MCAN founder to run for Don Young’s seat in Congress

Juneau man Greg Fitch poses for a portrait in Juneau on June 8, 2017. Fitch filed paperwork to run for Republican Don Young's seat in Congress in 2018. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)
Greg Fitch poses for a portrait in Juneau on Thursday. Fitch filed paperwork to run for Republican Don Young’s seat in Congress in 2018. (Photo by Jeremy Hsieh/KTOO)

Greg Fitch, founder of the Juneau-based Mental Health Consumer Action Network, has filed to run for Republican Don Young’s seat in Congress.

Fitch, 47, is a Democrat. According to the Alaska Division of Elections, he’s the third person to file for the 2018 election.

Longtime incumbent Don Young and political newcomer Dimitri Shein of Anchorage are the other candidates.

Young, 83, has held Alaska’s sole seat in the U.S. House since 1973.

Shein, 36, is an Anchorage CPA and businessman running as a Democrat.

Fitch had resigned on May 24 as executive director of his fledgling nonprofit. At the time, he said he intended to run for Republican Dan Sullivan’s U.S. Senate seat in 2020, but says he is no longer pursuing that.

Part of Fitch and MCAN’s ethos is to destigmatize mental illness. Fitch says he has schizoaffective disorder. Before founding MCAN last year, he’d worked as a community organizer with ACORN in the Lower 48.

Correction: In an earlier version of this story, Dimitri Shein was misidentified as having no party affiliation. Shein is running as a Democrat.

Jeremy Hsieh

Local News Reporter, KTOO

I dig into questions about the forces and institutions that shape Juneau, big and small, delightful and outrageous. What stirs you up about how Juneau is built and how the city works?

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