Democratic incumbent Rep. Andi Story now has an opponent in the race for her current seat in the state House: Annette Kreitzer, Haines’ former borough manager.
The Juneau Independent reported earlier this week that Kreitzer filed as a Republican to run for the District 3 seat. The seat represents Haines, Skagway, Gustavus and parts of North Juneau.
If elected, Kreitzer said she would focus on issues ranging from public safety to the state’s budget issues. In an interview Wednesday, she said that her opponent, Story, has paid a lot of attention to boosting public education funding.
“I think we have to have a concurrent conversation about how we raise the funds to do that,” Kreitzer said. “If you’re all in for a full permit fund dividend, for return to defined benefits, for funding for education, for transportation, for ferries, where is that coming from?”
Kreitzer said the answer is responsible resource development.
“I think we have an opportunity with the Trump administration, whether people agree with Trump or don’t agree with Trump,” she said. “The fact of the matter is that he is more interested in promoting resource development than I think the Biden administration was, especially on behalf of the state of Alaska.”
Most recently, Kreitzer served as Haines’ top administrator. Kreitzer stayed in the role from 2021 until 2024, when she resigned just before her contract ended.
Earlier that year, Kreitzer had received low marks during an evaluation by the borough assembly after a series of significant blunders by borough staff, the Chilkat Valley News reported at the time.
The low marks were due to what some say was a pattern of neglecting to consult with or seek approval from the assembly on controversial matters. She also received low marks on providing elected officials with important information in a timely manner.
Kreitzer said she was trying to be efficient amid understaffing and wanted to ensure she had the full picture before bringing anything to the assembly.
“You have to keep moving, otherwise projects would come to a complete standstill,” she said.
Kreitzer acknowledged one high-profile instance when she sat on some information for too long.
That was when she said she learned that Turnagain Marine, a contractor hired to rebuild Haines’ freight dock, had purchased $10 million worth of steel without required approvals.
Kreitzer was about to leave for vacation, and she waited until she returned to inform the assembly.
“Was it a mistake on my part to not tell them before I left? Yes, I wish I had,” she said. “But it didn’t ultimately change anything.”
Then-Assembly Member Natalie Dawson disagreed with that characterization. She said the delayed information opened the borough up to financial and legal liability. Litigation over who will pay for the steel is still ongoing.
“Had we known right away that steel had been purchased and it was done unauthorized, we would have immediately paused work until we figured it out,” Dawson said.
In the end, Kreitzer said she resigned due to poor relationships with some assembly members and a general lack of forward progress.
“Every meeting was, you know, some kind of circus,” she said. “I just decided I’m going to let them continue on.”
Prior to Kreitzer’s stint in Haines, she worked as a legislative aide, a chief of staff for Alaska Lt. Gov. Loren Leman, and commissioner for the Department of Administration under two Republican governors.
Rep. Story first took office in 2019 and now is running for a fifth term. The former social worker told KTOO in May that she’s running again because there’s more she wants to accomplish.
If reelected, she said her priorities would include public education funding and boosting the housing supply.
