The apparent winner of last week’s election to represent Wrangell, Ketchikan and Metlakatla in the state House, Republican Jeremy Bynum, said he has not yet decided whether he will join the bipartisan coalition of Democrats, independents and Republicans that is likely to govern the House next year.
Though a couple of House races around the state are still too close to call and may not be decided until the final vote tallies on Nov. 20, the coalition, which was announced on Nov. 6, expects at least 22 members of the 40 House districts.
The majority gets to name the House speaker and committee chairs and set the agenda for the chamber.
The coalition, comprised mostly of Democrats, said its principles include not raising oil taxes, not overspending from the Alaska Permanent Fund, “stable public education funding,” retirement reform and energy development. “Retirement reform” is a reference to efforts to bring back a traditional retirement plan for public employees, such as law enforcement personnel and public school teachers.
As of the most recent vote tally on Tuesday, Nov. 12, Bynum was far ahead in his race with 51.57% of the vote districtwide to 24.58% for Agnes Moran and 23.68% for Grant EchoHawk. All three candidates are from Ketchikan.
Bynum did even better in Wrangell, receiving almost 65% of the vote as of a count on Nov. 8.
A Wrangell resident has not held the legislative seat since Peggy Wilson a decade ago.
Bynum, who traveled to Anchorage last week to meet with his soon-to-be colleagues, said he is looking for common ground on issues before deciding whether to join the bipartisan coalition to govern the House.
“At this point I have not made any commitments,” he said Saturday. “I am doing my due diligence,” and looking for the House organization that will do the most for his southern Southeast constituents.
After his post-election meetings in Anchorage, Bynum returned to Ketchikan on Nov. 8. He said he would get to work taking down campaign signs.
Majority caucus members receive better committee assignments than minority members. They also get more of a voice in deciding which issues lawmakers will focus on during the session and, if there is money available for spending, majority members usually receive more funding for local projects than their colleagues in the minority.
Republicans led the House the past session and could be in control again after the final votes are counted, though that would require reversing leads held by Democrats in a couple of close races in Anchorage. It would also require bringing back a couple of Republicans who quickly joined the bipartisan coalition last week.
The Alaska Division of Elections plans to count more ballots from the Nov. 5 election on Friday, Nov. 15, with the final count on Wednesday, Nov. 20. More than 295,000 ballots had been counted as of Nov. 12, with an additional 32,000-plus early votes and absentee ballots still to tally.
The newly formed coalition is “very confident in the numbers we have,” said Anchorage Rep.-elect Chuck Kopp, who would serve as majority leader. “We’re not sitting back. Our intent is to grow into a caucus of 26-27 (members),” said Kopp, a Republican. “The invitation is open to any member that can ascribe to the principles of organization that we released.”
Dillingham Rep. Bryce Edgmon, an independent and the speaker of the House from 2017-2020, will serve as speaker next session.
The coalition said it intends to stay away from controversial social issues. Kopp said that’s by design. “Alaska right now does not need us to devolve into a partisan fight that stalls the Legislature for weeks … because we got hijacked into social issues that had nothing to do with the governance of the state.”
The Legislature will convene Jan. 21 in Juneau.
The Alaska Beacon contributed reporting for this story.
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