Today’s it’s the Monday Minefield! I am in New Mexico visiting my parents for Thanksgiving, so I took a break this weekend. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and holiday weekend.

It was a rather slow week in Alaska politics due to Thanksgiving. The Division of Elections certified the November 5 general election. Ballot Measure 2, which narrowly failed, will now undergo a state funded recount. The Senate majority coalition announced all their committee chairs. And both Republican minorities have yet to make any public statements or announcements on how they will organize their minorities.  

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 six years and will be headed back in 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. 

Election Certified 

The Division of Elections (DOE) certified the results of the November 5 general election on Saturday (11/30/2024). You can view the results here, as well as the results of the nine races that were decided using ranked choice voting. 

Ballot Measure 2, the repeal of ranked choice voting, failed by just 737 votes out of more than 320,000 votes – a margin of just 0.22%! Because the margin is within 0.5%, the recount will be paid for by the state. The recount was requested by the Alaska Republican Party. The cost will likely exceed $20,000. 

It’s set to start this week in Juneau. All the region directors will be in Juneau to assist with the recount. They have ten days to finish the recount, but a source in the DOE said they expect it to take only a few days. We should probably know the results of the recount by the end of the week. 

Other Happenings 

The 14-member Senate majority coalition (could possibly be more if other Republicans join, but unlikely) announced their committee chairs. Senator Cathy Giessel (R – Anchorage) being the sole chair of the Senate Resources Committee will be interesting. Recall in 2023 when Giessel introduced a bill that would have given John Hendrix, owner of Furie, a massive property tax break. The bill was pulled after this Landmine article detailed the attempted giveaway. 

While the House and Senate have formed and announced their majority coalitions, Republicans in the House and Senate have yet to make any statements or announcements about their minorities. As of now, Republicans have 19 members in the House and six in the Senate. But both majorities, especially the House with the minimum number for a majority, are attempting to grow their majorities by enticing Republicans to join.

The problem is both majorities have already given away the key positions. They could still make changes to who chairs what committees, but that would cause other problems. The Senate is in much better shape, with a solid 14-member majority, three more than the minimum.

On the House side, it’s possible one Republican could pull a Sara Rasmussen. In 2021, former Representative Sara Rasmussen left the minority but did not join the majority. Because the minority lost her, they ended up losing a seat on the powerful finance committee (these numbers are set by the Legislature’s Uniform Rules and based on the size of the majority and minority). Rasmussen was rewarded with a seat on the finance committee for making the move she did. While she was not technically in the majority, she was more aligned with them than the minority.  

House Republicans seem to be clinging onto the hope that the majority will somehow implode. But that is not likely. Their entire leadership team recently wrote this op-ed that was published by the Anchorage Daily News.

If the House Republicans decide to make a public announcement, it basically solidifies things. Some of their members may also be considering joining the majority. 

There are other problems too. Multiple sources report that Speaker Cathy Tilton (R – Wasilla) lacks the votes to be minority leader. Former Senator Mia Costello, who is headed back to the House, seems to be the favorite to be the minority leader. 

Several of the younger and newer House Republicans are frustrated that their group has not made any decisions or announcements. They are set to meet this weekend in Anchorage following the Alaska Republican Party’s state central committee meeting. To be a fly on that wall!  

Failing to organize themselves could also impact their ability to hire staff now for the upcoming legislative session.  

This Week’s Loose Unit 

In honor of Thanksgiving, I was going to skip this week’s Loose Unit. But a development yesterday was one of the loosest things in history. This week’s Loose Unit is President Joe Biden. After he and his press secretary repeatedly said he would not pardon his extremely loose son Hunter Biden, he did just that yesterday. Maximum loose behavior. 

Not only did he pardon Hunter Biden for the crimes he’s been convicted of, he gave him a blanket pardon for the last ten years for all crimes! You can’t make this up. The pardon covers the time when Joe Biden was still vice president and Hunter Biden was picking up bags of cash in Ukraine in China. Don’t forget the 10% for the big guy! The whole situation is as loose as it gets. 

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.