[1] He served on the Bethel City Council from 2014 to 2016, and has worked for the Tundra Women's Coalition and was on the faculty at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
While he ran unopposed in the general election, Fansler defeated Bob Herron in the primary with 57% of the vote.
[3] In 2017, Fansler visited villages in the Yukon–Kuskokwim Delta to learn about the threat to the communities posed by flooding and erosion due to climate change.
Fansler said that the erosion "is something that we see in almost every village that we go to," and while he would not make a promise, he said that he was hopeful that the visit would help him better advocate for solutions.
[2][6] He pled guilty to second-degree harassment, and was sentenced to ten days of suspended sentence, as well as eighty hours of community service, a year of probation, a yearlong ban from alcohol, and an order to seek treatment for alcoholism.