Thanks to ranked-choice voting, Democrats and their RINO allies have been able to grab and strengthen their control over the Alaska Legislature, effectively sidelining most Republican lawmakers and any meaningful conservative legislation.
In a newly published Anchorage Daily News opinion piece, members of the Democrat-controlled majorities admitted as much, while phrasing it more carefully.
Penned by Sen. Cathy Giessel (R-Anchorage), along with hard-left Reps. Bryce Edgmon (I-Dillingham), Ky Holland (N-Anchorage) and Zack Fields (D-Anchorage), the article asserts that “cross-partisan governance” has served the state well, and that ranked-choice voting is essential to continue the status quo.
Currently, the Alaska Legislature is controlled by slim Democrat-led majorities in both the House and Senate, despite the fact that more Republicans have been elected to state office. But thanks to ranked-choice voting and jungle primaries, many GOP lawmakers are “Republican in name only,” as their critics describe them.
This means fewer principled conservatives are elected, making it easier for Democrats and other liberal lawmakers to seize power by adding a handful of less committed Republicans to the slim ruling majorities.
The writers of the opinion piece conclude that if Ballot Measure 2 passes, their current grip on power will be threatened.
The July 29 opinion piece claims that the current legislative arrangement in Juneau “creates an environment where problem-solving takes priority over partisan score-settling.” It adds that governing requires “compromise,” and that ranked-choice voting requires elected officials to win votes from a “broad coalition of voters.”
In practical terms, that means many Republicans are forced to soften their stances to appeal to Democrats and others who may oppose many aspects of the GOP platform. This is because the jungle primary, introduced under ranked-choice voting in 2020, eliminates party primaries entirely. Now, anyone can claim to be a Republican and then run as such in the open primary, which will occur on Aug. 18. From there, the controversial ranked-choice voting system kicks in, which often favors Democratic candidates or Republicans who are willing to reject aspects of their party’s platform to win more votes and stay in power.
“Alaska’s election system encourages exactly those kinds of leaders: people who can build trust across political lines because they have already demonstrated an ability to earn support from a broad coalition of voters,” the recent opinion piece states.
It goes on to assert that the open primary system has protected Alaska from “extreme polarization we see in Washington,” because the current legislative majorities have brought lawmakers “together to tackle some of the state’s most difficult challenges.”
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The article fails to mention that most conservative solutions have been effectively sidelined under the reigning majorities. This includes GOP measures that promote school choice options, protect the preborn from abortion, hold failing public schools accountable, build a natural gas pipeline, pay a full dividend, protect schools from the LGBTQ agenda, secure the constitutional rights of citizen grand juries, enact stronger election security measures, safeguard parental rights and reduce the scope and size of Alaska’s bloated and financially unstable state government.
“We have not voted the same way on every bill, and we never will,” the opinion piece continues. “But we have demonstrated that disagreement does not have to lead to paralysis. When legislators are encouraged to represent the full breadth of their communities instead of the narrowest slice of partisan opinion, they can find durable solutions. That is true public service.”
In November, Alaskans will decide whether to do away with ranked-choice voting and the open, jungle primaries. If voters pass Ballot Measure 2, the state will restore the historic party primaries and the traditional election system, wherein voters choose one candidate for each race, rather than ranking a litany of selections.
The writers of the opinion piece conclude that if Ballot Measure 2 passes, their current grip on power will be threatened.
TAKING ACTION
— Click here to request an absentee ballot.
— Click here to view sample ballots for the Aug. 18 primary.
— Click here to find out which House District you live in, which will determine your primary ballot.
12 Comments
Giessel is the poster child for a corrupted soul. Once known for her conservative bonafides, she has transitioned into an amorphous political stew of contradictions and hypocrisy. Her proudest achievement, in her own words, while senate president was “her great working relationship with democrats”. Not her republican colleagues in the majority she was president of, not working with the republican governor. But…democrats. Foreshadowing her return to the senate after turning to the dark side of the force, Giessel has flip flopped virtually every position she ever held and is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. By a wide margin no longer a Republican she, frankly, hates republicans and only retains the R so she can lie to her constituents about who and what she is to retain the power she so desperately wants by being a state senator. The only way to describe her that fits is a charlatan full of hypocrisy and lies. Mean, aggressive, cold hearted, she’s the worst of us. And for those not politically savvy, she WILL hand control of the senate to the democrats for the next 4 years if she wins her reelection this year. Everyone in Juneau knows it so while on paper there will be 11 republicans and 9 democrats in the senate it’s really a 10/10 split with Giessel joining the Ds and if stutes wins the kenai/kodiak senate seat Stevens is vacating, then that’s a 11 person majority controlled by the Democrats. Stutes sells her soul for power virtually every session with no consequences. She will in the senate too.
John, thanks for bringing out the truth, yes Giessel is a corrupted soul. If those Girdwood folks and south Anchorage can’t see through the sheep’s clothing, to see the wrong Giessel has done to our state.
I still can’t believe she got re-elected after they kicked her out once before, she must of done a lot of baby kissing to win her last election.
everyone of these pro RCV politicians are owned by the Unions.
“Cooperation “ is another word that the left has corrupted. To them it means they always get what they want and you shut up and color.
Just like the Republicans in the US House and Senate and especially the fawning Cabinet
The only thing RCV has done for/to this state is insure those whom don’t follow their party platform remain in office. The worse of those whom promote RCV is Princess Lisa Murkowski herself.
Governor Dunleavy is up against a corrupt judicial branch and more than half of the legislature is now Marxist/Communist/socialist/leftist or whatever new name that pops up. The governor is not one of these and he is in a battle because this philosophy is social justice not Biblical justice. This philosophy we just read is against Western Civilization values, against family, against God and this is the training coming out of UAF and the other universities and public schools. No right, no wrong is a different moral code than Biblical justice. It is described at the end of the Book of Judges. Pray for our governor. He vetoed Initiative 1 which will show up because the Marxist in the legislature put it there against the governor’s veto.
“…asserts that “cross-partisan governance” has served the state well, and that ranked-choice voting is essential to continue the status quo”. This state has been governed terribly poorly ever since Walker was elected. We were sold out to special interest groups, unions, dark money from outside interests and so much more. This state has NOT been governed well in a very, long time.
Because Real Republicans have internal issues arguing over individual candidates virtuous characteristics or the lack of one instead of uniting behind one
Unity among leaders and people of the AKGOP is what will keep the AKGOP from being stamped out of existence
Our republican party has been rino forever. They won’t even back a MAGA person, who is an actual conservative. I still vote. God knows why.
Ranked choice voting subverts the will of the people. It undermines democracy. Those who support it don’t care about democracy, they care about power.
You’re talking about Lisa Murkowski.