Knopp votes with Democrats against Talerico as Speaker

By
Suzanne Downing
-
20

(1-minute read) KENAI REPUBLICAN GOES AGAINST A REPUBLICAN-LED MAJORITY

Rep. Gary Knopp, who represents one of the most conservative areas of Alaska, voted with the Democrats and the two Musk Ox Republicans — Reps. Louise Stutes and Gabrielle LeDoux — against Rep. Dave Talerico for Speaker of the House and against a Republican-led majority.

The House gaveled in this morning, but the vote for the Healy Republican as Speaker went 20-20, thereby failing.

Rep. Chris Tuck, an Anchorage Democrat, then withdrew the nomination of Rep. Bryce Edgmon, possibly understanding that his nomination, too, would fail.

Knopp earlier had been part of the Republican caucus but then removed himself and joined with the two Republicans who do not caucus with other Republicans. He said he wanted a bipartisan caucus.

His move means that the House is still not organized, a term that means no specific group is in charge and no one is the Speaker. In the interim, Rep. Neal Foster is Speaker Pro Tem.

In his campaign, Knopp may have indicated where he stood. He wrote on his campaign website: “Our State Legislature has spent their time bickering and finger-pointing and the time for a thoughtful fiscal solution is long overdue. We need new blood in the State House.”

“We need a representative who will remember the commitment he made to the citizens of the Kenai Peninsula House District 30 to get things done and find real, practical answers to our budget issues,” Knopp wrote during the campaign season.

Knopp’s district has 5,239 registered Republicans and 1,161 Democrats. Because of the deeply conservative nature of the district, he ran unopposed in both the Primary and the General Election in 2018.

20 COMMENTS

  1. Knopp knew what he was going to do BEFORE the election. Run conservative, then switch sides. These traitors hope that their constituency forgives and forgets. Unlikely. The Kenai voters will keel-haul Knopp before they forgive. Politics in the backroom. And bigger still, the Dems are scared to death that Tammie Wilson will become Chair of the Finance Committee, where the REAL power lies. Solution: have Tammie make-up with Gabrielle, or, find a Democrat to place as Chairman on the State Affairs Committee and get a weak 21-19 majority.

    • Paul Seaton (R, Homer) did this too. And he was defeated in the last election. Another Republican trying to impress Liberals. They become true outcasts b/c Republicans no longer trust them and Democrats just use them until they get one of their own in place. Knopp is an idiot, like Seaton and Murkowski. Tranny-Pols. Switch hitters and political cross-dressers. Eventually, they go to the junkyard.

    • Why don’t the voters of Knopps’s district mount a recall campaign?

      It’s time to hold these so-called Republicans who jump ship once elected responsible now and not let them do untold damage before they can be voted out of office in two years.

      I’ll just bet he will be a thorn in Dunleavy’s side for the next two years, along with Gabby LeDoux.

      Speaking of LeDoux, whatever happened regarding the Div of Election’s investigation into her alleged election wrong-doing. Hopefully with Dunleavy in office, that investigation will do forward post haste and if found guilty, she will be expelled from office so her constituents can fairly elect a “real” Republican.

    • From what I read, he ran unopposed in both the primary and the general election. Maybe the Republican Party is to blame for not vetting him better and offering up a better candidate in the primary.

      A similar thing happened with Gabby LeDoux. The Republican Party didn’t encourage a better candidate to participate in the primary against her. They offered up a much better candidate in the general through a write-in campaign. Not really the best way to run a party if you want my 2 cents worth.

  4. Step away from the Kool-Aid Knopp. You know not what you drinketh. What is the matter with you? Is it your goal to do absolutely nothing while you are there? At this point, you aren’t even making a statement other than you’ve completely lost it. The people that voted for you have wasted an entire session cycle on YOU. Shame on you. If you get re-elected, shame on the people of your district.

  5. Nice to see there is at least one “free thinker” left in AK.
    Maybe the Republicans should see this as what it truly is…
    The fact that the Tea Party and Trumpsters are destroying the moderates in their own party (remember the folks who were always bi partisan in the middle, yet fiscal conservatives).
    Either way, I think Knopp is doing the right thing, right “out of the gate”…
    Refreshing to see once again in AK!
    By forcing more of his own party to work with Democrats…This will help each side compromise a little to help things move forward.
    Good luck!

    • Wrong. If a Democrat switches sides (a rarity) they are finished. eg. Joe Lieberman. And he only switched to Independent. Democrats have a Golden Rule. But if a Republican switches sides they are hailed as heroes by the Lefties. Knopp and Murkowski love the hero status. Ask Paul Seaton what it’s like to be a hero, and be all by himself in a coffee shop in Homer. Pariah status.

  7. Once again the citizens of Kenai got Duped by a would be Republican. I see is Tenure to be very short-lived.

  8. And then again, at the end of the 90 day mandate for the legislature THEY will NOT have accomplished the PEOPLES business!!

    • THANK YOU KARIN! While people are touting him as a “free thinker” blah blah blah, nothing is happening. Voting against Talerico is showing you are a free thinker? Come on man! How is this “working with the democrats?” NOTHING IS HAPPENING. NOTHING.

  9. Rep. Knopp is not the problem. Review his voting record. It’s consistent with his current position and he was re-elected. The problem is going to be the weakest links in the Republican chain. There are no Dems likely to bolster a Republican caucus, but there are several weak-willed Republicans who would likely jump ship to gain a committee chair. This caucus can only keep them in line for so long. Watch the weak ones…..

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