ANCHORAGE — Republicans on Wednesday wasted no time in claiming control of the Alaska Senate, one day after winning a majority of seats in the chamber.
Coming into Tuesday’s elections, the Senate was comprised of 10 Democrats and 10 Republicans, with six Republicans joining Democrats to form a bipartisan majority. The GOP won at least 12 seats Tuesday, in a political landscape reconfigured by redistricting. Two other races were too close to call.
During a hastily called news conference late Wednesday afternoon, after organizational talks earlier in the day, an 11-member Republican majority was unveiled, with Sens. Kevin Meyer and Lesil McGuire of Anchorage the only members of the bipartisan coalition — at least so far — to join.
It was announced that Sen. Charlie Huggins of Wasilla will be Senate president, while Sen. John Coghill of North Pole will be majority leader. Coghill defeated Sen. Joe Thomas, D-Fairbanks, on Tuesday.
McGuire will be rules chair and Meyer will serve as co-chair of the powerful Senate Finance Committee, along with Pete Kelly of Fairbanks. Elections results showed Kelly defeating Sen. Joe Paskvan, D-Fairbanks.
Huggins called the group a work in progress and said there would be no requirements or litmus test for others to join. In addition to Kelly, the group includes four Senate newcomers: Click Bishop of Fairbanks, Mike Dunleavy of Wasilla, Peter Micciche of Soldotna and Rep. Anna Fairclough of Eagle River. Fairclough defeated Sen. Bettye Davis, D-Anchorage, on Tuesday.
The other two members of the majority are Cathy Giessel of Anchorage and Fred Dyson of Eagle River.
Conspicuously absent were the remaining Senate Republicans, Bert Stedman of Sitka and outgoing Senate President Gary Stevens of Kodiak, who have been more moderate voices and critical of Gov. Sean Parnell’s plan to cut oil taxes. Stevens did not immediately return a call Wednesday. Two other Republicans who were part of the coalition lost primary races.
The majority’s three areas of concern will be increasing oil production, getting affordable energy to Alaskans and developing sustainable capital and operating budgets for “current and future generations.”
The politician who could benefit most from Tuesday’s Republican gains in the Legislature, Parnell, said Wednesday he was pleased as the GOP had solidified its strength in the House and took control of the Senate.
Democrats feared Republican control of both the House and Senate would mean a rubber-stamping of Parnell’s tax-cut ideas, which they consider dangerous.
Democrats on Tuesday won or held six seats, including that of Sen. Dennis Egan of Juneau, the only lawmaker whose seat was not up for grabs in 2012. Two Democrats were in races where absentee votes might factor in: results showed Paskvan was trailing Kelly by 517 votes and Sen. Hollis French of Anchorage leading Republican Bob Bell by 247 votes.
In southeast Alaska, in the other incumbent pairing, Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, defeated Sen. Albert Kookesh, D-Angoon. Stedman had been a leader in the coalition, and helped guide Senate efforts to change Alaska’s oil tax structure.
On the House side, Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Haines, faced a possible upset against political newcomer Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, who led by 43 votes with all precincts reporting but where outstanding ballots also were being watched.
Rep. Peggy Wilson, R-Wrangell, won a three-way race that included Rep. Kyle Johansen, R-Ketchikan. Johansen, a former House majority leader, ran as an unaffiliated candidate in House District 33, after skipping a crowded GOP primary in August. He finished a distant third, behind Democrat Matt Olsen.
Republican Rep. Lance Pruitt held a 96-vote lead over Democratic Rep. Pete Petersen in District 25 in Anchorage, and was confident the outstanding absentee ballots favored him; Rep. Tammie Wilson, R-North Pole, led Rep. Bob Miller, D-Fairbanks, by 294 votes in District 2, with all precincts reporting and Rep. David Guttenberg, D-Fairbanks, led Rep. Alan Dick, R-Nenana, by 253 with all precincts reporting in District 38, with non-affiliated candidate Dorothy Shockley in third.
Comments (20)
Add commentTime to...
...get the old rubber stamp warmed up.
I wonder what a $2 billion cut in State revenue will look like each year?
- If you think the PTR in the schools is bad now, just wait.
- A road to Juneau? Dream on.
- Improved ferry service? Sure...
- More state jobs leaving Juneau.
- Kiss the PFD goodby.
- Get ready for a state income tax.
Also, thanks to Bert Stedman for fighting the good fight. Your courage is noted. You paid the price for it.
Lattie
Back to your usual self, I see...
Repubs needed
We need a strong Republican presence in this state. Obama and his army of greenies will shut this place down if left unopposed. We need strong individuals not afraid to stand up to the Federal Gov't. to protect our rights and right to live here.
Better to be shut down then
Better to be shut down then destroyed.
Lat you sound like all those conservatives making claims about Obama taking away our freedoms and what not,none of which have come true. And who knows lat, while the oil companies are the source of all evil, tongue in cheek, they do give us more then 90% of our state income. We do get something out of it. They are out to make money not intentionally screw us. So maybe if this thing goes through they will ramp up pumping and bring on the other wells. It might end up being good for the state. Maybe if that happens our elected officials will start being responsible with out money...
Good.
Good news for Alaska.
@Stu
You're partially correct. The oil companies are out to make money. And if they can make MORE money by screwing us, you can be certain they will. $2 billion per year is a powerful incentive to manipulate us, to screw us if necessary.
Parnell's plan, the one passed by the House republicans, including Cathy Munoz, was a giveaway with no guarantees. It was also accompanied by lies, such as that the pipeline was going to shut down soon without enough volume. That lie was debunked in court.
