Knopp tells reporters, district leaders, he’ll stick with Republicans

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HOUSE STALEMATE MAY COME TO AN END

Rep. Gary Knopp told Republican District 30 Chair Neal DuPerron tonight that he will vote for the Republican Speaker nominee, Dave Talerico of Healy.

If he follows through on his word, that means the House of Representative’s stalemate will end on Tuesday, and a fragile 21-member Republican majority will organize, with Rep. Cathy Tilton as Rules Chair, and Lance Pruitt and Tammy Wilson as co-chairs of Finance. Chuck Kopp would be majority leader.

This is essentially the same leadership team that formed the day after the General Election on Nov. 6.

The tide seemed to be turning the opposite direction earlier today, with four Republicans forging an agreement with Democrats to put Democrat Rep. Bryce Edgmon back in as Speaker for the next two years.

The House floor session, originally scheduled for 11 am, was postponed after polling data was made available to House Republicans, showing broad support for the governor’s plan to build a budget that Alaska can afford, and then ask Alaskans how they want to pay for additional spending.

The Republican House members engaged in an internal debate about whether or not they should even see the information. In the end, most of them went to the presentation.

That polling information turned out to be what Republicans needed to find their mojo and start working together for a 21-member majority.

Although Knopp was not in attendance at the public opinion presentation, he was getting his own dose of public opinion information. Tonight, his District Republicans voted 10 to 8 to send him a letter telling him to either rejoin the Republican majority or resign.

Knopp was also having to face a scheduled Chamber of Commerce breakfast in Kenai/Soldotna on Friday, and a town hall meeting on Friday evening, where local conservatives were activating.

The struggle to establish control has been not only about who gets which committee. The party that the Speaker is a member of also gets to choose one person for the upcoming redistricting board, which will adjust political boundaries after the next U.S. Census in 2020.

The House is scheduled to gavel in at 10 am on Tuesday.

14 COMMENTS

    • On Feb 4th, MRAK had an article that talked about the Montana Plan: Here is some verbiage directly from the article:
      .
      “The group is composed of Reps. Lance Pruitt, George Rauscher, Josh Revak, and Bart LeBon on the Republican side, and Jonathan Kreiss Tompkins, Daniel Ortiz, Andi Story, and Grier Hopkins for the Democrats. They’re calling it the Montana Plan, based on what the Big Sky State and others have done at times, when they had a 50-50 split.”

      .
      Rauscher walked from this. Not sure what ended up with the discussions after that. So, it looked like Pruitt, Revak and LeBon were interested in developing a sharing plan….whatever that means.

  1. A check of Gary Knopp’s Facebook page showed the comments were 100% against him and his latest “power sharing” boondoggle over the last several days.

    No doubt he was terrified of the prospect of facing his Republican constituents on the Kenai this Friday.

    He is now in “political life-saving mode”

    Will he follow through on his latest promises?

    Many thanks to great Alaska journalist Suzanne Downing for keeping the state’s body politic abreast of the latest Juneau shenanigans.

    If you don’t read it here on MRAK, there’s a good chance it is just more fake news!

  2. Knopp bowed to the legitimate pressures that would not have occurred but for MRAK. Thank you Suzanne. And thanks to the GOP women on the Kenai Peninsula who clearly pointed out their displeasure in Knopp’s defection.

  3. Good morning!

    Quick note about the Kenai/Soldotna Chamber breakfast; Rep Knopp scheduled this last week to talk to his constituents. The term “face” us makes it sound like it’s a firing squad. There is no “facing” ya. We are open to hear what our delegation has to say. The breakfast will be a place for civil conversations.

    Thanks!
    Johna Beech
    President/COO
    KCCVC

  4. Once his grand standing is over with, I hope he has the character to reimburse the state for the lost services from the legislature. Of course by now he must know that there are other candidates just as qualified to fill the seat come reelection time.

  5. “…and then ask Alaskans how they want to pay for additional spending.”
    .
    That means our lobbyist-legislator team gobbles up their cut first…
    .
    Leftovers go to public-sector unions who’ll crank up actor portrayals of caring Alaskans and their children “asking”, no demanding, the privilege to give government more money to pay for desperately needed services.
    .
    While Republicans sit back and do nothing to jeopardize their “fragile majority”.

  6. Well, well. Maybe Gary is finally coming around. Its mighty lonely being around Democrats who really dont like you.

  7. This isn’t over. I’m quite sure that Knopp has lost all trust. Too late buddy. Timing is everything. It’s pretty clear what is going on here. This entire circus is all about him and his own gains. Now he is watching out for his own skin. So much for all of his convictions (whether we liked them or not, they all just went out the window now didn’t they?) This guy will drop a dime and turn a coat when the wind changes. Have a nice time hearing him out on the Peninsula on Friday, then shuck him while you can. Don’t trust this guy or you’ll get shivved again – or should I say we all will.

    • Well I guess my turncoat and wind change prediction was spot on. We all got shivved before I could barely hit send on the last post.

  8. At the API, they should name one of the wings, “Gary Knopp Wing.” All mentally disturbed politicians and those afflicted with Trump Derangement Disorder (TDD), head straight to the Knopp Wing for treatment. Treatment consists of:
    1. No marijuana smoking.
    2. Lots of anti-psychotic medication.
    3. 8 hours daily of watching videos of Trump Rallys.
    4. Group prayer.
    5. Three daily servings of red meat.
    6. Daily marijuana lectures by Vivian Stiver.
    8. Memorizing the Dunleavy budget.
    9. Memorizing the state Republican Platform.
    10. Daily dart throwing contest at the Democrat of the Day.

    Eight weeks of mandatory treatment. Compliance testing. 80% for passing. If not, back to Knopp Wing for retreatment. Full recovery never guaranteed. Liberalism is a severe mental disorder.

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