In the ongoing drama surrounding vacant legislative seats in the Mat-Su Valley, GOP district leaders have sent a slate of names to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, from which he is expected to pick two new representatives for the Alaska House.
After meeting on Dec. 7 to consider applicants, leaders from Alaska GOP Districts 26 and 29 chose six potential candidates to replace seats that were vacated by Reps. Cathy Tilton and George Rauscher, both of whom were appointed to the State Senate to replace Sens. Shelley Hughes and Mike Shower. Hughes and Shower stepped down last month in order to run for governor and lieutenant governor, respectively.
District 26, which encompasses the Wasilla Fairview area, forwarded the names of Donna Anthony, Stephan St. Clair and Sean McPeck to replace Tilton. District 29, covering Valdez to Sutton, submitted the names of Garret Nelson, John James and Lucas Howard to fill Rauscher’s seat.
Gov. Dunleavy is expected to choose one candidate for each vacancy. Those names will then need to be confirmed by Republican lawmakers in accord with state law.
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With the legislative session set to begin in January, Mat-Su Republicans are eager to have the vacant seats filled quickly to ensure the Mat-Su has full representation when it comes to organizing party leadership and key committee seats in Juneau.
In particular, the Mat-Su area is concerned about who will lead the GOP minority caucus next year. Last month, House members chose Rep. DeLena Johnson as the new minority leader – replacing Tilton. This stirred considerable controversy across GOP districts, which were upset that Republican lawmakers did not wait until the Mat-Su vacancies were filled. Johnson has since said that she will hold a new vote once the incoming legislators are seated.
Despite the fact that voters elected a majority of Republicans to the State House, the GOP caucus will remain in a slight minority due to the fact that some lawmakers have chosen to break with their party to empower Democrats. Currently Rep. Chuck Kopp (R-Anchorage) and Rep. Lousie Stutes (R-Kodiak) are caucusing with the narrow Democrat-controlled majority.
