One day after news broke that Alaska Rep. DeLena Johnson (R-Palmer) had been elected the new GOP State House Minority Caucus Leader, Republican party leaders from across the state issued a letter criticizing the election for being inadequately noticed and a poor reflection of Republican values.
On Nov. 29, two Republican party district chairs in the Mat-Su, Amy Demboski (District 26) and Casey Campbell (District 29) issued a statement asking the House Minority Caucus to hold off on electing caucus leaders or making any new committee assignments until they could seat two new Mat-Su representatives.
The district chairs were concerned that the Mat-Su would not get adequate representation if the vote was taken before their new representatives could be confirmed.
The vacancies occurred due to the fact that former Mat-Su Representatives Cathy Tilton and George Raucher were seated in the State Senate to replace longtime State Senators Mike Shower and Shelley Hughes, both of whom resigned last month to seek higher office as lieutenant governor and governor, respectively.
The Mat-Su district chairs warned that proceeding to a vote on caucus leadership without full Mat-Su representation could negatively impact the Valley region and its constituents.
Despite the urging from the district chairs, the Minority Caucus went ahead on Nov. 30 and quickly elected Rep. Johnson as Minority Leader and Rep. Justin Ruffridge (R-Soldotna) as Minority Whip.
Joint statements from eight GOP District chairs condemned the vote.
“Last night you held a House Minority Caucus meeting for the purpose of electing new leadership,” the Dec. 1 statements noted. “Multiple Republicans in the House are reporting there was inadequate notice and they either did not receive the notice until after the meeting, or they could not attend because of the short notice.”
The district leaders added that “every election should have adequate notice and be available to all members to attend.”
“This hurried process clearly does not reflect the values Republicans support of honest, fair, and transparent elections,” the district chairs continued. “You have an opportunity to seat the two new members from the Mat-Su in the next two weeks; then you can give the House Republicans adequate notice of an election for new leadership and committee assignments. If you want to be a Republican leader, we encourage you to lead by example.”
The joint statements were signed by the following district chairs from across the state:
— Andrew Traxler, District 30 Chair
— Casey Campbell, District 29 Chair
— Amy Demboski, District 26 Chair
— Robert Wall, District 8 Chair
— Nikki Rose, District 9 Chair
— Stephen Romanelli, District 23 Chair
— Eli Graber, District 27
— Sally Duncan, District 34
— Josiah Henry, District 36
8 Comments
According to some, present were: Bynum, Johnson, Rufridge, Columbe, Underwood, Moore, Prax, Saddler, Costello, Elam. No republican groups should donate to them. No endorsements should be given. They should actively find people to run against them. I am disgusted with Ruffridge, Johnson and Bynum. No matter what they say, it was planned. Bynam had a voting app already loaded according to reports.
Whine some more. That’s how it goes for people who know how to work with others instead of trying to bully them.
District 30 chair Traxler is a McCabe puppet. This fuss is surely sparked by McCabe and his sour grapes. Same guy who shivved Eastman. Interesting the District 25 and 28 chairs wanted no part of this. The tide is turning. Some people just don’t know when to sit down and shut up.
Same guy who shivved Eastman. Interesting the District 25 and 28 chairs wanted no part of this. The tide is turning. Some people just don’t know when to sit down and shut up.
POOR MCCABE IS LOSING ALL HIS FRIENDS! LOL
GOVERNOR PUMPKIN HEAD AND MCCABE ARE HARD TO TELL APART!
Ten district chairs out of 40 is hardly a mandate for anything, except maybe rejecting the completely unfit McCabe, who couldn’t even get all of the Mat-Su chairs to sign on. How’s he going to feel if his selfish, bully behavior pushes more Republicans into the majority?
Damboski is irrelevant