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Gillham files to run for Alaska State House

Ron Gillham speaks at a town hall event at The Catch on
Riley Board & Sabine Poux
/
KDLL
Ron Gillham speaks at a town hall event at The Catch in April 2021.

A conservative former lawmaker from Soldotna is making a bid to return to the Legislature. Ron Gillham filed to run for state House on Wednesday. He’ll face incumbent Rep. Justin Ruffridge, who unseated Gillham in 2022, as he vies for the central Kenai Peninsula’s seat in the Alaska House of Representatives.

Gillham became the central peninsula’s representative after beating incumbent Rep. Gary Knopp. Knopp died in a plane crash during the 2020 election cycle. Gillham is a former construction worker who also spent time in the oil and gas industry.

During his time in office, Gillham sponsored several bills focused on K-12 education and the COVID-19 vaccine. The bills included one that would have expanded vaccine exemptions and another that would have prohibited so-called “indoctrination” in public schools.

He attracted controversy in 2021 after sharing a social media post that compared media and medical professionals to Nazi war criminals.

Gillham’s filing comes two days before the deadline. Candidates interested in running for state office must file with the Alaska Public Offices Commission by June 1. Gillham could not be reached for comment before airtime.

This year’s state primary election is on Aug. 20. Election Day is Nov. 5.

Prior to joining KDLL's news team in May 2024, O'Hara spent nearly four years reporting for the Peninsula Clarion in Kenai. Before that, she was a freelance reporter for The New York Times, a statehouse reporter for the Columbia Missourian and a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism. You can reach her at aohara@kdll.org