A Strong Voice for Rural Alaska
Meet Rebecca
Rebecca Schwanke
Republican Candidate for Alaska State House District 36
Born in Fairbanks and raised in Tok, I have been a life-long Alaskan raised to love and rely on the outdoors. From subsistence hunting and fishing, to trapping and gardening, my peace is outdoors. Whether you were born into it, or you have come to this way of life for a sense of clarity, I have found it has given me immense strength, fortitude and perseverence.
My childhood was spent in Tok, where my mother Madge Kelleyhouse served as the Magistrate and my father Dave Kelleyhouse, the Alaska Department of Fish & Game Area Wildlife Biologist. It is in the interior where I learned how to run rivers, and what it’s like to have a raging wildfire bearing down on the only home I’ve ever known. Mother Nature in Alaska is a force to be reckoned with. Our environment is continually changing and we cannot always predict the outcome of extreme weather events, nor long slow changes in our weather patterns. However, our experiences, our foresight as well as our resiliency are our greatest strengths in keeping Alaska strong.
From an outdoor childhood pre-smartphone, to highschool at Juneau-Douglas, to graduating with a MS in Wildlife Biology from UAF, I have witnessed many changes in our state over the years.
For the past 22 years, my husband Corey Schwanke and I have called the Copper River Valley home. Raising a son in this area has been a blessing. An amazing place, the Ahtna Region. Being avid hunters, trappers and fishermen, we respect the resources here and all the people who rely on them. Serving as the Glennallen Area Assistant Wildlife Biologist and then as the Area Wildlife Biologist for ADF&G through 2014, I had the pleasure of managing the Nelchina Caribou Herd as well as moose, Dall sheep, bison, wolves and bears throughout the Copper River Basin.
Through passion and servitude, I have had the opportunity to help my community by volunteering as a Hunter Education instructor to nearly 100 local students from Mentasta to Chitina. I taught Conservation and Outdoor Skills in the highschool, and have participated in numerous youth shooting sporting events and improved the local shooting range through my time on the board of the Copper Basin Shooting Club. I am also certified to coach in the National Archery in the Schools Program, as well as in USA Hockey programs helping build the rural “Alaska Heat” hockey program since 2014.
Over the past decade, I have had the opportunity to serve in the private business sector developing sporting good products for my own company Talarik, and consulting for utilities and non-governmental organizations on a variety of policy and biological issues. I have witnessed private business, corporate investment and development play a significant role in building and maintaining a strong sustainable Alaskan economy.
We must support small businesses at every turn, encouraging investment and growth. Job creation and healthy local economies are essential to making Alaska successful as a whole.
Most recently, I have served two terms on the Copper River School District (CRSD) Board of Education. I am extremely proud of the progress and perseverance shown by our students and our educators over the last few years. By providing quality career pathways for Alaska’s youth, we are investing in the future of our children and our state. With our own youth stepping into the Alaskan economy, we’ll bring local knowledge, experience and committment to our economic development.
I enjoy working with our area’s youth, and even more exciting is seeing them walk across the graduation stage every May. I feel a sense of personal pride knowing they have overcome challenges and notched many milestones along their journey. As my own son finds his path, I want to ensure that he and his fellow graduates are able to find well-paying employment opportunities in-state.
I am running for the Alaska State House of Representatives for my friends and neighbors from the Chitina River drainage to the Yukon. I am running for District 36 because I want to do my part to make positive changes in our rural communities.
Between my resource work in the Prudhoe Bay region and the Watana-Susitna basin, I have a strong understanding of the delicate balance between critical energy development projects and the needs of Alaskans who rely on the renewable natural resources of these same areas.
We must work together to develop our natural resources according to our Constitution, in the best interest of all Alaskans. Through responsible and sustainable resource development projects, we can grow our economy and rejuvenate rural Alaska.
Healthy communities with good paying jobs are the key to keeping Alaska vibrant. The population census between 2010 and 2020 showed the slowest growth Alaska has experienced since 1910. It started with losing rural families to urban jobs and opportunities. Now we’re losing Alaskans to the Lower 48, and our schools are shrinking.
In 2023 I was fortunate to join some amazing Copper River School District (CRSD) students and fellow school board members on a trip to Juneau. Our district, not unlike others, is struggling financially. Our student population is stable, though our core costs such as insurance and pupil-transportation have sky-rocketed. We need common sense legislative support in our district, as well as meaningful accountability measures. I was incredibly proud of our students in their presentations on the Hill. They described our district’s bright spots, but they truly engaged on the topic of balancing our educational needs with the overall needs of our state. It was refreshing to see that our kids understood what it takes to help families fill fuel tanks, put food on the table and pay for K-12 education. Our resource wealth is too precious to waste on extra spending when we have not yet met our basic obligations for public health, public safety, and offering a high quality education to all of Alaska’s youth.
The time for investment in our future is now. The time to cut the excess is now.
Please join me in helping Rejuvenate Rural Alaska!
“Subsistence” is more than a talking point, it’s a way of life.
Join Rebecca (Becky) Schwanke on Tundra Talk Episode 177 as she talks about her personal connection to harvesting a variety of wild fish and game, the challenges of managing Alaska’s wild resources and how we all must work together to maintain our “outdoor heritage”.
Just a month into her District 36 candidacy, Rebecca sits down with Michael Dukes, covering some of Alaska’s most pressing issues.
Watch the interview here
For more detailed Precint Maps, please see the Division of Elections here.