Heather McElwain was born in Phoenix, Arizona. Her mother was a police officer there, and moved the family to Alaska after gangs began targeting officers. Heather has been here 32 of her 39 years.

She grew up in Eagle River and had what she calls a normal Alaskan childhood — summers in Soldotna and Seward, and a Seward Silver Salmon Derby win for the biggest youth fish. She has lived in Eagle River, Anchorage, Soldotna, and now Wasilla.

She attended Chugiak High School, left the traditional track at fifteen, earned her GED through Nine Star, and went on to Career Academy Trade School for a diploma in Travel and Tourism. That detour is also where a self-taught interest in foreign policy started, and she has kept it up ever since.

Shortly after, she met her husband LeRoy. They have been together twenty years and have four children. She is a stay-at-home mother — “domestic engineer,” as she put it on her official filing.

Her own mother went on to work 23 years for the Alaska Department of Corrections, raising Heather as a single parent. Heather names her as the reason she tries to stay, in her words, sure-footed in her values — the way she watched her mother do it day after day.

Through the North Lakes Community Council and her own village outreach, she has organized the kind of help that actually arrives: fresh salmon deliveries, firewood centers, emergency supplies for communities the system tends to skip. She understands the cost of living, the pressure on schools, and what it takes to raise four kids in Alaska, because that is her life, not her platform.

In 2026 she filed as a candidate for U.S. Senate. She started in the Republican process, changed her affiliation to Libertarian, and is running as a write-in candidate in the November general election.

She is committed to serving one term only — and to donating two full years of the Senate salary to the Mat-Su School District and Alaska veterans.

“I’m just a Mom. I’m a proud Wasilla mom of four running for U.S. Senate because Alaska families deserve better than career politicians. I am not a politician — I’m offering honest service.

Alaska does not need another career politician who treats the Senate seat as a lifelong job. We need someone who will show up for six years, do the work, and go home.

I left the standard high-school track early, earned a Career Academy diploma, and taught myself the foreign-policy side of the world because the regular system did not fit. I am running so that young Alaskans who are ready can move straight into their chosen profession and become true experts in their field — not wait years for a diploma that does not match the work.

I know what it is to struggle because I am struggling right now, just like so many Alaska families. The cost of living, the pressure on schools, and the daily fight to keep a household going are not abstract issues to me. I live them.

I cannot be bought or paid. This is our vote in the Senate, and I will work closely with the Alaskan people to make sure our voice is heard.

I will donate two full years of my Senate salary to the Mat-Su School District and Alaska veterans. I do not take campaign donations. I will not trade stocks while in office. And I will not run for a second term. This is a one-term contract with the people of Alaska.

I’m running a grassroots campaign to deliver real results for Alaska families — now, not later. I’m not here to build a career in Washington. I’m here to serve.”