I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I came down to Florida to see some family. And I’ll be honest, the 80 degree weather is just incredible! Governor Mike Dunleavy (R – Alaska) appointed now-former Representatives George Rauscher and Cathy Tilton to the vacant Senate seats, and they were both easily confirmed on Saturday (11/29/2025). Their House seats are now vacant and will need to be filled. And the drama within the Republican House minority continues as they abruptly met and elected a new minority leader and whip last night, but several members did not attending the meeting. 

A friendly message and reminder to all our readers. The Landmine is made possible by myself and a team of awesome Alaskans. I have been covering the legislative session in Juneau for the last seven years and returned from Juneau in May. I will be heading back this January. If you enjoy the content we provide, please consider making a one time or recurring monthly donation. You can click here to donate. We have a system that makes it super easy. We would really appreciate it. And thanks to everyone who has been supportive. 

Stable Senate and Loose House

Now-Senators Cathy Tilton (R – Wasilla) and George Rauscher (R – Sutton) are the newest members of the State Senate. They were appointed by Governor Dunleavy this week to fill the seats of Shelley Hughes and Mike Shower, who resigned to run for governor and lieutenant governor (Shower is the running mate of Bernadette Wilson). Senate Republicans confirmed them at a meeting on Saturday at the Anchorage LIO. They were sworn in immediately after.

Now that the Senate minority is back at six, they will need to elect a new minority leader as Shower was the former minority leader. While Senate Republicans might take their time to elect a new minority leader, House Republicans wasted no time electing a new minority leader after the ouster of Representative Mia Costello (R – Anchorage) as minority leader last week. 

On that note, I have a correction from last Sunday’s column, that included the following:

Other than the speaker coup in the early 1980s, no one I spoke with could remember a time when a minority or majority leader was ousted in the middle of a Legislature. The House minority is severally fractured and it’s not clear who will be their new leader, and how they will keep the group together. It could get very loose next session! 

That is not accurate. You may remember, as I did when I was reminded, that Costello was actually ousted as Senate majority leader in 2019 after she joined dozens of legislators in Wasilla for the fake special session Dunleavy called. The majority of the Legislature met in Juneau while some rogue members went to Wasilla. Costello was punished for going to Wasilla and replaced by Senator Lyman Hoffman (D – Bethel). 

Last night, ten of the 17 remaining House Republicans met on Zoom. The meeting was called just hours after Rauscher and Tilton were confirmed and sworn in. Representative DeLena Johnson (R – Palmer) was elected the new minority leader and Representative Justin Ruffridge (R – Soldotna) was elected the new whip (he replaces Tilton). 

But it’s more interesting who was not at the meeting: Representatives Sarah Vance (R – Homer), Jamie Allard (R – Eagle River), Kevin McCabe (R – Big Lake), Rebecca Schwanke (R – Glenallen), Frank Tomaszewski (R – Fairbanks), David Nelson (R – Anchorage), and Will Stapp (R – Fairbanks). Some had prior commitments and some are on vacation. It appears at least one of them gave someone their proxy, but most of the people I spoke with were cagey about what exactly transpired. What is known is Representative Jeremy Bynum (R – Ketchikan) used some secure app or link to let members vote “securely.” Sounds Soviet as hell to me! 

With ten members at the meeting, they had the required ten votes to elect Johnson and Ruffridge. But even though they had the votes does not mean they should have rushed to hold the meeting. By doing so, they further alienated the conservative bloc in their caucus (Allard, Vance, Schwanke, Tomaszewski, McCabe). It’s not a secret that McCabe also has ambitions to be minority leader. By rushing to the vote, the conservative bloc was prevented from having one of their own run against Johnson. She would have still prevailed, but it probably would have smoothed things over. 

For some context, if those five were to break off from the minority (taking it from 19 to 14), the minority would lose two seats on the finance committee as well as seats on the other committees. That would be very loose!

While it’s clear a group in the minority had the votes to oust Costello, it appears they did not consider what would happen if Costello voluntarily stepped down when they confronted her (see the “House Republican drama” section of last week’s Sunday Minefield for a detailed breakdown). Now things are even more chaotic within the fractured Republican minority.

And things are about to get even more complicated. Dunleavy now needs to choose replacements for Tilton and Rauscher, both Mat-Su seats. Those replacements will need to be confirmed by a majority of House Republicans, which include Representatives Louise Stutes (R – Kodiak) and Chuck Kopp (R – Anchorage) – members of the majority but Republicans.

So with 19 total Republicans in the House (17 minority plus Stutes and Kopp), the replacements will need 10 votes to be confirmed. It’s feasible that Johnson and her faction could use support for her as a test for confirming the replacements. It’s also possible that significant pressure could be put on Representatives Jubilee Underwood (R – Wasilla) and Elexie Moore (R – Wasilla) – who were in the meeting and voted for Johnson – by those upset that the conservatives were excluded.

Normally, the Mat-Su delegation sticks together. But now with the drama between Johnson and McCabe, that is not currently the case. The replacements for Rauscher and Tilton, whoever they will be, are in for a rude awakening. And you can take this to the bank, the meeting where Republicans will vote on the replacements is going to be loose as hell! Stutes and Kopp are going to have front row seats to the best show in town. They should bring plenty of popcorn. Maybe Bynum can run the vote again with his “secure” app. 

This Week’s Loose Unit 

This week’s designee was shoo-in until some last minute drama. Chugach Electric’s Facebook post claiming “locals in the area” started a fire that caused a major power outage in Anchorage is maximum loose gaslighting. Just how much do you think they are paying Julie Hasquet to write this garbage?  

Anyhoo, the House Republican minority drama that unfolded yesterday was way looser than Chugach Electric’s loose Facebook post. So this week’s Loose Unit is the entire House Republican minority. They have 19 members, the most possible for a minority. If they could just avoid the drama and stick together, they could be a real force. But they seem more interested in palace intrigue and knifing their own. Classic Loose Unit behavior. 

Like former Representative Jesse Sumner last year, Representative David Nelson seems to have figured it out. Homie is out next year. A very wise decision, David. Rauscher and Tilton got out too! 

If you have a nomination for this week’s Loose Unit, or if you have any political news, stories or gossip (or any old pics of politicians or public officials) please email me at jeff@alaskalandmine.com.