Wolf wants to give voters a choice

  • By KAYLEE OSOWSKI
  • Thursday, August 14, 2014 9:34pm
  • News

Local elected official Kelly Wolf, R-Kenai, is running for Lt. Governor.

Wolf said he decided to run to give voters a choice and because too much of state representation comes from Anchorage and the Matanuska Valley.

“I believe in the electoral process and that the people should have a choice,” he said.

Wolf, 52, currently represents the Kalifornsky District for the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly and was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 2002, serving one term.

“The Lt. Governor is a representative of the people and I’ve always … tried to honor and respect that my voice is a representation of what the people want,” he said.

In the primary election on Tuesday, Wolf and Dan Sullivan, R-Anchorage, current Anchorage mayor, will appear on the Republican ballot. Hollis French and Bob Williams are running as Democrats, and Andrew Lee is running for the Libertarian party.

Wolf said he didn’t think he would be elected to House of Representatives in 2002 and isn’t fully confident of his chances in being elected as Lt. Governor.

But said he has counted only 11 campaign signs for Sullivan in Southcentral Alaska. Wolf said he has been meeting with different groups and participating in speaking engagements about his candidacy.

Wolf, a retired contractor, said he doesn’t claim to be a politician. As a teenager, he and his family moved to Alaska in 1975. He currently serves as a board member of Friends of Athletes with Disabilities and the Friendship Mission homeless shelter and board chair and project coordinator for Youth Restoration Corps, an organization he co-founded with his wife.

Wolf and his wife, Vera, have four grown children. Ryan, who has Down syndrome, works at Fred Meyer. Josh served with the U.S. Army and is going to school to become a diesel mechanic. Justin is serving with the U.S. Air Force. Salena will begin college working toward a career as a registered nurse.

His experience in working with youth through YRC, which mentors youth through community-based projects, is a benefit. Working with youth to get them job experience, teach habitat restoration and provide job experience is one of his focuses, he said.

“I’ve always believed in our youth and I feel very strongly that our youth can do just about anything,” he said.

He is also concerned about issues seniors and veterans are facing.

Wolf said he is in favor of Senate Bill 21, against the legalization of marijuana in Alaska and is not supportive of abortion.

Kaylee Osowski can be reached at kaylee.osowski@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

Girl Scout Troop 210, which includes Caitlyn Eskelin, Emma Hindman, Kadie Newkirk and Lyberty Stockman, present their “Bucket Trees” to a panel of judges in the 34th Annual Caring for the Kenai Competition at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska, on Thursday, April 18, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Bucket trees take top award at 34th Caring for the Kenai

A solution to help campers safely and successfully extinguish their fires won… Continue reading

Children work together to land a rainbow trout at the Kenai Peninsula Sport, Rec & Trade Show on Saturday, May 6, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Sport show returns next weekend

The 37th Annual Kenai Peninsula Sport, Rec & Trade Show will be… Continue reading

Alaska Press Club awards won by Ashlyn O’Hara, Jeff Helminiak and Jake Dye are splayed on a desk in the Peninsula Clarion’s newsroom in Kenai, Alaska, on Monday, April 22, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Clarion writers win 9 awards at Alaska Press Club conference

The Clarion swept the club’s best arts and culture criticism category for the 2nd year in a row

Exit Glacier, as seen in August 2015 from the Harding Icefield Trail in Kenai Fjords National Park just outside of Seward, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
6 rescued after being stranded in Harding Ice Field

A group of six adult skiers were rescued after spending a full… Continue reading

City of Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel and City Manager Terry Eubank present “State of the City” at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Mayor, city manager share vision at Kenai’s ‘State of the City’

At the Sixth Annual State of the City, delivered by City of… Continue reading

LaDawn Druce asks Sen. Jesse Bjorkman a question during a town hall event on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
District unions call for ‘walk-in’ school funding protest

The unions have issued invitations to city councils, the borough assembly, the Board of Education and others

tease
House District 6 race gets 3rd candidate

Alana Greear filed a letter of intent to run on April 5

Kenai City Hall is seen on Feb. 20, 2020, in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Victoria Petersen/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai water treatment plant project moves forward

The city will contract with Anchorage-based HDL Engineering Consultants for design and engineering of a new water treatment plant pumphouse

Students of Soldotna High School stage a walkout in protest of the veto of Senate Bill 140 in front of their school in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
SoHi students walk out for school funding

The protest was in response to the veto of an education bill that would have increased school funding

Most Read