You know what they say: There are always more far-right conservatives in the sea.
After the Alaska Legislature rejected the appointment of far-right conservative Bethany Marcum, the key architect behind this cycle’s attempt at unconstitutional gerrymandering, for a seat on the Board of Regents, Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced on Wednesday that he had appointed far-right conservative Tuckerman Babcock to the position.
Babcock is a long-time fixture of Republican politics in Alaska who was Dunleavy’s first chief of staff before being relegated to a senior policy advisor role after just eight months. In that time, though, Babcock led the governor’s administration into several legal quagmires, including the notorious loyalty pledge hirings where they sought to make allegiance to the governor a condition of employment for pretty much every non-union state employee.
That plan was ultimately found to be an unconstitutional infringement of First Amendment rights by a federal judge, which ended up with a ruling that both Dunleavy and Babcock could be held personally liable. However, the Department of Law ultimately spared both by settling with the plaintiffs.
Babcock’s time as chief of staff also included the governor’s draconian first-year budget, which included a wide array of devastating cuts that helped fuel the recall against the governor. Among those cuts was a 41% cut to the University of Alaska, which would have potentially forced the system to shutter campuses, eliminate programs and cut 1,000 jobs. However, the steep cut was ultimately softened to a multi-year cut amid public pushback.
While the University of Alaska ultimately saw smaller cuts over several years, the memory of the attack on higher education has lasted in Alaska politics.
While there were many reasons cited in legislators’ opposition to the appointment of Alaska Policy Forum CEO and Alaska Redistricting Board member Bethany Marcum to the Board of Regents earlier this year, it seemed that a common thread was her support for the governor’s year-one budget.
“You’ve got to have some belief in the institution you’re serving,” said Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, of Marcum during the debate during the joint session. “Yes, you can be a critic. … But you’ve got to believe in the basic premise of the institution. There’s no way to say, ‘Oh, yeah, I like this institution and also support cutting 41% of the state grant.’ I can’t connect those dots.”
After leaving the Dunleavy administration, Babcock most recently ran for the Alaska Senate in Kenai but ultimately lost to Republican Sen. Jesse Bjorkman. While Babcock had talked much about organizing a hard-right Dunleavy-friendly Senate, the election of Bjorkman and several other moderate Republicans helped usher in the formation of a bipartisan supermajority in the Senate. Of the 17 members of the Senate Majority, 13 voted against Marcum.
One of those members is Anchorage Democratic Sen. Forrest Dunbar, who tweeted on Wednesday that he believes it’s unlikely the Legislature will confirm Babcock either. So Babcock will get to serve in the position until that time. Still, Dunbar added that he thinks his impact on shaping policy at the University of Alaska will be minimal.
“I believe there are enough reasonable people on the Board of Regents at the moment to head off most damaging policies at the pass. And I think Dunleavy knows, and it has been relayed to him, that Tuckerman is extremely unlikely to be confirmed. So this is an interim position,” he tweeted.
With a low chance of being confirmed, Dunbar said the appointment is likely the governor being vindictive about Marcum’s rejection.
“Picking Tuckerman is Dunleavy’s way of punishing the AKLeg for rejecting Bethany Marcum,” he added. “He told people as much beforehand. But we rejected her anyway because she was an unacceptable candidate. Hopefully, Dunleavy eventually appoints someone moderate and positive to that seat.”
Typically, the Legislature waits until late in the regular session to take up confirmations. However, if there’s the political will, they could call a joint session earlier—say, at the fall special session being talked about to focus on a fiscal plan—and hold a vote then.
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Twitter.
