While the dust is still settling on Alaska’s election, a bipartisan coalition of state lawmakers has seen enough to lay claim to the Senate’s majority.
The new-look majority extends bipartisan control of the Alaska Senate into its third consecutive two-year term and will see moderate Anchorage Republican Sen. Cathy Giessel take over as Senate President when the session begins in January, replacing retiring Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak. It sets up a trifecta of bipartisan-minded leadership in Alaska, with Republicans set to lose seats in the House and Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins set to win the governorship.
In a prepared statement, Giessel said voters had sent a clear message in this year’s election.
“For the past four years, this coalition has shown that Alaska is best served when legislators work across party lines to pass responsible budgets and resolve issues that impact everyday Alaskans, ”she said. “Senators come to this majority from every region of this state, and from different political perspectives, because they want results for their communities. We will continue to build on that record to support Alaska families, strengthen our economic opportunities, and uphold a strong public education system.”
The coalition’s announcement includes two new faces at the head of the powerful Senate Finance Committee: co-chairs Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, and Sen.-elect Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham. Leadership is rounded out by Sen.-elect Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, as Majority Leader and Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, as the chamber’s Rules Chair responsible for directing the flow of bills.
Both Edgmon and Stutes come over from the House, where they have both led bipartisan majorities as speaker. Stutes won the Kodiak Senate seat after Stevens’ retirement, and Edgmon replaces Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, the Legislature’s longest-serving member.
In the House, the existing bipartisan coalition is set to grow after Democrats flipped two seats in Anchorage. The leadership group was announced Thursday, with Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage, set to take over as Speaker of the House, replacing Edgmon. The team is set to be rounded out by:
- Rules Chair – Rep. Rebecca Himschoot (I-Sitka)
- Majority Leader – Rep. Chuck Kopp (R-Anchorage)
- Finance Co-Chair, Operating Budget – Rep. Sara Hannan (D-Juneau)
- Finance Co-Chair, Capital Budget – Rep. Ashley Carrick (D-Fairbanks)
- Finance Co-Chair, Bills – Rep. Neal Foster (D-Nome)
Senate reconfiguration
Notably, the bipartisan coalition’s leadership didn’t tap Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, as co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, despite his reelection after running unopposed. Stedman long served as a key member of the bipartisan coalition, co-chairing the Senate Finance Committee with Hoffman, but has drifted from the majority on key issues in recent years.
His most high-profile break has been his opposition to restoring a pension system for public employees. While Alaska once had a great retirement system that is credited with attracting and keeping workers, the state has struggled with persistent and costly turnover across the public sector since it transitioned to a 401k-style plan two decades ago.
The measure made significant progress in recent years, including clearing the Legislature last year, but has faced consistent significant pushback from Stedman throughout the process over perceived risk. Outgoing Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, whose term ends on the first Monday in December, vetoed the bill amid a record-breaking run of vetoes.
The new makeup of leadership signals that public pension legislation could be high on the priority list for the coming legislative session, along with several other issues that have languished under Dunleavy, such as school funding and election reform.
Giessel sponsored the pension legislation that passed the Legislature last year, arguing that any costs for the new system are far outweighed by the benefit of maintaining an experienced workforce in state service and in public schools. She notes that while the new system would give public sector employees the option of receiving guaranteed payments in retirement, it would still be decidedly less generous than the old pension plans in order to minimize any financial risk to the state.
The full membership and committee assignments for the Senate Majority have not been announced and are typically decided closer to the start of the session in mid-January.
The Legislature’s precise makeup is still far from settled, with many safely Republican seats expected to be decided through ranked-choice voting, which the Alaska Division of Elections will tabulate on Nov. 18.
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 newsletter on the Alaska Legislature, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Bluesky. Reach him at matt [at] thealaskacurrent.com.
