Two former chairmen of the recently disbanded Alaskan Independence Party (AIP) have announced that the re-named “Alaskan Party” is now an officially recognized “political group.”
On March 19, the Division of Elections confirmed that it is revising the voter registration statistic report to include the Alaskan Party among political groups that voters can now be affiliated with.
Once the Alaskan Party amasses at least 5,000 registered members, it will be a recognized “political party.”
Acting Alaskan Party Chairman Bob Bird and Acting Vice-Chairman Mark Chryson are asking former AIP members, who understood the party’s mission (as well as sympathetic new registrants), to reregister online, as soon as the Division of Elections adds the Alaskan Party to its online signup box.
The emergence of the Alaskan Party follows on the heels of the abrupt demise of the once-formidable Alaskan Independence Party, which boasted 19,000 members – Alaska’s third largest political party. On Dec. 31 of last year, however, the AIP publicly announced that its governing board had voted to disband the party, which formed in the early 1980s. Citing apathetic membership and ongoing confusion about its mission, the AIP board claimed the party was “spiritually dead.”
The decision came as a shock to many long-time members, including Bird, who questioned the clandestine way in which the party was dissolved and whether it was even legal.
Over the past several years the AIP endured an internal struggle over its direction and leadership. In 2024, a small group of AIP members voted to replace then-Chairman Bird with longtime member Bob Wayne Howe, claiming it was time to expand membership and endorse candidates who were firmly committed to the party’s core goals.
Bird had led the party since 2020, orchestrating renewed interest across the state. When he was replaced, party leaders claimed the change was motivated, in part, by a desire to focus on growing the party’s membership and returning to its core values. That never materialized, and late last year the new leaders killed the party.
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The new Alaskan Party hopes to retain core AIP values while moving forward.
According to a March 19 announcement, the bylaws of the Alaskan Party are nearly identical to those that were held by the AIP, once a strong third-party alternative for independent and constitutionally minded Alaskans.
The AIP’s official platform called for the defense of states’ rights, individual rights, gun ownership, property rights and equal footing with all other states. It also opposed property taxes and favored a direct popular election of the attorney general, all judges and magistrates, while firmly supporting pro-life efforts, parental rights and strong traditional marriages. The party also sought a return to the traditional Permanent Fund Dividend payouts to Alaskans, among many other issues.
Initially, both Bird and Chryson, represented by an attorney, sought to overturn the dissolution of the AIP, and were granted an interview with Attorney General Stephen Cox and Lt. Governor Nancy Dahlstrom on March 6. Their request to delay the dissolution of the AIP until a convention could be called this spring was unsuccessful.
According to the Alaskan Party announcement, the reforming and renaming of the party is key for several reasons:
— To demonstrate that the historic AIP’s basic mission will remain with the re-named AP.
— That mission is a permanent call for a proper statehood vote, one that was denied in 1958.
— Four options were promised by the U.S. federal government to all its territories when it signed the U.N. Charter of 1945, Sec. 73. They are still honored to Guam, Puerto Rico and other territories. The Philippines opted for independence in 1946. The four (4) options are: Remain a colony or territory; join the union as a state; choose an independent commonwealth status; or complete independence. Only two options were granted to Alaska and Hawaii.
— To purge the party of those voters who have died or moved away, and
— To purge the party of those who mistakenly believed that the word “Independence” meant “independents,” and thought that the AIP was an umbrella party for independent or undeclared voters.
Once the Alaskan Party reaches 5,000 registered members, party leaders will call a statewide convention to choose party officers.
