The Alaska Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a bicameral institution consisting of the 40-member Alaska House of Representatives and the 20-member Alaska Senate. There are 40 House Districts (1–40) and 20 Senate Districts (A–T). With a total of 60 lawmakers,the Alaska Legislature is the smallest bicameral state legislature in the United States and the second-smallest of all state legislatures. There are no term limits for either chamber. The Alaska Legislature meets in the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau,Alaska. The current sitting is the 32nd Alaska State Legislature.
Jay Sterner Hammond was an American politician of the Republican Party,who served as the fourth governor of Alaska from 1974 to 1982. Hammond was born in Troy,New York and served as a Marine Corps fighter pilot in World War II with the Black Sheep Squadron. In 1946,he moved to Alaska where he worked as a bush pilot. Hammond served as a state representative from 1959 to 1965 and as a state senator from 1967 to 1973. From 1972 until 1974 he was the mayor of the Bristol Bay Borough. Then,in 1974,he was elected governor of Alaska. He oversaw the creation of the Alaska Permanent Fund in 1976,which,since the early 1980s,has paid annual dividends to Alaska residents. He advocated for fiscal responsibility. When his tenure as governor was over,he continued to be active in public life. He advocated for environmentally and fiscally responsible government and individual civic responsibility. From 1985 to 1992 he hosted a television series called Jay Hammond's Alaska. He wrote three autobiographies.
Loren Dwight Leman is an American politician who served as the eighth lieutenant governor of Alaska,from 2002 to 2006. Before that,he served in both houses of the state legislature,and was elected as the Senate Majority Leader by the end of his term. He served in office in electoral politics from 1989 to 2006. When Leman was elected as lieutenant governor in 2002,he was the first person of Alaska Native ancestry to be elected to statewide office in Alaska. He also has Russian-Polish ancestry.
Benjamin Aavan Stevens was an American politician and political advisor who served as the Chief of Staff to the Governor of Alaska,Mike Dunleavy. He previously served as the President of the Alaska State Senate as a member of the Republican Party. Stevens was the son of the late United States Senator Ted Stevens,who represented Alaska from 1968 to 2009.
Sean Randall Parnell is an American attorney and politician. He succeeded Sarah Palin in July 2009 to become the tenth governor of Alaska and served until 2014. Parnell was elected governor in his own right in 2010 with 59.06% of the vote,as the largest percentage margin of any Alaska governor since statehood. In 2014,he narrowly lost his bid for re-election and returned to work in the private sector. He is a member of the Republican Party.
The Alaska Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in Alaska,headquartered in Anchorage.
Although in its early years of statehood Alaska was a Democratic state,since the early 1970s it has been characterized as Republican-leaning. Local political communities have often worked on issues related to land use development,fishing,tourism,and individual rights. Alaska Natives,while organized in and around their communities,have been active within the Native corporations. These have been given ownership over large tracts of land,which require stewardship. The state has an independence movement favoring a vote on secession from the United States,with the Alaskan Independence Party,but its membership has shrunk in recent decades.
Bill P. Wielechowski is an American lawyer serving as a Democratic member of the Alaska Senate representing District H. District H is located in Anchorage,Alaska and includes Spenard and the University of Alaska at Anchorage. Prior to the 2012 redistricting process,he represented District J from 2007 to 2013.
Donald C. "Donny" Olson is an American physician,attorney,commercial pilot,reindeer herder,and politician,currently serving as a member of the Alaska Senate,representing the T district since 2001.
Lyda N. Green is a retired educator and Republican politician in the U.S. state of Alaska. Green,as a political newcomer,was elected to the Alaska Senate in 1994,defeating a 22-year Democratic incumbent in a district representing most of the population of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Two Democratic members of the Alaska House of Representatives,also from the Matanuska-Susitna Valley,were defeated in the same election. Green served a total of fourteen years in the Senate and was its president in her final two years in office.
Charles R. Huggins is an American politician who was a Republican member of the Alaska Senate,representing District D. He was President of the Alaska Senate during the 28th Alaska Legislature,leading a caucus of 13 Republicans and 2 Democrats.
Lesil Lynn McGuire is an American politician in the state of Alaska. She served as a Republican member of the Alaska Senate from 2007 until 2017,after her tenure as a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from 2000 through 2006. She served Senate District N until redistricting in 2012 placed her in District K for 2013.
Gary Lee Stevens is a Republican member of the Alaska Senate,representing the P District since his appointment in February 2003. He was previously a member of the Alaska House of Representatives from 2000 through 2003. Stevens was Senate President for four terms,from 2009 through 2012,leading a bipartisan coalition of 10 Democrats and six Republicans.
Catherine Andrea Giessel,is a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Alaska,who served as a member of the Alaska Senate from 2011 to 2021. From 2013 to 2021,Giessel represented District N in the Alaska Senate,including Northeast Anchorage,Anchorage Hillside and the Turnagain Arm communities of Bird,Girdwood,Indian,and Anchorage,all within the Municipality of Anchorage. First elected in 2010 while identifying with Tea Party values,she has also served as the vice-chair of the state Republican Party and had a career in nursing. Following redistricting,she was elected to a different senate seat in 2012. Giessel serves as chair of the Resources Committee and is a member of the Senate Majority Caucus. After Senate President Pete Kelly was unseated in 2018,Giessel was elected president of the Alaska Senate,a post she held until 2021.
Lora H. Reinbold is an American politician who is a member of the Alaska Senate. She was a member of the Alaska House from 2013 to 2019,representing District 26. Reinbold is the only member of the Alaska State Legislature who is unaffiliated with a caucus organization,as she was ejected from the Republican-led majority caucus in March 2015.
Peter A. Micciche is an American politician and a Republican member of the Alaska Senate since January 15,2013,representing District O. Micciche was previously the mayor of Soldotna,Alaska,and a member of its city council.
Kevin Gerald Meyer is an American politician serving as the 14th lieutenant governor of Alaska since 2018. He was a Republican member of the Alaska Senate from January 20,2009 to December 3,2018,representing District M. He was president of the Alaska Senate,leading a caucus of 14 Republicans and 1 Democrat from 2015 to 2017. Meyer served in the Alaska Legislature continuously from 2003 to 2018,in both the Alaska House of Representatives and Senate,previously representing the district when it was District O. He works as an investment recovery coordinator for ConocoPhillips.
William Martin Walker is an American attorney and politician who served as the 11th governor of Alaska,from 2014 to 2018. He is the second Alaska-born governor,after William A. Egan.
The 2020 Alaska Senate elections took place as part of the biennial 2020 United States elections. Voters in Alaska elected state senators in 11 of the state's 20 senate districts –the usual ten plus one special election. State senators serve four-year terms in the Alaska Senate,with half seats up for election every two years. Primary elections on August 18,2020,determined which candidates appeared on the general election ballot on November 3,2020.
The 2022 Alaska Senate elections took place on November 8,2022,with the primary elections being held on August 16,2022. State senators serve four-year terms in the Alaska Senate,with half of the seats normally up for election every two years. However,because most districts were greatly changed in redistricting,elections were held for 19 of the 20 seats. The only exception is District T,represented by Democrat Donny Olson,which was mostly unchanged in redistricting and thus did not have an election. Some senators were elected to serve four-year terms,while others would serve shortened two-year terms.
