Elections

For six years, legislator Lindsey Holmes has represented West Anchorage as a Democrat. But as of Saturday afternoon, she’s a Republican. The announcement that Holmes had switched parties came after a two-hour caucus meeting, where members of the House Majority hashed out what the change meant and occasionally tuned into the NFL playoffs. It was unexpected, and Holmes thinks she’ll get a wide range of responses from her district.

The 112th Congress has officially ended – a Congress many are labeling the least effective, and most disliked of all time. Representative Don Young swore in as a member of the 113th Congress today. This is Young’s 21st term.APRN’s Peter Granitz sat down with Young in his Capitol Hill office just after he was sworn in, to talk about what Alaska can anticipate in the future. One of the things Young says he’ll push in his next two year term is the Indian Empowerment Act designed to allow more use of Native land and resources for the benefit of Native people.

Most Decembers, Albert Kookesh is making plans to move to Juneau for the legislative session. But this year, he’s spending more time at his Angoon home, enjoying the view.

The certification of the House District 34 race this week has put Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins in the legislature. At 23-years old, he is almost the youngest person ever elected to state government.

U.S. Senator Mark Begich is shrugging off Lieutenant Governor Mead Treadwell’s announcement he may run against the incumbent in two years. Lieutenant Governor Treadwell said last week he’s considering forming an exploratory committee. That’s the first step to officially entering a race. It gives him a chance to feel out public opinion and see which donors are willing to come forward.

It’s been nearly a month since Election Day and the race for House District 34 has finally come to an end with a four-term legislator losing his seat to a political newcomer.

Sitka Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins has won a Southeast Alaska state House seat after a recount. Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai says Kreiss-Tomkins defeated Republican incumbent Representative Bill Thomas of Haines by 32 votes. The final count was 4,130 votes for Kreiss-Tomkins and 4,098 for Thomas.

State Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Haines, said Tuesday that he was “99.9 percent sure” he’d ask for a recount in the race to keep his seat in the Legislature. On Wednesday, he chipped in the 0.1 percent.

Rep. Bill Thomas said today (Nov. 27) that he’s 99.9 percent sure he will request a recount in the House District 34 race. Republican Thomas, of Haines, lost re-election by 34 votes to Sitka Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins.The district includes Haines, Sitka and many small Southeast communities.

Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins appears to have won a seat in the Alaska House of Representatives. The 23-year-old Sitka Democrat remained ahead of Haines Republican incumbent Rep. Bill Thomas after the final absentee ballots were counted today.

With the next session of the Alaska State Legislature approaching, Homer Representative Paul Seaton has been named to a handful of key positions in the House.

An additional 86 absentee ballots have been counted, according to Gail Fenumiai, director of the Alaska Division of Elections. Sitka Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins now has 4,110 votes to Haines Republican Representative Bill Thomas’s 4,082 votes. The remaining 26 special absentee ballots will be counted on Wednesday along with any other eligible ballots postmarked from overseas that arrive by Wednesday.

The race for House District 34, between Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (D-Sitka) and Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Haines), is now tied. KHNS reports two questioned ballots were counted from Port Alexander, closing the gap. The Division of Elections now says it will not count any more ballots until Monday, with the final count still slated for Wednesday.