A sign, seen on Sept. 12, 2024, marks South Anchorage’s Oceanview neighborhood. House District 10 encompasses Oceanview and other neighborhoods, along with the Dimond Center. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Two Republican candidates with legislative experience present contrasting visions for representing a South Anchorage district.
Rep. Craig Johnson, a businessman who was first elected to the House in 2006 and currently chairs the powerful House Rules Committee, is being challenged by Chuck Kopp, who served in the House from 2017 to 2020 after retiring from a law enforcement career.
The matchup in House District 10 , which encompasses the leafy Oceanview and Klatt neighborhoods, the Dimond Center – Alaska’s largest shopping mall — and other spaces, would not have been possible without the ballot initiative that ushered in ranked choice voting in Alaska. That initiative, in addition to authorizing a ranking system, mandated open primaries. Even though Kopp and Johnson were the only candidates on the primary election ballot, both advanced to the general election.