Anchorage, Alaska: Giessel to Lead Bipartisan Senate Coalition as President

The Alaska Senate will again be run by a bipartisan majority coalition when the new legislative session begins in January, and Cathy Giessel of Anchorage will lead it as Senate president.

Giessel, a Republican who now serves as majority leader, was selected for the top post in a coalition press release issued on Wednesday, the Juneau Independent reported. KSRM Radio Group reported the same selection, saying Senate Republicans and Democrats will continue working together under a bipartisan majority coalition in the 35th Alaska Legislature, with Giessel as the next Senate president.

The leadership posts were set during a meeting in Anchorage on Wednesday, the day after the general election.

The new leadership team

Jesse Kiehl, a Democrat from Juneau, and Bryce Edgmon, an independent from Dillingham, were named the two co-chairs of the Senate Finance Committee. Edgmon served as House speaker during the past session and was elected to the Senate in Tuesday election. Louise Stutes, a Republican from Kodiak who was also newly elected to the Senate from the House, was named majority leader.

The coalition named only two finance co-chairs, instead of the three the committee has had before. Kiehl said the leadership structure and the membership of the coalition could still change.

"The doors are open and we continue to work with other senators who want to work across the aisle," Kiehl said.

A familiar coalition, with one big change

The current Senate majority has 14 of the 20 seats, nine Democrats and five Republicans. The size of the new majority is not yet certain because some elections are still pending.

Giessel is a 14 year member of the Senate and has been part of the bipartisan coalition since it was formed after the 2022 election by the current Senate president, Gary Stevens of Kodiak. Stevens is retiring.

Kiehl has served in the Senate since 2019 and on the finance committee since 2023. He said in an interview on Wednesday that he is optimistic about co-chairing the committee under a new governor. The Juneau Independent reported that Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins has a solid lead in the governor race over three Republican challengers, and that budget talks with the departing Republican governor, Mike Dunleavy, were often contentious during his eight years in office.

"In this new role I think it's going to be a very productive Legislature with this coalition and with the incoming governor," Kiehl said.

Stedman left out

One senior senator did not get a leadership post. Bert Stedman, a Republican from Sitka, has been a finance co-chair since 2019 and a central figure in recent budget negotiations.

The Juneau Independent reported that Stedman took positions at odds with most of the current majority, including opposing the revival of traditional pensions for public employees, a high priority for the caucus, and helping to defeat a bipartisan election reform bill by declining to support an override of a veto by Governor Dunleavy.

Kiehl declined to say whether those actions are why Stedman was left out. "People sometimes move around and so I don't think there's a tale to tell," he said. Attempts to reach Stedman for comment on Wednesday were not successful, the Juneau Independent reported.