Former Anchorage Assemblyman Chris Birch is running for the Alaska Legislature.
Birch, 65, a registered Republican who served on the Assembly for nine years, is challenging incumbent Republican Rep. Bob Lynn, 82, in August's primary election for a South Anchorage House seat.
Birch said he was considering a run last year, but was told by Lynn that 2014 would be his last campaign. Lynn, however, has filed for re-election in 2016.
Now, Birch added, "I think the time's right."
"I think there's a real need for focus on some of the fiscal issues facing the state," he said in a phone interview Wednesday. Asked for his view of Lynn's record, Birch responded: "Obviously, I wouldn't be running if I was satisfied with his performance."
Birch on Monday submitted a "letter of intent" to the state's campaign finance regulators that allows him to start fundraising.
Lynn, in a brief phone interview before a Wednesday morning committee hearing, said he never told Birch that 2014 would be his last campaign.
"That is not true. I never told him that," Lynn said. Asked about Birch's candidacy, Lynn responded: "This is America, this is Alaska -- anybody can run for any office that they choose to, so it's up to them, and that's fine."
Birch, an engineer who has worked for NANA Regional Corp., was forced off the Assembly last year by term limits. During nearly a decade in office, he carved out a record as one of the Assembly's more conservative members.
Lynn has been in the Legislature since 2002. He's retired from the U.S. Air Force, and recently published a memoir of his military service, "My Only War," on Amazon.com.
If elected, Birch said he'd first focus on the spending aspect of the state's deficit, and on "remedying" what he described as "a lot of growth in state spending" over the last few years. (The state's inflation-adjusted agency operating budget has not grown in several years.)
But Birch also said he recognizes that the Legislature has a responsibility to balance Alaska's budget, and he said politically unpopular options like spending some of the earnings of the Alaska Permanent Fund should be examined.
"I think everything needs to be on the table," he said.