Will You Take Part in Choosing Alaska’s next State Senator This Weekend?

Some folks are just lucky. This weekend, 50 Republican voters will choose a state senator for a district of roughly 40,000 people. And if you live in the Mat-Su, you could be one of the 50 just by showing up.

An unusual state law, and the resignation of two Alaskan legislators over the past couple of weeks means that small groups of voters will get the chance to elect not one, but two new legislators this month.

If you want to get in on the action, you first need to check which house district you live in here. If you live in House District 10, congratulations on being one of the lucky ones. Simply by registering for the District 10 meeting this Saturday, you will be able to play a part in selecting your next senator. I will be there. If you come, please find me on Saturday and say hello.

The process of replacing a senator can be a bit technical, but the general concept is fairly simple: Whenever a legislator leaves office before the end of their term, the local members of their party select 3 or 4 names to send to the governor, and the governor chooses one of them to be a legislator until the next election.

With the resignation of Senator Mike Dunleavy earlier this week, Republican voters in District 10 will meet this Saturday to choose up to 30 people who will get together on Monday night to choose names to submit to the governor. You can find information about Saturday’s meeting at the link above, or by contacting me here.

As the legislator for District 10, I will be able to vote on the names automatically. However, the other 30 people will all be elected this Saturday. Normally, those 30 people would already have been chosen far in advance. But in a strange quirk of fate, the election was already scheduled to take place this Saturday and their very first official act on Monday will be voting on who will step in to serve as their next state senator until this time next year.

Come join us this Saturday to take part in an historic event in Alaska history. And if you are currently out of state or can’t physically make it to the meeting, there will even be a way for you to cast your vote by phone. Lunch will be provided for free with your registration fee of only $10.

As it happens, most of the 30 positions have been sitting vacant for the past several years due to lack of interest. If you show up on Saturday, you will have an opportunity to take part in the process, and if you would like to fill one of the 30 positions, your chances of being able to do so are good, quite good in fact.

What can I say? Some folks are just lucky.