During Attorney General Stephen Cox’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Alaska legend John Sturgeon provided invited testimony in support of Cox.
John Sturgeon won two U.S. Supreme Court cases (Sturgeon v. Frost, 577 U.S. 424 in 2016 and Sturgeon v. Frost, 587 U.S. ___ in 2019) defending Alaska lands from federal overreach. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Sturgeon’s favor in both cases.
Stephen Cox was appointed by Governor Dunleavy to fill the vacancy left by Candidate for Governor Treg Taylor. He had his confirmation hearing with the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 1, 2026. The Legislature was originally scheduled to vote on Cox’s confirmation today, May 7, but the vote has been rescheduled to an undetermined date, likely next week.
Here is Sturgeon’s full testimony:
Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members. Again, my name is John Sturgeon. I am a 56-year resident of Alaska, and today I am speaking for myself. I am testifying today in support of Steve Cox as Alaska’s Attorney General. He has shown how to take the President’s executive order on Alaska and move it through agencies, through process, and get real results on the ground.
One of the issues we just talked about, which is near and dear to my heart, [is] Alaska getting its navigable waters that it was promised at statehood. Since the two U.S. Supreme Court unanimous decisions on navigability, with the latest being in 2019, the federal government has not passed a single navigable water title to the state of Alaska. Not one. Not since that decision. In 68 years, we have only received title to six percent of what we were promised. At that rate, it would take hundreds of years for Alaska to get title to its navigable waters that was promised at statehood.
However, thanks to AG Cox’s effort, that logjam was finally broken last December, and Alaska got title to its navigable waters— to the first navigable waters in seven years, the Fortymile River near Chicken. That’s because he understood how to engage the Department of the Interior and Department of Justice with the right arguments. His efforts have set the stage to hopefully secure the title to many more of Alaska’s rivers and lakes.
I think everyone would agree that Alaska is a resource development state. I’ve worked in the Alaska forest product industry for the past fifty-six years. Securing federal permits has always been one of the major hurdles in starting resource development projects. Since Mr. Cox has operated inside those agency systems at a senior level, he understands where decisions are made and where they will quietly stall and die. That kind of judgment is hard to replace, but much needed if we want Alaska’s economy to grow.
Personally, that is very important to me. I want to see my children, my grandchildren, and maybe if I live long enough, great-grandchildren to stay and work in Alaska. A wish that a lot of us have; most everybody has. The president’s executive order can help with developing our resources only if someone can execute it. That requires coordination across federal agencies that don’t naturally move together. Mr. Cox has already shown he can align state, federal, and local players and keep them moving in the same direction. Alaska needs that kind of leadership and skill. I believe Mr. Cox has it. Alaska’s future runs through federal decisions: lands, water, energy, infrastructure. Steve has spent his career in that space and knows how to translate Alaskan interests in terms agencies will actually act on.
Regarding the 8a program for Alaska Native corporations: one of the most fundamental challenges facing the state is the future of the 8a program and how it applies to Alaska Native corporations. That’s jobs, revenue, economic stability for communities all across Alaska. I worked for Alaska Native corporations for the past forty years and know firsthand how important that 8a program is to those native corporations.
I don’t think anybody in the state is better positioned to advance Alaska’s interest than Mr. Cox. He watched the 8a program to date play out in Washington for nearly twenty years, from the Department of Justice, in the private sector, and from inside an Alaska Native Corporation. He understands the law and the politics. He knows the federal decision makers. He knows how they think on these issues and he knows how to engage them effectively. Let’s not lose a good man that we really, really need in this place and time in Alaska.
I ask you to confirm Steve Cox as Alaska’s AG. Thank you very much for your time, Mr. Chairman and committee members.
