The Alaska House and Senate are announcing bipartisan majority coalitions, with several races too close to call

The leaders of Alaska’s House and Senate said Wednesday they have formed bipartisan majority caucuses to govern both legislative chambers, even as tens of thousands of votes remain to be counted in Tuesday’s general election.

Tens of thousands of ballots still need to be counted, with final results in some close elections not expected until Nov. 20, but several lawmakers said they had enough information to be confident that bipartisan coalitions were possible.

The Senate has been governed by a bipartisan majority coalition for the past two years, and another coalition was widely predicted after an early return. In the House, members of the proposed majority coalition said they were confident they had the 21 votes needed to form the majority – with the possibility of an even larger coalition emerging.

The legislature has seen left-leaning and centrist bipartisan coalitions in at least one chamber several times in recent years, but there have been no simultaneous bipartisan majority coalitions in both the House and Senate.

(Preliminary results of the 2024 Alaska general election)

According to a press release from Anchorage Democratic Rep. Zack Fields, key leadership positions in the House of Representatives have already been identified:

• Independent Rep. Bryce Edgmon of Dillingham is expected to serve a third term as House speaker.

• Kodiak Republican Rep. Louise Stutes is slated to become chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, which will decide when the legislation goes to a final vote.

• Former GOP Rep. Chuck Kopp, who is leading by 24 points in his bid against incumbent Republican Rep. Craig Johnson, is expected to become House majority leader.

“Alaska residents have spoken clearly and we will work together and represent residents of all regions to stabilize funding for public education, develop affordable energy and address Alaska’s workforce crisis,” Edgmon said in a written statement.

The House coalition also listed four priorities, including passing balanced budgets that do not overspend the Permanent Fund; Enact “stable public education funding”; adoption of a “pension reform”; and advance energy development to “drive investment, create jobs and reduce costs.”

According to the coalition leaders’ press release, “other lawmakers who support these principles are welcome to join the majority.”

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Two years ago, Senate leaders waited two weeks after the election to form a 17-member bipartisan supermajority that included nine Democrats and eight Republicans. This year, the Senate announced its majority the day after Election Day after early results suggested at least one of the current coalition members would lose their re-election bid.

The key leadership positions are expected to remain largely unchanged from the current bipartisan majority in the Senate:

• Republican Sen. Gary Stevens of Kodiak is poised for an unprecedented fourth term as Senate president.

• Anchorage Republican Sen. Cathy Giessel is slated to become majority leader again.

• Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, will again chair the Senate Rules Committee.

• Republican Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, and Democratic Sens. Lyman Hoffman of Bethel and Donny Olson of Golovin will chair the Senate Finance Committee. Hoffman is expected to be responsible for the operating budget, which funds government departments and many state programs; Stedman is expected to lead the capital budget, which funds infrastructure projects, and Olson will be responsible for legislation that comes before the committee.

Both coalition leaders in the House and Senate said they would announce additional committee assignments once election results are finalized.

Wielechowski said Wednesday that the caucus has more than 11 members — the minimum number to form a majority in the Senate — but declined to say exactly how many senators and candidates have joined.

“We sent out invitations to a lot of people. I expect it will be big, but we are still working on exactly who will come in at this point,” he said.

Republican Sen. Shelley Hughes of Palmer, who is not currently in the majority, said she doesn’t know who will be part of a new minority caucus in the Senate. Reading through the Senate majority’s media release, Hughes said some Republicans are now “thinking hard about what they would like to do.”

Kopp also said he expects the House majority to be larger than in recent years and include some Republicans, who were predominantly part of a Republican majority in the current legislative session.

“We won’t check your party card at the door,” Kopp said.

Wielechowski said the Senate’s newly announced majority did not decide on its legislative priorities at Wednesday’s meeting. He said he expects the new majority will have similar priorities to the current group: increasing education funding and introducing a more generous pension system for public employees and teachers.

Bipartisan coalitions could provide a significant counterweight to the leadership of Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who earlier this year vetoed a bipartisan bill to increase public school spending, casting doubt on the need to reform the public pension system. But Kopp said the coalition would not be “contradictory.”

“Our goal is to work with the governor’s office to find solutions that I know we all really want for the state,” Kopp said.

Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, was excited about the prospects of bipartisan coalitions in both the House and Senate, which she said showed the benefits of ranked-choice voting and open primaries.

“I think it’s really great. I think it shows the cohesion of both bodies to get things done,” she said.

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