With GOP leaders irate by the Alaska House Minority Caucus’ hasty election of new leaders, freshly seated Minority Leader Rep. DeLena Johnson (R-Palmer) is promising to hold another vote.

The controversy stems from a Nov. 30 vote when a small group of House Republicans met on short notice to elect Johnson as Minority Leader and Rep. Justin Ruffridge (R-Soldotna) as Minority Whip.

House District leaders from across the state have condemned the move, saying the vote was inadequately noticed and calling it a poor reflection of Republican values.

Just one day before the controversial vote, Republican party district chairs in the Mat-Su, Amy Demboski (District 26) and Casey Campbell (District 29), issued a statement urging the House Minority Caucus to hold off on choosing leaders or making any new committee assignments until after lawmakers could confirm two new Mat-Su representatives.

The district chairs were concerned that the Mat-Su would not have representation if the vote was taken before their new legislators could be confirmed and seated.

The vacancies occurred after 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.

Despite the urging from the Mat-Su district chairs, the Minority Caucus went ahead with the vote, which sparked outrage from nearly a dozen different GOP districts across the state – all calling on Johnson to hold a new vote once the Mat-Su lawmakers are seated.

On Dec. 1, the House Minority released a statement in which Johnson defended her election as Minority Leader.

“Yes – when we get our new members we will make sure they are able to have a vote on leadership and committee positions,” Johnson commented via Facebook.

“I don’t want to see the House Republicans go too long without leadership in place,” she stated. “If we had at least one of the leadership positions filled, we could have carried on, but without either position we were lacking in key tools to move forward and be effective as a caucus.”

The statement added that all other organizational decisions and committee assignments would be announced after the new Mat-Su lawmakers are confirmed and sworn in. It also opened the door for another election on who should serve as Minority Leader and Whip.

That same day, Johnson addressed some of her detractors via her personal Facebook page, and reiterated that she would hold another vote, if that’s what the caucus wants to do.

“As far as the vote for minority leader I’m happy to have that vote again when everyone is seated,” Johnson said in a now deleted Facebook comments. “My staff takes a pay cut when I take this position, so not a real great promotion.”

She also defended the timing of the vote.

“The meeting was being talked about for days, it was hardly a surprise,” Johnson posted. “Let’s see, any time people want to take a vote I’m all for it.”

At the end of the post, Johnson claimed that unnamed “mudslingers” were out to get her.

“I have someone who is out to take me down,” she claimed. “I can identify where this is coming from. But again, I cannot address everything – I don’t even know all the accusations. I keep hearing new ones.”

In the same Facebook thread, Johnson twice affirmed that the GOP caucus would hold another vote on leadership.

“Yes – when we get our new members we will make sure they are able to have a vote on leadership and committee positions,” she wrote.

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