Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, speaks in favor of Senate Bill 48, the carbon credits bill, on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in the Alaska House. At background is Department of Resources Commissioner John Boyle and staff supporting the bill. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, speaks in favor of Senate Bill 48, the carbon credits bill, on Tuesday, May 16, 2023, in the Alaska House. At background is Department of Resources Commissioner John Boyle and staff supporting the bill. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska House control flips from predominantly Republican coalition to mostly Democratic coalition

Preliminary election results show the new House majority will have at least 22 members.

The Alaska House of Representatives will be governed by a mostly Democratic coalition majority instead of the predominantly Republican one that has controlled it for the past two years.

Late Wednesday, members of the new coalition announced that it had secured more than 21 votes, the minimum needed to elect the speaker of the House and control the flow of legislation within the chamber.

The announcement came even though election results have not been finalized and could change before certification.

“We have taken that into account, and we’re very confident in the numbers we have,” said Rep.-elect Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage and the new coalition’s majority leader. “We’re not sitting back. Our intent is to grow into a caucus of 26-27 (members), and the invitation is open to any member that can ascribe to the principles of organization that we released.”

Those principles include not raising oil taxes, not overspending from the Alaska Permanent Fund, “stable public education funding,” “retirement reform,” and “energy development.”

Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham and the speaker of the House from 2017-2020, will again serve as speaker of the House.

Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, will act as chair of the rules committee, which influences which bills make it to floor votes.

Stutes and Edgmon previously had significant closed-door disagreements within the Capitol. Those are behind them, Stutes said Thursday.

“I feel totally confident and comfortable that whatever issues had arisen, we’ve talked about them, we’ve resolved them, and we’re moving on … and no hard feelings,” she said.

As a whole, Stutes said, the new majority intends to stay away from controversial social issues. Kopp said that’s by design.

“I’m definitely a social conservative, and I’m not interested in advancing any legislation that is perceived as hostile to that,” he said.

He referenced a prolonged spring debate in the House over legislation that would limit transgender girls on school sports teams. That debate took more than a day with just four days left in the session, and Gov. Mike Dunleavy ultimately vetoed several bills that passed the House after its adjournment deadline.

“Alaska right now does not need us to devolve into a partisan fight that stalls the Legislature for weeks, and then you end up having the governor be forced into vetoing bills because we got hijacked into social issues that had nothing to do with the governance of the state,” Kopp said.

Rep. Calvin Schrage, I-Anchorage and minority leader for the past two years, said he’s happy to join the new majority group.

“I’m encouraged that we’ve been able to put together a bipartisan majority that’s ready to get to work. For Alaskans, the last two years have been pretty unproductive, in my view, or at least, certainly not as productive or functional as they could have been. And I’m looking forward to really getting to work,” he said.

• James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. This article originally appeared online at alaskabeacon.com. Alaska Beacon, an affiliate of States Newsroom, is an independent, nonpartisan news organization focused on connecting Alaskans to their state government.

More in News

(Juneau Empire file photo)
Aurora forecast through the week of Nov. 3

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

West Juneau homes on Douglas Island late Thursday afternoon. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
What will Trump as president again and a more liberal Alaska Legislature mean for Juneau?

Election appears to shake up federal and state governments in different ways, leaving lots of unknowns.

Aurelie Alexander photographs a helicopter hoisting cellular equipment onto the roof of the Marine View building at midday Wednesday. As a resident of the apartment/office building, she and others were notified to leave the building during the helicopter operation. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)
Hovering around downtown for better phone service

New AT&T equipment installed atop Marine View Building joins other telecom upgrades downtown.

The Columbia is scheduled to replace the Kennicott on the mainline ferry route between Southeast Alaska and Bellingham, Washington, starting in mid-December. (Alaska Marine Highway System photo)
Proposed summer ferry schedule for 2025 remains much the same, with Columbia replacing Kennicott

Public comments being accepted until Nov. 12, with virtual meetings scheduled that day.

A simulated photo shows the tailings stack and other features of Hecla Greens Creek Mine under the final notice of decision for expanding the mine announced Thursday by the U.S Forest Service. The expansion will extend the life of the mine up to 18 years. (U.S. Forest Service)
Extending Greens Creek Mine production for 12 to 18 years gets final OK from Forest Service

Agency says there will also be more habitat protection measures and mine waste disposal capacity.

A sperm whale is seen in an undated photo published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (NOAA photo)
Southeast Alaska fisher could get six months in prison after attempting to kill sperm whale

Federal prosecutors are recommending that an Alaska fisher serve six months in… Continue reading

Voters at Anchorage City Hall wait in line to cast their ballots on Nov. 4, 2024, the day before Election Day. City Hall, in downtown Anchorage, was one of the designated early voting sites in the state’s largest city. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
No leaders change as 1,500 more ballots are added to Alaska’s election count

Almost 46,000 votes cast before Election Day remain uncounted, according to absentee and early vote figures.

A weather-beaten Kamala Harris campaign sign is seen on the railing along a downtown street on Wednesday. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
How Juneau voted: Support for Trump varies between 55% near airport to 15.7% in downtown precinct

Voters in two local districts favor keeping ranked choice voting, while statewide residents evenly split.

Most Read