There are still tens of thousands of votes across the state left to be counted, and some key races remain undetermined. But in the Alaska Legislature members of bipartisan coalitions in the House and Senate are wasting no time in announcing their leadership and organizing their caucuses.
Lawmakers announced Wednesday that the House would flip from Republican-led majority control. The speaker of the House will be Dillingham Independent Rep. Bryce Edgmon.
“There's still a little bit of the dust-settling factor in play here, but we're confident at this point we've got enough members to form a majority organization,” Edgmon said Thursday morning.
That means the Legislature as a whole will be more moderate than it has been for the past two years. Though Alaskans voted for Donald Trump this year by a wider margin than four years ago, the trend at the state level runs counter to the rightward shift seen across the country this cycle.
Edgmon said the majority has four key principles it’s organizing around: balanced budgets that don’t overdraw the Permanent Fund, stable funding for public education, reforming the state’s 401(k)-style retirement system and boosting energy development.
Two other leadership posts in the bipartisan coalition would go to moderate Republicans: Kodiak’s Louise Stutes would chair the Rules Committee, and Chuck Kopp of Anchorage would be majority leader.
Right now, Democrats, independents and the two Republicans announced as coalition leaders are ahead in 22 House races. They need 21 to secure control, but there are two Anchorage races where Democrats hold leads of under 100 votes.
Challenger Ted Eischeid leads incumbent Republican Stanley Wright in North Muldoon by 111 votes. And in Government Hill, parts of Northeast Anchorage and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, incumbent Democrat Cliff Groh has a razor-thin lead over Republican David Nelson. The difference in that race is a mere 28 votes.
With those two key races undetermined, House Republican leaders say it’s too soon to say anything definitive about who will hold power next year. Here’s the current speaker, Wasilla Republican Cathy Tilton.
“I just think it may be just a little bit premature,” she said by phone Wednesday evening shortly after the multiparty coalition claimed control of the House in a news release. “There’s a lot of votes still out there.”
Chuck Kopp said that as of Thursday afternoon, there are more than 22 members committed to joining the bipartisan caucus. That includes the Anchorage Democrats who hold slim leads and at least one more Republican, who Kopp declined to name.
Kopp said he expects more to join, and coalition leaders are leaving the door open.
"We're intentionally keeping the invitation open for a good amount of time so that people can hopefully go back to their districts and talk to their leaders and the people they respect, and ask them, 'How can I best represent you? Should I do it in the minority, or should I do it with a seat at the table in the majority?'" Kopp said Thursday afternoon.
Kopp said he expects the coalition to announce its full membership, including committee chairs, before Thanksgiving.
A bipartisan coalition will also continue to lead the Senate under very similar leadership to the past two years. Kodiak Republican Gary Stevens plans to stay on as Senate president.
"I think we want to address the elections issue as early as we can, and also the funding of education as early as we can," Stevens said Thursday. "Those are the two big issues right now, but there'll be a lot of others that come up when the Senate gets together later in December or January."
The size of the Senate majority is up in the air. Two coalition Republicans from last session will not return to the Legislature, and it’s not clear if their replacements will join the bipartisan group. Wasilla Republican Robert Yundt, on track to defeat David Wilson, did not return messages, nor did Mike Cronk of Tok, who is slated to replace Click Bishop. Another incumbent coalition member, Fairbanks Democrat Scott Kawasaki, has a slight lead in a close race for reelection.
If five or more senators decline to join the coalition, they could form a minority caucus that would guarantee them seats on Senate committees.
A spokesperson for Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Grant Robinson, said in a statement that the governor looks forward to working with “anyone in the legislature who is focused on moving Alaska forward.”
But whether Dunleavy will be in the governor’s mansion is an open question. He has attended campaign events for Donald Trump and congratulated the president-elect late Tuesday night — that’s before the race was called. Four years ago, the Dunleavy administration joined a lawsuit attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in four swing states.
In an interview with Alaska’s News Source on Wednesday, Dunleavy left the door open to joining the Trump administration.
"I have not had the discussions with the President about jobs. I have not had discussions with his people about jobs," Dunleavy said. "If those discussions come, I'd be certainly interested in hearing what the President is thinking, but that hasn't happened yet."
Spokesperson Jeff Turner said Dunleavy “remains fully committed to serving as Governor and moving Alaska forward.”
If Dunleavy does leave, he would be replaced by Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, a former corrections commissioner and state lawmaker who represented Eagle River.
