FAIRBANKS — A local audience put the heat under Alaska’s governor candidates during a rapid-fire lunch forum at the Carlson Center on Tuesday, grilling them on resource development, the economy and even their preferred candidate for U.S. Senate.

The forum, sponsored by the Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce, attracted Republicans Gerald Heikes, Merica Hlatcu, Sam Little, Gov. Sean Parnell, Ralph Samuels and Bill Walker, along with Democratic state Sen. Hollis French.

Democrat Ethan Berkowitz and Republican Brad Snowden did not attend.

Candidates gave bite-sized responses to numerous issues during the lightning-fast format, which allowed 60 seconds or less to answer each in a diverse set of questions. The primary election is Aug. 24.

One of the lighter moments came, amid audience chuckling, when Parnell visibly squirmed after being asked whether he supported Fairbanks attorney Joe Miller or Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

Parnell eventually said he would give his support to whomever wins the primary, which was the same response that Walker and Little later gave. Samuels and Hlatcu said they support Murkowski, while Heikes endorsed Miller. French said he backs Democratic candidate Scott McAdams, the mayor of Sitka.

Many of the questions veered back toward how candidates would deal with Fairbanks’ high energy costs and particularly their approach to bringing natural gas to the Interior. The issue sparked some of the feistiest exchanges between candidates, most notably between Parnell, Walker and Samuels.

Walker, an attorney and former Valdez mayor, has made an “all-Alaska” pipeline route from the North Slope to Valdez the centerpiece of his campaign. During the 90-minute forum, he frequently brought up the importance of the project and chastised Parnell for moving too slowly.

“It’s our time to do this,” he said. “We’ve waited and waited and waited and studied this to death.”

Parnell said he isn’t bound to any particular pipeline route and that he’ll look at whichever route is the most viable. He defended his approach, which included a veto to a change to the oil and gas structure this year, as a way to create a consistent atmosphere for developers.

Samuels, a former state representative from Anchorage, said a smaller gas line to Fairbanks should be the top priority and would do more to help local consumers. The airline and travel industry executive touted his pro-business perspective during the forum, saying he was the only candidate willing to take a long-term look at the state’s economy.

“We have a lot of opportunities and we have a lot of challenges,” he said.

French said Alaskans should insist on a high-capacity gas line, since it’s hard to make small quantities of gas economically viable. The project itself should be led by private industry, he said, not the state.

He touted the project as part of his theme of strengthening the state’s infrastructure, specifically mentioning improvements to the Dalton Highway to better reach the state’s resources.

“The best thing the government can do is build a strong infrastructure — roads, ports — to build a strong economy,” French said.

Heikes, a Palmer contractor who described himself as a “Constitutional Christian conservative,” focused on having a state-run cooperative to stabilize oil and gas prices. Hlatcu, an Anchorage engineer, touted transportation projects, including an improved railroad network.

Little, a truck driver who appeared at the forum wearing a cowboy hat and red Western shirt, at one point pulled out a deck of cards, saying his four “aces” would be reinstating the longevity bonus, building a refinery in the state, helping Delta farmers, and giving road and ferry access to Yukon River villages.

Little said he’d provide a common-sense approach to Alaska’s fiscal problems.

“If I spend more than I make, I’ll be broke,” Little said. “That’s the same with the state of Alaska.”

The candidates differed on their views of the proposed Pebble Mine development, although none gave their outright endorsement of the project. Little and French both said they oppose the project, while Hlatcu and Heikes said they are wary of the environmental dangers to the nearby Bristol Bay fisheries.

Walker, Samuels and Parnell all said the permitting process for the mine should be completed before politicians weigh in on whether it should move ahead.

“Let’s let the science and the public speak,” Parnell said.

Only Heikes said he would support Ballot Measure 1 on the fall ballot, which would prohibit the use of public funds for lobbying and campaigning and would ban people with government contracts or their family members from making political contributions.

Most of the candidates said they would include a request for the University of Alaska Fairbanks Life Sciences building in next year’s capital budget if this fall’s bond issue package fails.

Heikes disagreed, saying he’d consider the issue rejected by voters, while Samuels said proponents would need to convince him the project needed to be revived.

Contact staff writer Jeff Richardson at 459-7518.