Tag: alaska
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Alaska House organizes under multi-partisan coalition control
On Feb. 18, the Alaska House of Representatives organized under the control of a multipartisan coalition caucus, voting 22-17 to approve a plan of organization placing members of the coalition in charge of committees. Since the start of the legislative session on Jan. 19, the House was split evenly between a Republican bloc and a…
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Alaska House of Representatives elects speaker for 2021 session
On Feb. 11, twenty-four days after the 2021 legislative session began on Jan. 19th, the Alaska House of Representatives elected a permanent speaker of the House. Members elected Rep. Louise Stutes (R) in a 21-19 vote. Since the start of the session, House members had been divided between supporters of a Republican-led majority and those…
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Alaska House of Representatives elects temporary speaker
Forty-six state legislatures are currently in session. The Alaska House of Representatives has been in session since Jan. 19. But no regular business has taken place because legislators have not elected a permanent speaker or organized committees. Partisan control of the House was uncertain after the 2020 elections, split between those favoring a Republican-led majority…
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14 candidates file to run for mayor of Anchorage
The city of Anchorage, Alaska, will hold a nonpartisan general election for mayor on April 6, 2021. The filing deadline for this election was January 29. If no candidate receives at least 45% of the vote in the general election, a runoff election will be held on May 11 between the top two candidates. Fourteen…
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Sniffen resigns as acting Alaska attorney general
On Jan. 29, acting Alaska Attorney General Ed Sniffen announced his resignation and withdrew his name from consideration for attorney general due to an allegation of sexual misconduct. Gov. Mike Dunleavy (R) had appointed Sniffen as attorney general on Jan. 18, but he had not yet been confirmed by the Alaska Legislature. Nikki Dougherty White,…
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State supreme court vacancies in 2021
So far in 2021, there have been two new state supreme court vacancies in two of the 29 states where replacement justices are appointed instead of elected. The vacancies have both been caused by retirements. In Colorado, Chief Justice Nathan Coats retired on January 1, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 72. Colorado…
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Control of Alaska House of Representatives remains uncertain after Alaska Supreme Court decision
The Alaska Supreme Court confirmed Alaska Representative Lance Pruitt’s (R) 11-vote loss to Democratic challenger Liz Snyder on Friday, January 8. The court ruled that Pruitt did not provide sufficient evidence to sustain his challenge of the election results. Pruitt’s loss means that control of the chamber will likely remain uncertain until at least January…
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Alaska Supreme Court Chief Justice to retire in June 2021
Alaska Supreme Court Chief Justice Joel Bolger is retiring on June 30, 2021. Bolger’s replacement will be Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s (R) second nominee to the five-member supreme court. Bolger joined the Alaska Supreme Court in 2013. He was appointed by Gov. Sean Parnell (R) to succeed Justice Walter Carpeneti. He became chief justice of the…
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Voters approve Alaska Ballot Measure 2 which adopts top-four primaries, ranked-choice general elections
Alaska Ballot Measure 2 was approved with 50.5% of the vote reported as of November 17. Ballot Measure 2 was designed to make several changes to Alaska’s election policies, including: * replacing partisan primaries with open top-four primaries for state executive, state legislative, and congressional offices; * establishing ranked-choice voting for general elections, including the presidential election, in…
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One Alaska Supreme Court justice seeks retention in November
Alaska Supreme Court Justice Susan Carney is seeking retention on November 3, 2020. She was appointed by Gov. Bill Walker (I) in 2016. Currently, four of the justices on the court were appointed by a Republican governor while one was appointed by an independent governor. The governor appoints the five justices of the supreme court…