Three Republican legislators are set to attend a multi-day training session aimed at producing “well-trained Christian, pro-family legislators.”
Republican Reps. Jamie Allard, Frank Tomaszewski and Stanley Wright were reportedly selected to attend the 2024 Statesman Academy, a training session organized by the Family Policy Alliance Foundation, later this month. The conservative Alaska Watchman news blog first reported their attendance.
The Family Policy Alliance is a conservative political advocacy group and says it is “dedicated to advancing biblical values in our nation’s political landscape for generations to come.” The organization’s website boasts of legislators who attended the training and went on to advance model legislation such as trans sports bans, heartbeat bills, strict abortion bans and Texas’ “Save Chick-fil-A Bill.”
The organization is also listed on the advisory board for The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, a controversial blueprint for what a second term of President Donald Trump would look like. While the former president has attempted to distance himself from the proposal, it aligns neatly with the broad strokes of his candidacy. It outlines greatly expanded presidential powers and efforts to install partisan loyalists throughout the federal government while also proposing right-wing priorities such as mass deportations, eliminating the Department of Education and strict abortion bans.
Among the training session’s alumni is right-wing Homer Republican Rep. Sarah Vance, who is also a member of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers.
“The Statesman Academy equipped me with model legislation that supports family values, equipped me with the practical tools to help me engage with the media on issues of life and, more importantly, encouraged me in my faith as a lawmaker,” she told the Watchman about her experience at the training. “We heard from national leaders tackling the lie of transgender surgeries, lawmakers who won on school choice and organizations training young people on Biblical values. It was so impressive and memorable. I feel like it has given me tools as a chairman in Judiciary and the ability to help other lawmakers.”
As the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Vance has routinely advanced far-right measures, such as a trans sports ban, a Don’t Say Gay-style bill and a bill defining life as starting at conception. These bills marked a steep increase in the amount of time and energy the Legislature has put into right-wing culture war issues. Opponents of the measures have criticized the focus as a cruel waste of time that ignores the state’s broader issues to make the lives of people in marginalized communities more difficult.
While Vance, Allard and Tomaszewski all represent districts generally favorable to Republicans, the odd man out is Rep. Wright, who represents a much more purple House district in East Anchorage. Wright beat his Democratic challenger, Ted Eischeid, by just 72 votes in 2022 and is set up for a rematch this year.
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.
