Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced today he has appointed Republican Thomas Baker to represent House District 40 for the remainder of former Rep. Josiah Patkotak’s term.
Patkotak resigned from his position in the Legislature after winning his race for the North Slope Borough mayor. Because he’s an independent, it left the governor near free rein in finding a replacement, with the only check being the approval of fellow legislators.
According to the announcement, Baker is a resident of Kotzebue, where he works as the construction operations manager for the Kikiktagruk Inupiat Corporation and chairs the Regional Advisory Council for the Federal Subsistence Board. Baker ran for the Legislature in 2020 when he challenged Democratic Sen. Donny Olson for his seat, winning 34% of the vote.
Following Patkotak’s resignation, the governor sought applicants via an online form. With the deadline for the appointment this Thursday, there were rumblings that the decision was coming down to Baker and independent Greta Schuerch.
“Nearly every lobbyist and insider said Dunleavy was going to pick Greta Schuerch,” the Alaska Landmine tweeted out following the news, “but we knew Dunleavy’s cozy relationship with shadow lobbyist Andy Baker meant it would likely be his son Tom Baker, which is exactly what happened.”
The approval process
It’s not entirely clear what the approval process will look like. The 2020 election’s Ballot Measure 2 updated the confirmation process for legislative appointments, and this is the first time it’s been tested. Under the law, the confirmation is left up to the outgoing members’ political party or political group. While Patkotak didn’t have a political affiliation, the law specifically says the lack of a political affiliation doesn’t equate to not having a political group and that a caucus, like the Republican-led House Majority caucus that Patkotak belonged to, qualifies.
That would mean the House Majority’s 19 Republicans, 2 Democrats, and an independent would get to vote on Baker’s confirmation.
However, Dunleavy’s announcement specifically says that it’ll be up to Republicans to approve the confirmation. That would mean far-right Wasilla Republican Rep. David Eastman, who has been excluded from the Majority, and Kodiak Republican Louise Stutes, who is a member of the minority coalition, would get a vote, but the House Majority’s three non-Republican members, who all represent rural Alaska as did Patkotak, would not.
We’ve reached out for clarification and will update this article if we get an answer.
Ultimately, it’s not likely to make a significant difference in Bakers’ chances of being confirmed, as either way, Republicans account for a vast majority of the votes.
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.
