Muñoz faces Democrat challenger in general election, Kito unopposed

Dennis Egan, Cathy Munoz, Sam Kito
Juneau Sen. Dennis Egan speaks as Reps. Cathy Muñoz and Sam Kito III listen during a meeting between the capital city’s legislative delegation and the Juneau Assembly in 2015. (Photo by Casey Kelly/KTOO)

Three people are running for Juneau’s two House seats in November.

Republican Rep. Cathy Muñoz has a challenger in newcomer Justin Parish. Democratic incumbent Rep. Sam Kito III is unopposed.

Parish, a 33-year-old Democrat, is challenging Muñoz for House District 34, which covers Juneau’s Mendenhall Valley and out the road.

Justin Parish
Justin Parish chats with fellow Democrats during a party meeting on Thursday, May 26, in Juneau. Parish is challenging Republican Rep. Cathy Muñoz for her seat in the legislature. (Photo by Rashah McChesney/KTOO)

It’s the second consecutive term Muñoz has faced a Democratic challenger. She beat her previous opponent with 62 percent of the vote in 2014.

Muñoz, 51, has been in the House for eight years and was on the Juneau Assembly for seven. She says the contested race will benefit Alaskans.

“You know, I can’t really speak to my opponent’s record; I haven’t had the opportunity to sit down and talk with him about his background. But, I think it’s very positive for the public to have a broader discussion of the issues. By having a contested race, I think we afford the public that opportunity.”

Alaska Democratic Party member Parish announced his candidacy during the state convention in May.

He decided to run after learning that no one else would be challenging Muñoz. He says he believes current legislators aren’t doing a good job navigating the state through its budget troubles.

“I really want us to have a functional legislature that serves the needs of the people rather than, you know, sometimes serving the needs of the people and otherwise accommodating major industry and going for ideological instead of practical goals.”

Parish unabashedly wears a large Bernie Sanders pin in support of the far-left Democratic presidential hopeful.

The candidates identify with different parties, but they’re not quite on opposite ends of the political spectrum.

“I absolutely respect the work that many of the legislators have done, but I feel like when you have such a stark imbalance of power, it lends itself to one coalition running roughshod over another and it doesn’t incentivize compromise the way we need in a democratic society,” Parish said.

Rep. Cathy Muñoz (R-Juneau) in her office before the start of the 2016 legislative session. (Photo by Jennifer Canfield/KTOO)
Rep. Cathy Muñoz, R-Juneau, in her office before the start of the 2016 legislative session. (Photo by Jennifer Canfield/KTOO)

Muñoz refuses to weigh in on presidential politics. She says Juneau residents know her as a moderate. She wants to keep the discussion focused on her record. When pressed, she said she likes Abraham Lincoln and supports the politics of U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

“I’ve demonstrated that I have the ability to bring kind of differing sides together. I’m considered the bridge often between kind of the more right and more left factions of the legislature, kind of the ability to find the center and to bring people toward agreement,” she said.

Juneau Democrat Rep. Sam Kito III is the sole candidate for his district. It includes Haines and Skagway.

Kito was appointed to office in 2014 and now represents House District 33. He says he isn’t sure how long he’d like to work as a legislator, but has unfinished business to address during the next legislative sessions.

“I think I anticipated being in as long as I felt like I was being beneficial, useful and doing work that I felt good doing, and I’m still doing that work,” he said. “There are definitely times that it’s challenging, there are definitely times that it’s difficult. But the work, in general, is work that I really enjoy.”

Juneau Sen. Dennis Egan, whose district includes all of Juneau, Haines and Skagway, is not up for re-election this year.

Alaska’s general election is Nov. 8.

Rashah McChesney

Daily News Editor

I help the newsroom establish daily news priorities and do hands-on editing to ensure a steady stream of breaking and enterprise news for a local and regional audience.

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