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Gov. Sarah Palin on Sunday named Tim Grussendorf as her designee to replace former Sen. Kim Elton in the Alaska Senate.

The appointment of Grussendorf enables Palin to appoint someone more closely alighted with her conservative politics and still meet the statutory requirement of appointing a registered Democrat to the seat.

Juneau Democratic leaders had recommended Rep. Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau, for the position. After receiving only Kerttula's name, Palin asked local Democrats to apply for the job directly to her office. Fourteen applied, and one application was thrown out. Grussendorf said he was one of four applicants interviewed by Palin last week.

"The Juneau Democrats and all Juneauites are disappointed with the governor's choice," said Rich Listowski, spokesman for the Juneau Democratic Party.

The appointment must now be confirmed by a majority of the nine Democratic members of the Senate.

Grussendorf was a registered Republican until Elton said he was under consideration for an appointment to a position with the Obama administration in Washington, D.C. Elton resigned March 1.

The Juneau Democratic Party had set its own criteria that candidates be registered as Democrats for at least one year, beyond what state law calls for, to be eligible for the recommendation.

"We believe Beth is the most qualified candidate to fill that seat," Listowski said.

Listowski said Juneau Democrats were calling on Democratic senators to reject the Grussendorf appointment.

Grussendorf said he hoped Democrats wouldn't take that action, as it would likely leave Juneau without a senator for even longer. So far, Palin has taken nearly all of the 30 days she had available under state law to make an appointment. That appointment was due by April 1.

Both Kerttula and Grussendorf said they have been soliciting support among Democratic senators for the confirmation vote, but Kerttula would not say whether she also had urged Democratic senators to vote against other nominees.

"If it's her intent to try to get a rejection, I don't see how this benefits Juneau. All it does is ensure Juneau will not have a seat at the table when we're dealing with a billion dollars in funding," Grussendorf said.

Kerttula said she was disappointed with Palin's action, but said she was still considering campaigning for the Senate seat in 2010, when Elton's term would have expired.

"Hey, I can always run for that seat," she said.

Listowski said he expected Kerttula, who has represented downtown Juneau and Douglas in the Legislature for 10 years, to win such an election easily.

"Beth Kerttula will beat him like a drum in the primary in 2010," Listowski said.

Grussendorf is currently a Senate staff member, working for Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, one of the senators who will make the confirmation decision. He also works as a commercial fisherman and is an assistant basketball coach at Floyd Dryden Middle School, the governor's office said.

Grussendorf grew up in Sitka and is the son of Ben Grussendorf, former speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives. Kerttula grew up in Palmer and Juneau, and is the daughter of former Senate President Jay Kerttula.

Grussendorf ran unsuccessfully as a Democrat against former Rep. Bruce Weyhrauch, R-Juneau, in 2002. He said his registration as a Republican was an error on the part of the Division of Elections.

Grussendorf said he changed his party registration to vote in the 2006 primary election, but had changed it to "undeclared," not Republican. He said it was incorrectly changed to "Republican" later by elections officials when he requested a Republican ballot.

Elections director Gail Fenumiai said Grussendorf requested a change of party registration to "Republican" at the same time he requested a Republican ballot.

Grussendorf declined to say who he voted for in the 2006 primary election for which he changed his registration. That is the election in which Palin shocked the political establishment by defeating incumbent Gov. Frank Murkowski. She went on to defeat former Gov. Tony Knowles and independent Andrew Halcro in the general election.

Grussendorf said he's a Democrat at heart, though a conservative one. He said he could fill the governor's goal of bridging representation from the heavily Democratic downtown area and the more conservative Mendenhall Valley.

"As a conservative, I thought I fit that bill pretty well," Grussendorf said.

Liberal Democrat Kerttula was an ally of conservative Republican Palin on key issues of promoting an Alaska natural gas pipeline and reforming oil taxes, as well as tougher ethics standards, during Palin's first two years as governor.

Palin and Kerttula have disagreed on issues such as abortion and the death penalty, however.

When Palin was selected by presidential candidate Sen. John McCain as his pick for vice president, Kerttula publicly said Palin was not qualified for the position. She also publicly backed the Legislature's investigation of Palin in which the governor was found to have abused her office by firing Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.

Lately, relations between Palin and legislators have deteriorated markedly, especially among top Republican leaders.

"It's a pressure cooker like I don't think I've ever seen," Kerttula said.

The Senate's Bipartisan Working Group, the Republican-led, Democratic-majority caucus that controls the Senate, has to decide what becomes of Elton's seat on the Senate Finance Committee.

Both Grussendorf and Kerttula say they hope whoever wins the appointment will get a coveted seat on the Finance Committee.

Grussendorf currently serves as Hoffman's top Finance Committee aide, and said Palin indicated in his interview that being able to step "seamlessly" into the position was important.

"Tim's solid credentials and thorough understanding of the issues facing our state will serve his constituents well," Palin said in a press release. "I am confident he will be able to hit the ground running."