One of Juneau’s two state House races this year is set to be competitive as four-term Democratic incumbent Andi Story is being challenged for the District 3 seat by Annette Kreitzer, a state administration commissioner under two Republican governors who more recently served as the borough manager in Haines.

Rep. Sara Hannan, also a four-term incumbent Democrat, is unopposed for the District 4 seat as the 5 p.m. filing deadline on Monday, according to the Alaska Division of Elections.

Kreitzer’s filing as a Republican for the District 3 seat — which represents the northern part of Juneau as well as surrounding communities including Haines, Skagway and Gustavus — came shortly before the deadline and is listed by the state as pending as of 6:20 p.m. Monday.

Attempts by the Juneau Independent to contact Kreitzer and Story after Monday’s filing deadline were not immediately successful.

Kreitzer has a long career in state government in Juneau, including as a staff member beginning in 1992 for Republican Loren Leman when he was in the Legislature and then lieutenant governor, and then being named administration commissioner under Govs. Sarah Palin and Sean Parnell, according to a Chilkat Valley News profile. She retired from state government in 2012, but was then named Haines’ borough manager in 2021.

She told the newspaper in an October 2021 interview that as commissioner “you’re doing retirement and benefits and all of the inward-looking things, labor relations, personnel issues, those kinds of things, the backbone for the state” — and she hoped to bring that experience to her job as the Haines borough manager.

“When you hear a new idea that will bring change, a lot of times the first reaction is no, because of concerns that you might have about the idea,” Kreitzer said. “I would always tell the folks on my team, don’t say no, just say, how will you handle this challenge? Because a lot of times people can figure out good solutions for the concerns that you have.”

Kreitzer departed the job in August of 2024. She told the Chilkat Valley News in June of that year she was disappointed that she and the Haines Borough Assembly “have not been able to forge a better working relationship.” The newspaper reported her departure came at a time of high turnover among administrative staff in Haines and that the Assembly gave her an evaluation with low marks for communication in January of that year.

Story, who served five terms on the Juneau Board of Education and was president of the Alaska Association of School Boards, was first elected to the House in 2019. Education has been a dominant issue in her campaigns and while in the Legislature, including serving as co-chair of the House Education Committee the past two years.

During the past two-year session she helped enact the first major funding increase in the per-student education funding formula in nearly 15 years. She was also the lead sponsor this year on an education bill making a range of funding and policy changes that passed the Legislature on the session’s final day.

She announced May 21 she is seeking a fifth term, following speculation she would step down.

“I had heard a couple of people were interested that I thought would do a good job and so I was seriously considering if maybe I should give somebody else the opportunity,” Story told the Juneau Independent at the time. “But anyway, I decided there’s still work I want to do.”

This story was originally published by the Juneau Independent.