A mostly Democratic coalition majority will lead Alaska’s state House following the 2024 general election.
Last week, members of the new coalition announced they had secured more than 21 votes, which is the minimum needed to elect the speaker of the House and control the lower chamber. A mostly Republican coalition controlled it for the past two years.
Independent state Rep. Bryce Edgmon, who served as speaker of the Alaska House from 2017-2020, will serve as speaker of the House again, according to the Alaska Beacon.
The majority leader, Republican state Rep.-elect Chuck Kopp, told the Alaska Beacon that their focus will be on not raising oil taxes, not overspending from the Alaska Permanent Fund, “stable public education funding,” “retirement reform,” and “energy development.” The new majority will also stay away from social issues it deems controversial.
“I’m definitely a social conservative, and I’m not interested in advancing any legislation that is perceived as hostile to that,” Kopp told the outlet.
The Bush Caucus reportedly rejoined the Democrats to create a majority coalition, formed by 14 Democrats, five nonpartisan representatives, and two Republicans. The Bush Caucus is a bipartisan group that represents rural interests in the state. Its representatives come from the most rural parts of the state in the Alaskan Bush.
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Alaska utilizes ranked choice voting, allowing voters to rank candidates by preference rather than selecting only one candidate. Just two years after ranked choice voting was implemented in the state, Alaska voters were asked if they favored repealing the system. The final numbers in that race are still pending.
In Alaska’s statewide federal elections, Alaska voters flipped its lone House seat with Republican Nick Begich unseating Rep. Mary Peltola (D-AK). Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) is up for reelection in 2026.