During the last two sessions of the State Legislature, the Alaska Republican Party has been unable to prevent RINO party members from joining with the Democrats to form governing caucuses. The Republican Party’s inaction has been well documented, but things might be changing thanks to actions at the grassroots level.

Recent articles on Seward’s Folly have shown how other states have held miscreants accountable in similar circumstances, but there has been nothing but crickets from the leadership of the AK GOP.

Where the state leadership has failed, grassroots party members have stepped up to take the lead on this issue. In a meeting earlier this month, members of the GOP’s District 6, located on the southern Kenai Peninsula, voted to censure both state Senator Gary Stevens and Senator Lisa Murkowski. While censure resolutions have been made in the past and accomplished absolutely nothing, things may be different this time.

Seward’s Folly recently met with representatives from the District 6 GOP leadership, who filled me in on the details of what they are attempting, and it sounds like something meaningful could finally get accomplished.

Recall that seven GOP lawmakers betrayed their conservative colleagues in order to join a Democratic-controlled liberal governing caucus in the Alaska Legislature.

The first step in holding the Gang of Seven accountable is a change adopted to the Alaska Republican Party Rules back in February. Article VII was added, and it includes language which says, “Any candidate or elected official may be sanctioned or suspended for any of the following reasons… (e) Forming a majority caucus in which non-Republicans are at least 1/3 or more of the coalition.”

Given this language, it is clear that each member of the Gang of Seven in Juneau has violated this part of the AK GOP bylaws. Article VII also specifies potential punishment: “Sanctions may include censure, declaring elected officials or candidates ineligible for endorsement or support by the ARP or its affiliates, recruiting a challenger, and prohibiting participation in ARP events, or any other appropriate sanction not disallowed by ARP or RNC rules.”

The significance of these rule changes is that censured Republicans could lose financial support from the party, be prevented from attending state GOP nominating conventions, or face a GOP-backed challenger in their next reelection campaign. These are real sanctions with real teeth to them.

With the new rule changes now in effect, the District 6 leadership convened a meeting on April 5th and voted to censure both Alaska Senate President Gary Stevens and U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Stevens has violated the new rules adopted in February, and Lisa Murkowski receives their ire because she has been subversive to President Trump’s policies and is frequently aligned with the Democrats back in Washington, D.C.

The one problem with this round of sanctions is that although District 6 voted to censure both RINOs, District 5 did not, which prevents the full impact of the sanctions from taking effect, at least for now.

Alaska Senate districts are each composed of two House districts. Senator Stevens represents District C, which is composed of House Districts 5 and 6. District 6, located in Homer, voted to censure the senator and begin the sanction process, but District 5, located in Kodiak, did not pass the same articles of censure, which is probably no surprise.

RINO Senator Stevens lives in Kodiak. The local party knows that having their Senator hold the position of Senate President benefits their community. Since AK GOP rules require both House districts comprising a senate district to vote for censure, this might seem like another failed attempt by the Republicans to police their members.

However, today’s Republicans aren’t your Daddy’s GOP; they are made of sterner stuff and aren’t taking no for an answer. There is a second part to the AK GOP’s February rules change, which also permits the sanction of a state Senator if 19 of the 37 organized GOP House districts in Alaska also vote to censure the individual.

District 6 members have contacted other districts around the state, asking them to vote to approve Senator Gary Stevens’s censure. If 19 statewide districts approve the resolution, Mr. Stevens could face the punishments documented in Article VII.

More importantly, if the censure resolution can be passed against the sitting Senate President, then every other party defector today and in the future could face similar punishment. If the AK GOP can punish Gary Stevens, it will be a “Come to Jesus” moment for the rest of the Gang of Seven.

As a reminder to voters around the state, the Gang of Seven GOP political traitors includes House members Louise Stutes and Chuck Kopp and Senators Bert Stedman, Gary Stevens, Jesse Bjorkman, Cathy Giessel, and Kelly Merrick.

Seward’s Folly recommends that each of the organized House Districts around the state vote to approve District 6’s censure resolution of Senator Gary Stevens. Additionally, the House districts shown in Table 1 above should vote to censure their respective senators and representatives who have violated the AK GOP bylaws by joining governing caucuses with the Democrats.

Sometimes getting things done politically in this state is like trying to turn a supertanker. Those ships take a long time to turn, but given enough time and patience, it can be done. It is time for the Republicans to get their ship headed in the right direction, and for the first time in a long time, it looks like that just might be possible.

The views expressed here are those of Greg Sarber. Read more Sarber posts at his Seward’s Folly substack.

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