In one instance, the majority of Alaskans were elated with the national election results Tuesday night considering that Alaska politics continues to remain right of center.

The election of Donald Trump, and Republican control of a national Senate and House, ensures an efficient agenda pointed at expanding energy projects here in Alaska.

Added to this remarkable news is the possibility that Nick Begich is posed to unseat Representative Mary Peltola as our lone member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

In the other instance, Alaskans continue to flounder with state politics, electing unchallenged Democrats and Republicans who prefer to join and caucus with a Democrat-controlled House and Senate in order to receive personal benefits with committee assignments.

In the State Senate, there was a slight improvement rejecting Senator David Wilson and replacing him with Robert Yundt who is considered substantially more conservative and not likely to join a Democrat controlled caucus.

Also, Mike Cronk will add value to the conservative Republican coalition.

Unfortunately, the voters of Eagle River sent Kelly Merrick back for another term. She has a legislative record both in the House and Senate of aligning with a Democrat caucus as long as she is rewarded with prominent committee assignments.

The State House is a trainwreck for conservative Republicans.

Additionally, voters in the Kenai rejected the campaign of Ben Carpenter over the incumbent Jesse Bjorkman, who is bought and paid for by the NEA union and chose to caucus with a Democrat controlled senate.

Given these results, all eyes will be on the State Senate caucus regarding which direction the majority forms.

If the Republicans led by Senator Cathy Giessel return to a bi-partisan Democrat controlled senate, it will likely be that both Robert Yundt and Mike Cronk will join forces with Senator Shelley Hughes, Senator Mike Shower and Senator Rob Myers, which will give them minority status and ensure they have limited committee assignments and a minority leader slot.

The State House is a trainwreck for conservative Republicans.

Given the current status, it appears the Alaska House will flip to Democrat control which most likely means that Bryce Edgmon will return as Speaker of the House.

Word on the street has it that returning Chuck Kopp and Louise Stutes have already announced that they will join a caucus which will ensure Democrat majority control. They will both receive prestigious positions within the caucus such as Rules Chair and Whip.

The dust has not settled, and they have already publicly produced a list of their legislative priorities.

Allow me to post their positions and give rebuttal.

— Balance the budget using the POMV spending cap. (Translation: Loss of the PFD)

— Increase state spending on public education to reduce class sizes and improve outcomes. (Translation: Alaska currently is third in spending and last in education outcomes. Many school districts in Alaska have declining populations, which already equates to smaller classroom sizes.)

— Defined Benefits: This is Chuck Kopp’s baby and the reason he received substantial support from the Police and Fireman’s unions. Alaska was once on defined benefits which produced billions in liability.
(Translation: Take the PFD away and give the resources to a special interest group.)

— Energy development to drive investment, create jobs and lower costs. (Translation: Democrat defined energy development like windmills, solar, and ESG requirements.)

Additional interests

Last year the Democrat minority was adamantly opposed from barring men from women’s bathrooms or stopping men from competing in women’s sports. This will be an issue they bring up again.

As for education, Democrats consider charter schools and parental choice in education as a tool which undermines the public education monopoly. They prefer that your child is forced to attend failing schools.

For them, it has never been about education outcomes but control!

The views expressed here are those of the author.

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