As soon as the Legislature adjourned on Tuesday, Rep. Louise Stutes, a registered Republican who has caucused with the Democrats for all of her career, quietly filed to run for Senate.
The seat she would serve in is now occupied by Senate President Gary Stevens, who has been rumored to be retiring.
Sen. Stevens, also a Republican, represents Senate District C, which includes Kodiak, Homer, Seward, and Cordova. He is 83 and has served in the Alaska Legislature since 2001, first in the House and then in the Senate beginning in 2003. Whether he would want to run again in 2026 is unlikely, as it would set him up to serve into his late 80s.
Stevens has held the position of Senate President multiple times, most recently during the current session, which will reconvene in January after gaveling out on Tuesday.
Rep. Stutes has represented Kodiak in the Alaska House of Representatives since 2015 and served as House Speaker from 2021 to 2023. Throughout her tenure, she has been primarily associated with Democrat policies and political alliances and is the remaining member of what was dubbed the “Muskox Caucus” of left-leaning Republicans that broke away from the Republican majority in 2016.
