Mat-Su Assembly candidate amended filing to hide address over safety fears

Voters can still reach Calista Denise Watkins by phone or email, but they can no longer find a street address in her public campaign filing. Watkins amended her candidate filing with the Alaska Public Offices Commission in March to replace a Wasilla street address with a P.O. Box, describing the change plainly in the amendment record: "Changing address for safety precautions."

Watkins filed her original Letter of Intent on February 17, 2026, listing 1500 Lucus Road in Wasilla as her campaign mailing address. Less than three weeks later, on March 6, she submitted an amendment updating that address to a P.O. Box in Wasilla. The practical effect is the removal of a public street address, not of all public contact information. Her filing still lists a phone number and a campaign email address for voters and the press.

Both filings are public records on file with APOC, accessible through the commission's online portal, which hosts records from 2010 to the present. The amendment does not explain what prompted the safety concern. Watkins had not responded to a request for comment as of publication. APOC had not responded to questions about whether the commission requires documentation before accepting a safety-based address change.

Watkins stands apart from other 2026 candidates who list P.O. boxes because she began with a street address and changed it mid-filing cycle, attaching a safety explanation to the amendment. Watkins is seeking a seat on the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly, the elected governing body for Alaska's most populous borough outside Anchorage.