Youth movement surges through Alaska Republican Party convention

It’s been eight years since the Alaska Republican Party has had an in-person state convention during a presidential election year. The 2020 convention was held on a Zoom call due to the Covid pandemic, and, as with others around the country, was only memorable because it was forgettable.

In those eight years, the party has churned through four chairmen — Peter Goldberg, Tuckerman Babcock, Glenn Clary, and Ann Brown.

This year, the election of party officers was electrifying in that it trended younger. A new generation is taking over. At the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage, where some 300 delegates gathered this weekend to conduct party business, the younger generation answered the call to serve.

The candidates for the chairmanship included Nikki Rose, who was the first of the four to declare her intention to run for chair last fall. Others were Carmela Warfield, party Vice Chairman Mike Robbins, and a few weeks ago former state Sen. Jerry Ward declared his nomination. But Carmela Warfield won in a landslide, with about 59% of the vote.

Warfield is 49 years old, one of the youngest party chairs to preside over the Alaska Republicans in years. She is a veteran of volunteer work at the grassroots level, and as a member and president of the Hillside Community Council. She is 20 years younger than outgoing Chairwoman Ann Brown and immediate past chair Glenn Clary. While Brown has been in party leadership for a decade, Clary left the state for career opportunity, allowing Brown, then vice chairwoman, to become chair for the past three years.

Zackary Gottshall, the newly elected vice chairman, is also a quarter century younger than outgoing Vice Chair Robbins, now in his 60s. Gottshall is a veteran of the U.S. Army, in which he served as an intelligence officer. He is the chairman of the Alaska Human Rights Commission. He’s newer to party politics, where Robbins has been involved for years, and was the inaugural chairman for the Trump victory party in 2016 in Washington, D.C.

Trevor Shaw of Ketchikan, who was elected as Alaska Republican Party secretary, is 28, having been born when Democrat Bill Clinton was president. Shaw has been serving as the party’s assistant secretary, and served as parliamentarian during the two-day convention. Shaw has been involved with the Republican Party for a decade and was once the youngest elected member of the Ketchikan School Board.

Brian Hove, the new National Committeeman, is a decade younger than outgoing committeeman, former Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell, who has served for the past two years after the retirement of Mike Tauriainen. Hove has been the party’s regional representative for the Region 4-Anchorage of the ARP and is on the State Executive Committee.

Cynthia Henry of Fairbanks, National Committeewoman for the past decade, was not challenged for her position, and will continue serving on the RNC. She will provide the continuity and historical perspective for all the young Republicans emerging in party leadership roles.

The youth movement was characterized by Talkeetna resident Ryan Sheldon, who is related to former party vice chairman Frank McQueary. Sheldon, 25, led the room in the singing of the National Anthem and the Alaska Flag Song at the outset of the convention, wowing the crowd with his confident and tone-perfect performance.

Sheldon is the newly elected chair of the District 30 Republicans. His district stretches from Port MacKenzie to Healy and Anderson. Overheard among convention-goers were comments about Sheldon being a rising star in Alaska politics, someone who has what it takes to make a great governor some day. Sheldon led the Campaign and Finance committee at the convention and will be involved in fundraising going forward.

Jason Warfield, husband of Chairwoman Carmela Warfield, stepped down as Finance chairman but he will raise money for candidates and will stay involved.

Kevin Fimon, longtime campaign treasurer for candidates such as Gov. Mike Dunleavy, is the new treasurer for the party, replacing Rhonda Boyles, who will serve as assistant treasurer.

Ryan McKee, of Alaska Young Republicans, is the new Finance chairman. He has been leading the state’s grassroots youth efforts in Alaska for a decade, beginning with College Republicans, Anchorage Young Republicans, and Mat-Su Young Republicans. He also was state director for Americans for Prosperity and serves on the national board of Young Republicans.

The Saturday keynote speaker was Nick Begich, candidate for U.S. House, and he was another example of the younger generation of the Alaska Republican Party who are ascending.

Begich, 46, received an overwhelming level of support from the convention, with people cheering and clapping repeatedly during his 45-minute address and question-and-answer period, all given without notes or script.

Nancy Dahlstrom, Alaska’s lieutenant governor, age 66, had been the keynote speaker on Friday night, and was received with a polite and respectful response from the party, even though she is endorsed by House Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Gov. Mike Dunleavy, and others.

The convention positive energy was exemplified by Nick Begich at the Alaska Republican Party convention, as members of the convention wore Begich campaign hats and pins during the entire three days.

The convention approved the slate of 29 delegates who will attend the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in July, where Donald Trump will presumably be formally nominated as the party’s nominee.

Those delegates include: Cynthia Henry, National Committeewoman, Craig Campbell, National Committeeman, Sheryl Yelsley, Barbara Tyndall, Cheryl Markwood, Patty Wise, George Hall, Kevin Hall, Leona Oberts, Robert Wall, Bryan Scoresby, DeLena Johnson, Earl Lackey, George Rauscher, Robert Hall, Ryan McKee, Dave Bronson, Dave Donley, Dawn Linton Warren, Jamie Allard, Jason Warfield, John Powers, Loran Baxter, Mikaela Emswiler, Portia Erickson, Robin Billet, Tetyana Robbins, and Zack Young. If any of those cannot attend, there are alternates in the queue. Chairwoman Warfield is an automatic delegate as well.

Portia Erickson, who is vice chairwoman of Anchorage Republican Women’s Club, is the delegation chairwoman. Trevor Shaw is the aide for the delegation going to Republican National Convention.

Also chosen during the convention were the three electors for the Alaska Republican Party. Those are the three who will cast the Electoral College vote for Alaska, after the November election is certified. The electors are Ron Johnson of the Mat-Su Valley, Rick Whitbeck of Anchorage, Eileen Becker of Homer, and alternate elector Gloria Shriver of Anchorage.

The delegates on Saturday voted on numerous resolutions that came out of committees that had met the day before. They included everything from the sanctity of life to the support for commonsense energy policy.

ARP Chairwoman Carmela Warfield said the positive energy that built during the convention was one of its most notable characteristics.

“I feel like we’ve worked hard to bring our young Republican alongside our more experienced Republicans to bring our party together and move into the future,” she said, adding that one of her goals when she ran for party chair is to follow President Ronald Reagan’s 11th commandment: Thou shall not speak ill of a fellow Republican.

From her website set up earlier this spring to promote her candidacy for chair, Warfield says, “The Alaska Republican Party must focus its efforts to expand its reach and membership, including recruiting new and younger members who share our core values and principles …”

On Sunday morning, Must Read Alaska reached out to Warfield, who expressed her appreciation for everyone who participated in the convention and said that she will work hard to bring the party together in a positive way.