Naknek resident Bill Hill, a Bristol Bay fisherman and retired educator, has entered the race for Alaska’s only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Hill announced his candidacy statewide last week.
He brought his campaign to a smaller audience Monday night on home turf. The community event, hosted by District 37 Democrats at the University of Alaska Fairbank’s Bristol Bay Campus in Dillingham, drew about 40 people in person and online.
Hill, who joined the event via Zoom, said he decided to run to change the political leadership.
“We need somebody in Congress who is not cozying up to special interests and billionaires,” Hill said. “We need somebody who's an everyday Alaskan who understands the Alaskan experience. Understands our hopes, our dreams, and our challenges, and somebody who's going to just work for Alaskans first.”
Hill is Dena’ina Athabascan and was raised in Kokhanok before moving to Naknek in high school. He graduated from the University of Alaska and has previously lived in Fairbanks and Juneau. Before retiring, Hill served as superintendent for both the Lake and Peninsula School District and the Bristol Bay Borough School District, and was named Alaska Superintendent of the Year in 2023.
Hill is running as an independent, challenging incumbent Republican Congressman Nick Begich. Also in the race is Democrat Matt Schultz.
Hill says he believes the voice of an independent is what Alaskans across the state identify with. The Alaska Beacon reports that nearly two-thirds of voters identified as independents in 2022.
Hill says he has always been an unaffiliated voter and made choices based on the election cycle, the candidates, and the measures, rather than a political party.
“I think the unique position of an independent provides an opportunity for a lot of Alaskans who feel like maybe their voice hasn't been heard,” Hill said. “As an independent, my goal is to represent every Alaskan.”
Since announcing, Hill has not said whether he would caucus with Democrats or Republicans if elected.
On Monday, Hill outlined priorities including voting access, affordable health care, gun rights and abortion rights. In addition, he says Alaska needs leaders focused on lowering costs.
“Groceries, gas, childcare, and especially healthcare, are just killing people in Alaska,” Hill said, adding that the state's leadership also needs to protect Alaska lands and the ability to subsist. “Our families have been living here for decades, for hundreds of years, or for 1000s of years in some cases, and we have a unique way of living. We need to protect it.”
He called for reform in trawl fishing practices and took a strong stance against the Pebble mine. He said the proposed mine, located high in the Bristol Bay watershed, should never move forward.
Hill says he is pro-development, but it has to be the right development for the region, and Alaskans need to be the largest beneficiary.
“If you bring a project in for 10 or 15 years, and you create a bunch of jobs that go to people who fly in from outside Alaska, and you leave behind a mess for our state to clean up, that's not a good project,” Hill said. “If you bring in a project that's completely opposed by the people who live where that project is, it's not a good project.”
District 37 Rep. and Alaska House Speaker Bryce Edgmon, an independent from Dillingham, also attended the event via Zoom. Edgmon endorsed Hill’s candidacy last week.
Since its launch last Wednesday, Hill says his campaign has raised about $230,000. Begich’s re-election campaign has reportedly raised more than $2 million. The last day to enter the race for Congress is June 1. The election will be held Nov. 3.
