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.”

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.

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