OPINION: John Coghill is the congressman Alaska needs

What does Alaska most need from our sole representative in Congress? Many of us are asking this question. We have strong candidates vying for the job and we can be thankful for the choices and caliber of most who seek to replace the late Congressman Young. I would submit to you that the statesman and leader Alaska most needs in these volatile days is former Alaska Sen.John Coghill.

A cursory observation of our national culture shows much of our citizenry to be embroiled in political chaos with rapidly increasing partisan divide on issues of social equity, COVID-19 policy, immigration, climate change, election integrity, gun control and abortion. Social media is helping channel and drive partisan rage to ever increasing heights as software algorithms select out and select in the information users want to see.

The fallout is our deep mistrust of one another, violent political divisiveness, and censorship by right and left ideologies. This is the environment Alaska’s new member of Congress will step into and it is not one that will be kind to inexperience and a lack of battle tested readiness.

The first time I saw John Coghill was at the Capitol Building in Juneau, where he was serving as the representative (and later senator) from North Pole. John wore an easy, warm smile and greeted me with a radio-quality baritone voice that carried up and down the halls of the Capitol. I left our first few minutes of conversation not a little surprised by the sincerity and warmth he displayed to me.

In the weeks, months, and years that followed, I learned his genuineness and generosity of heart was no pretense. Our relationship grew from colleague to friendship. I experienced who John Coghill is up close. As a leader in the Alaska Senate, in his daily duties, and as a confidant sharing both joy and sorrow.

John was willing to tackle the heaviest policy lifts many legislators were too fearful to undertake. From the most intractable state fiscal challenges to the homeless, abandoned and throwaways of society, John was willing to put his shoulder to the wheel and doggedly work toward a consensus that would move Alaska forward. He weathered criticism with grace and accepted praise with a humble heart.

John may have grown up as the son of Jack Coghill, framer of our state constitution and Alaskan leader, but today he is well regarded in his own right as one of the most effective elected leaders our state has known. He is a tenacious defender and advocate of our citizens’ freedoms of land and water access, responsible resource development, and protection of our civil liberties.

Only a handful of Alaska leaders can compare to the breadth and value of his service which includes being a Vietnam-era Air Force veteran, 22 years in the Alaska Legislature, Gov. Frank Murkowski’s appointee to the Alaska-Canada Transboundary Commission, and leadership roles on the Citizens Advisory Council on Federal Areas, Pacific NorthWest Economic Region, Council of State Governments, and a representative of Alaska seafood with ASMI at the Boston Seafood Expo.

Yet it is not John Coghill’s impressive service to Alaska but his heart to restore broken lives and give people hope and a purpose that he is best known for by his friends and colleagues. He is a healer in word and deed. He sees those who view things differently from him as people of equal worth, not as the enemy. Today, John continues to invest his life in other people as executive director of the Fairbanks Rescue Mission, where, for many, hope begins.

For this time, who does Alaska need to represent us in Washington? Some may want a celebrity, some may desire an unyielding party purist, and some may want unproven and untested youth. I believe Alaska needs John Coghill. A strong leader of experience and principle, who conducts his affairs with civility and integrity, and who understands why the world holds Alaska in wonder.

Wes Keller is a former Alaska State House representative from Wasilla.

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