I'm not opposed to modifying the tax structure if:
1. There are ironclad requirements for more production, preferably the production comes online before the tax cuts go into effect. Parnell's willing to operate on a kiss & a promise - a bit surprising given his cozy history with the oil industry - usually the money exchanges hands before 'services are rendered'.
2. The impacts on the State budget are clearly spelled out, by an independent party. Let's make sure we fully understand what this will do to us before we sign up.
3. There's a longterm oil revenue plan, say for the next 30 years, including a sensitivity analysis on key factors such as oil price, production technology, new exploration, etc. I see no evidence of anything more than short-term thinking with this administration or most of the legislature.
4. The State explores the possibility of managing it's own production, similar to Norway's Statoil. Use private sector companies to do the actual drilling and extraction, under a contract to the State. Run it as a quasi-state/private enterprise such as the Kodiak rocket launch facility of the Alaska Shipyard in Ketchikan.
Is that too much to ask before we offer up the crown jewels?
@roughcut
hardly "alaskans" speaking. rather it was gerrymandering in the worst sense that made this possible.
Southeast lost lots
With the apparent loss of Rep. Bill Thomas as a member of the Majority and as Co-chair of House Finance, the loss of Sen. Bert Stedman as a member of the Majority and Co-chair of Senate Finance, and the loss of Sen. Dennis Egan as a member of the Senate Majority and as a member of Senate Finance the changes (loss, in this case) to the power Southeast has had may be unprecedented in scope. As things stand at this moment only Rep. Munoz and Rep Wilson are members of any majority. The other 3 SE members of the 28th Alaska Legislature will not be in the room when decisions are made. Southeast residents worried about excessive capital spending in the region need worry no more. Rep. Munoz and Rep. Wilson will need extra chairs in their outer offices because the pleaders, petitioners and whiners will be stacked up for hours on end.
Only Rep. Munoz and Rep. Wilson keep SE from being completely marginalized. We might expect a serious attempt to move the legislature if not the capitol building location during the coming 2 years.
Apart from that discussion, I must say that Becky Bohrer does a superior job of covering the legislature. I don't miss Pat Forgey's mumbles and stumbles.
Agree with gdog
What he fails to mention is that Southeast was well served by the coalition. If we suffer due to their loss, we can squarely blame Parnell and Randy Ruedrich of the state GOP for their gerrymandering and outright campaigning against GOP senators.
@Lat
Did I miss something? The only persons I have heard discussing taking the PFD are Democrats. (Mike Doogan) Beth Kertulla... Al Kookesh....
Mike slipped and said it in public and all of the sudden all we could hear were denials.
Why not let em move the
Why not let em move the capitol? Just think of it... the day after the move there would be a giant shift to the right in juneau.
Well HA HA...
...let's not worry about 'maybes' today. Let's all just bask in the warmth of those nationwide election results for awhile longer.
Say, have you watched Jon Stewart since the election? Yesterday's show, where he reviews Fox's coverage of the results, is a timeless classic. He interviews Nate Silver too. You can watch it on Hulu.
The last thing our planet
The last thing our planet needs is to burn more fossile fuels.
Noticed the huge storms on the east coast?
Really folks, just how many billions are you all willing to pay in taxes for the sake of the oil industry?
Federal money, YOUR tax dollars are used to rebuild all the infrastructure after these storms move across our country and it is costing all of us billions each year.
We can’t afford the cost of oil, not today, not tomorrow.
The time to end our addiction to oil is now.
The best thing we can do for future generations is to build an economy that is NOT dependent on fossil fuels.
The oil industry has destroyed this planet. They have kept this country from developing a meaningful energy policy. They have bought our elections. Think about it.
Remember it was Sean Parnell
Remember it was Sean Parnell that removed the words "for the needs of future generations" out of the Department of Natural Resources mission statement .
Alaskans need leadership that cares about our future generations
we have a freaking oil lobbyist for a governor
Every Alaskan needs to watch these Reps and vote out those that work for the oil industry and give our resources away.
Who is up for re-election?
We need to turn our state around
What about our deficit and
What about our deficit and what about what these storms will do to our deficit. Do you really think the oil industry needs a tax break just so we can continue down this destructive path?
If the captain pushes his
If the captain pushes his giveaway through the R controlled Senate this time- we will Immediately be in a budget deficit in Alaska!
Then it will be time to jump on the Walker bandwagon and attack the public employees for "creating the fiscal emergency." Beware of this "tax restructure"...nearly 90% of Alaska's operating budget comes from what we receive for OUR resources through A.C.E.S. Hope all you pro Parnell people are happy when we are in the same fiscal situation as California and the others.
Latitude & SEfisher
Having Stedman and Thomas both co-chairs of the finance committees served the region well if the measure is how much of the gross over-spending of declining petroleum revenues did this region receive. But it had nothing to do with the coalition.
Possibly Governor Parnell would take the credit you give him for defeating the coalition but in fact the senators he targeted for defeat were re-elected. The two defeated Fairbanks senators owe their losses to redistricting and not to anything done by the governor, the state chamber, and the petroleum companies. Senator Davis was not the right senator for this state. The Republican senators who lost in their primary elections were out of touch with their constituents.
SEfisher, if people stay out of airplanes, and if they take a bicycle or walk whenever possible then they can begin to change what they want changed. If they don't do that then they are no better than Al Gore taking his private jet across the country to talk to Brad Pitt about climate change. Climate change is a religion and I don't have any time for preachers.
Glaciedogs& AHHA....
Well said! Thanks!!
Really, gdog?
Didn't Parnell have a major role in the selection of the redistricting board? He and his pal Gerry?
Regarding "declining petroleum revenues", in 2009 oil revenue was a little over $6 billion. This year it's projected to top $16 billion. Parnell wants to skim some off the top for his pals at Exxon and Conoco, in exchange for...