Matt Claman

Claman grew up in Dallas. After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Colorado College in Colorado Springs. He moved to Alaska in 1980 and worked as a prep cook at a mining camp.^[2][3] He went to Austin and received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Texas School of Law. Then he began practicing law in Alaska.^[4]

Claman is a trial and appellate attorney with Lane Powell, a regional law firm, and is past president of the Alaska Bar Association. Claman served on the Anchorage Assembly beginning in 2007 and became its chair in 2008. He became the acting mayor of Anchorage in 2009 when then-Mayor Mark Begich was elected Alaska's United States Senator in the 2008 general election.^[5] As acting mayor during the 2008 financial crisis, he led efforts to reduce the municipal budget by $20 million, approximately 5%, and negotiated concessions to achieve a balanced budget.^[6][4] Claman ran for mayor in 2009 as the incumbent, but lost badly, coming in 5th place earning just 5.71% of the vote. ^[7]

Claman was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 2014, and joined the Democratic minority.^[8] During his first term, he sat on the Judiciary Committee, the Transportation Committee, and the Energy Committee. He says he hopes to fix Alaska's financial challenges.^[9] In 2016, he was re-elected to the State House and joined a 22-member Alaska House majority coalition of 17 Democrats, three Republicans, and two independents.^[10] His peers selected him to chair the House Judiciary Committee, where he previously served as a committee member. He is the vice chair of the Rules Committee and a member of the Legislative Council, Energy Committee, Transportation Committee, and Criminal Justice Commission. He introduced legislation to hold a statewide vote amending the Constitution of Alaska to limit the legislative session to 90 days.

In response to reports about incidents of inappropriate conduct between undercover police officials and alleged sex workers revealing a legal loophole (not only in Alaska but in all states) allowing police officers to engage in sex acts with prostitution suspects prior to their arrest, Claman introduced legislation (Alaska HB 112) prohibiting such conduct.^[11][12] In 2022, he was elected to the Alaska Senate in a race against Republican incumbent Mia Costello.^[13]

On November 10, 2025 Claman announced his candidacy for the 2026 Alaska gubernatorial election.^[14]

On June 27th, 2026, he withdrew his candidacy from the election. ^[15]

Claman and Lisa Rieger, who works for Cook Inlet Tribal Council are married. CITC is a large successful non-profit corporation. They have two children and Claman is a licensed EMT and professional wilderness guide.^[4]