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Posted on 01/14/2026 7:54:01 AM PST by Angelino97
The Alaskan Independence Party has voted to dissolve following a December meeting of its state leadership, according to a recent statement. Party leaders cited member apathy, confusion over the organization’s purpose, and declining engagement as key factors behind the decision.
The Alaska Watchman first reported earlier this month that the party’s board of directors had met on December 7 in Fairbanks, during which members voted to disband the organization. Following the vote, the board released a brief public statement to local media detailing the reasons behind its decision.
The Alaskan Independence Party was formally established as a political party in 1984 by activist Joe Vogler, emerging out of the earlier Alaskans for Independence organization founded in 1973. The party was built around a platform advocating for greater state sovereignty, opposition to federal land control, and expanded self-determination for Alaska. While often associated with secessionist rhetoric, it treated independence as a long-term objective, with nearer-term goals focused on constitutional limits on federal authority and greater local control over Alaska’s resources.
The party achieved its greatest electoral success in 1990, when Walter Hickel was elected governor of Alaska on its ticket with Jack Coghill as his running mate, resulting in one of the more prominent third party gubernatorial victories in modern U.S. history.
In a copy of its statement, the board said its current officers were elected at the party’s 2024 convention in Fairbanks to focus on outreach efforts that had been “long neglected.” While conducting that work, the board wrote that it found much of the party’s membership to be either disengaged from the party’s goals, believed the organization to be “a branch of the Republican party,” or registered with the party unintentionally.
“The Hickel-Coghill years made the AIP look strong, gaining many registrations and donations,” the statement read. “However, their influence drifted the AIP away from its mission, and in the aftermath of Joe Vogler’s death there was nothing to keep the party directed toward its purpose. The party has for some time been legally alive yet spiritually dead.”
State party leadership has said they have since notified Alaska’s Division of Elections of their intent to dissolve, with Robert Williams, the party’s secretary, stating in a separate report that the decision to go public at the end of the year was intended to give voters clarity heading into the 2026 election cycle. As of January 12, the Division of Elections continues to list the Alaskan Independence Party as a recognized political party, along with the Libertarian, Republican, and Democratic parties.
The decision has prompted responses from some Alaska political figures. In an opinion piece, former Republican state Sen. and current gubernatorial candidate Shelley Hughes called the dissolution “the end of an historic idea,” while calling on Alaskans to continue advocating for self-determination and state sovereignty regardless of party labels. Hughes wrote that the principles long associated with the organization remain central to Alaska’s political identity and that she intends to carry those ideals forward through her 2026 campaign bid.
Former party chair Bob Bird, who led the Alaskan Independence Party from 2020 until he was replaced by John Wayne Howe in 2024, also weighed in with a separate opinion piece disputing that the party’s demise is final and calling for its revival. In the piece, Bird characterized the 2024 leadership election as a “coup,” arguing that Alaska’s geographic distances limited in-person participation by longtime members and allowed newer delegates to dominate the convention. He wrote that while he had intended to eventually turn party leadership over to members of the current leadership team, the manner in which the transition unfolded came as a surprise.
Bird placed primary responsibility for the outcome on former Northern Vice Chair Arthur Serkov, whom he said had initially accepted the position at Bird’s request. According to Bird, Serkov later resigned and privately acknowledged what Bird described as “his error,” subsequently suggesting that Bird resume in leadership. Despite that, Bird wrote that Howe declined to consider that proposal.
Bird also said that tensions between himself and other party leaders had already been growing over disagreements related to outreach strategy. He further criticized a separate vice chair appointment made under Howe, arguing that the choice “immediately relegated the AIP into a ‘true fringe party.’”
“When I took over the AIP in 2020, I knew that I could chloroform the party with the death of Lynette Clark,” Bird said, referring to the party’s former president who passed that year. “However, I told myself that I would not go down in the state’s history as the man who destroyed the AIP. Even Howe admitted that I had saved it. And now, rather than keep the party alive, he has attempted to kill it.”
Despite the outcome, Bird stated he is awaiting further guidance from the Division of Elections to determine the best course of action forward, though he indicated he is not willing to give up on the organization. “As Shelley Hughes just recently wrote, the ideals of the AIP must never be allowed to die,” Bird added. “Perhaps, if I can pull the party once again out of the fire, Shelley will discover that ‘Home is where the heart is.’”
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Juneau, it doesn’t surprise me.
Inappropriate. Alaskan politics is snow joke.
I live in Ak.
This is no loss, the “party” has been a joke from the beginning.
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