Alaska Board of Fisheries member files to run for Kenai Peninsula House seat held by Seaton

JUNEAU — A member of the Alaska Board of Fisheries is challenging one of the leaders of the state House majority coalition in the Republican primary election in August.

Robert Ruffner, the longtime leader of a Kenai Peninsula conservation group, said Thursday he would run against Homer Rep. Paul Seaton, co-chair of the House Finance Committee and one of three Republicans in the House coalition's leadership.

Seaton enraged Alaska GOP leaders by joining the mostly Democratic coalition in 2016, and he's been criticized by some Republicans for supporting taxes as a way to help close the state's massive deficit.

Ruffner, who lives south of Soldotna, said he was asked to run by Republican women's groups in Seaton's Kenai Peninsula district. But he added that he's motivated less by Seaton's policy ideas than by his inability to get them passed into law.

"When I come to Juneau, I walk the halls. I hear a very consistent message from a very diverse group of legislators that it's very difficult to work with him and actually try to get something done," Ruffner said in a phone interview Thursday. "I really think that I can be more effective."

Seaton, first elected in 2002, hasn't seen his tax proposals voted into law.

But he pointed to his work on fisheries issues and, in his capacity as finance committee co-chair, on drafting the state's operating budget and "making sure that people get the services they need to maintain the state."

"I think that I've been very effective on lots of issues over the years," he said.

Seaton faced a primary challenge in 2016 from the former mayor of Homer, Beth Wythe. Wythe's campaign drew support from a Republican super PAC backed by business interests, but Seaton still won decisively.

Ruffner used to direct the Kenai Watershed Forum, a conservation group that worked with both fishermen and developers.

He was first appointed to the Fish Board by Gov. Bill Walker in 2015, but the Legislature voted against confirming him. He was confirmed in 2016 after Walker appointed him a second time.

Ruffner's term runs through June 2019, and he said he plans to stay in his seat until sworn into office, if he's elected.

Ruffner was registered as a Democrat until 2015, when he was going through the Fish Board confirmation process and became an independent. He joined the Republican Party a year later.

Ruffner said he would be unlikely to join a mostly Democratic coalition like the one that currently controls the House, though he said he'd be open to joining a more balanced group. He also said he could run for Seaton's seat as an independent, depending on how many Republicans enter the primary.

A third Republican, John Cox, has also filed to run for Seaton's House seat.