Politics

Former Fairbanks borough mayor challenges John Coghill for Senate

Former Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Luke Hopkins is running for state Senate.

Hopkins, a Democrat, filed paperwork Friday that allows him to begin raising money for a bid against incumbent Senate Majority Leader John Coghill, R-North Pole.

Hopkins finished two three-year terms as borough mayor in October. Last month, state lawmakers narrowly approved his appointment by Gov. Bill Walker to the board of the state corporation charged with developing a natural gas pipeline from the North Slope, the Alaska Gasline Development Corp.

Hopkins, in a phone interview Friday afternoon, said he would step down from the board if he's elected.

"I would hope that the governor would be able to appoint someone else if I am successful in this campaign," he said. "That's how those things migrate along."

Coghill won his last campaign, in 2012, with 60 percent of the vote. Democrat Joe Thomas got 39 percent.

Nathaniel Herz

Anchorage-based independent journalist Nathaniel Herz has been a reporter in Alaska for nearly a decade, with stints at the Anchorage Daily News and Alaska Public Media. Read his newsletter, Northern Journal, at natherz.substack.com

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