Jim McDermott

Military Service & Alaska Roots

Jim McDermott retired from the United States Air Force as a Master Sergeant after 22.5 years of active duty. He has lived in Alaska for more than 35 years. He calls Fairbanks home.

His military career was built on logistics, leadership, and accountability — three things he says Washington, D.C. has forgotten how to practice. He arrived in Alaska through the Air Force and never left.

Teaching, Small Business & Community

After his military retirement, Jim built a second career in business education. He has taught business courses at the University of Alaska Fairbanks for more than eight years, with a focus on entrepreneurship and small business development. He also ran small business development programs in the Fairbanks area, helping veterans and community members launch and sustain their own enterprises.

Jim is big on relationships. He has said repeatedly — including on the Michael Dukes Show in July 2026 — that relationships are the key to negotiations and the foundation of effective governance. He brings that philosophy to everything he does.

“I’m big on building relationships. Relationships are the key to negotiations — building those relationships, building that trust, and being sincere when you’re building those relationships. That’s what I would bring to Washington, D.C.” Jim McDermott · Michael Dukes Show · July 2026

From Republican to Libertarian

Jim was a Republican for years. He left because of the Patriot Act and the National Defense Authorization Act. He is direct about it: those bills had patriotic-sounding names and anti-American content. The right to due process is not a partisan position. He joined the Libertarian Party because it was the only party that held that line without apology.

He has run for Alaska’s U.S. House seat as a Libertarian in 2012, 2014, 2016, and now 2026. His vote share grew in every consecutive race: 5.2%, 7.6%, 10.4%. LP National noted his 2016 result as among the strongest performances by a Libertarian federal candidate running against a full major-party field.

Why He’s Running in 2026

The man holding Alaska’s U.S. House seat voted for the One Big Beautiful Budget Act — a bill the Congressional Budget Office scored at $3.4 trillion added to the national debt. He voted to keep tariffs on Canada, which function as a direct tax increase on Alaska consumers and businesses. Jim believes that is not fiscal conservatism. It is not conservatism of any kind.

Jim supports term limits and practices what he preaches: he would not seek a third term.

Read More About Jim →

The “Incestual Thinking” Problem

Jim has a phrase he uses for what’s wrong with Washington: “incestual thinking.” Career politicians who have lived inside the Beltway for decades, surrounded only by other career politicians, lobbyists, and party strategists, stop being able to think clearly about what ordinary Americans need. Term limits are the cure. Fresh voices from outside that bubble — people who have actually run businesses, taught school, served in the military, lived in Fairbanks — are what Alaska needs to send to Congress.

Fiscal Reality

Jim has run a small business development program. He has taught business at UAF. He knows what a balance sheet looks like and what happens when an organization consistently spends more than it brings in. The federal government has been doing exactly that for decades, and Washington’s two parties keep voting for it. Jim believes zero-based budgeting — where every program justifies its existence annually — is the only honest approach to federal spending.

The PFD

The PFD belongs to Alaskans, full stop. The statutory formula — 50% of the five-year average Permanent Fund earnings — was set by law and should be honored. The Alaska Legislature has repeatedly reduced the PFD below the statutory amount without a corresponding constitutional amendment or public vote. Jim believes that is a breach of faith with Alaskans and supports restoring the PFD to at least the 50% statutory minimum.