Former Permanent Fund CEO Angela Rodell joins new group active in Juneau and Sitka elections

Angela Rodell, who led the Alaska Permanent Fund Corp. for six years, has joined the Alaska Voter Project as co-chair, according to a filing Friday with the Alaska Public Offices Commission. The new group is focused on next week's municipal elections in Juneau and Sitka.

The Alaska Voter Project registered as an independent expenditure group on Sept. 23, meaning it can spend money in elections as long as it doesn't coordinate with candidates' campaigns. It says it plans to engage voters on local election issues and support candidates who promote economic opportunity. Chris McGraw of Sitka chairs the group, and Cheryl Frasca of Anchorage is its treasurer. Rodell lives in Juneau.

Both cities vote Oct. 6. Sitka voters will choose a mayor, two Assembly members and three School Board members, and will decide a ballot proposition. Juneau voters will choose three Assembly members and two Board of Education members.

Rodell ran the Permanent Fund Corp., which manages the state's oil wealth savings account, from October 2015 until December 2021, when its board of trustees voted to remove her. At the time, the board said only that after her annual evaluation it would search for a new executive director. Rodell later told the Legislature she believed her removal was political retribution for advising lawmakers against drawing more from the fund than its spending rule allows, which she said conflicted with Gov. Mike Dunleavy's agenda. The board's chair told lawmakers that politics played no part in the decision.