The Alaska Senate will look a lot like it did during the past four years: Republicans Sen. Gary Stevens of Kodiak will remain Senate president, and Sen. Cathy Giessel of Anchorage will again be majority leader. Both are foes of Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican. Democrat Sen. Bill Wielechowski will hold the gavel in the Rules Committee, which decides what legislation may advance.
The Senate majority organization is a mix of Democrats and Republicans. Three Republicans are not in the coalition government, which is dominated by Democrats. They are Sen. Shelley Hughes and Sen. Mike Shower of Wasilla and the MatSu, and Sen. Robert Myers of Fairbanks. It’s unclear if they will be invited to join this time.
It’s also unclear if newly elected Republican members will be invited or will join. Rep. Mike Cronk of Tok is joining the Senate, replacing Sen. Click Bishop, who was a member of the coalition. Rob Yundt of Wasilla will replace Sen. David Wilson, a Republican who also joined the Democrat-dominated coalition.
Other members of the coalition are Democrat Sens. Lyman Hoffman and Donny Olson, and Republican Sen. Bert Stedman, who all will continue as a trio to co-chair the Senate Finance Committee. Hoffman will manage the operating budget this time, Stedman will manage the capital budget, and Olson will be in charge of various legislation.
The group has not made committee assignments as some races are not decided. In Fairbanks Senate Seat P, another 3,700 votes still need to be counted, deciding whether Sen. Scott Kawasaki will retain his seat; he was challenged by Leslie Hajdukovich and that race is close, with Kawasaki in the lead.