle/High School in Nikiski, Alaska, on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski students learn professional skills through technical education

Career and technical education gives students opportunity to learn skills, express themselves creatively, work cooperatively and make decisions.

Nikiski teachers, students and parents applaud Nikiski Middle/High Principal Mike Crain as he’s recognized as the Alaska Association of Secondary School Principals 2025 Region III Principal of the Year by the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education during their meeting in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Feb. 3, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski principal named Region III principal of the year

Crain has served as Nikiski’s principal for three years.

An 86 pound Kenai River king salmon is measured in Soldotna, Alaska, on June 29, 1995. (M. Scott Moon/Peninsula Clarion File)
Kenai River king salmon fishing closed entirely for 3rd year

Kenai River king salmon were designated a stock of management concern in 2023.

The Kenai Peninsula College Main Entrance on Aug. 18, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
University of Alaska Board of Regents to meet in Soldotna

The last time the board met on the Kenai Peninsula was April 2012.

Kenai Peninsula Borough School District Board of Education member Penny Vadla and student representative Emerson Kapp speak to the joint Alaska House and Senate education committees in Juneau, Alaska, on Monday, Feb. 10, 2025. (Screenshot courtesy Gavel Alaska/KTOO)
KPBSD among dozens of districts to deliver in-person testimony to Alaska Legislature

Districts spotlighted programs already lost over years of stagnant funding that hasn’t met inflationary pressure.

Most Read