Longtime Juneau Board of Education member Andi Story will run to represent the Mendenhall Valley in the Alaska State Legislature.
Story confirmed Thursday morning that she plans to run as a Democrat for House District 34. The incumbent, Rep. Justin Parish, is not running for re-election.
So far, Juneau Deputy Mayor Jerry Nankervis has announced he will run as a Republican, and city Assembly member Rob Edwardson also intends to run as an independent.
Parish endorsed his former chief of staff, Edwardson, for the job when he announced he would not seek re-election.
Story has served five terms on the school board since first winning a seat in 2003. She’s also on the board of the Alaska Association of School Boards and served as president in 2016.
At a campaign event outside the Mendenhall Valley Public Library on Thursday, Story spoke about the need for a strong fiscal plan from the Legislature.
She said her years of community involvement and as an education advocate at the statewide level have helped her become a good listener and learner.
“I really think I have a lot of connections up at the Capitol building, and a lot of connections statewide and I know that’s going to be really important for getting things done,” Story said after addressing supporters.
She also wants to see education take a higher priority, especially when it comes to increasing the amount of per-student funding schools receive.
“Education is a key issue for Alaska,” she said. “It’s a key issue if you’re in business, it’s a key issue if you want to innovate, it’s a key issue for our communities.”
Edwardson will face Story in the Democratic primary. He said Thursday he welcomes the competition.
“People should have a choice and hopefully it’ll expand the discussions over subjects that might not have been covered before,” Edwardson said.
State primaries are Aug. 21. The general election is Nov. 6.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Edwardson is running as a Democrat. In fact, he is running in the Democratic primary as an independent.
Jeremy Hsieh contributed to this report.
