Politics

The U.S. Supreme Court has let stand an Alaska law aimed at reducing dark money in politics.

The law applies to donors who give more than $2,000 to fund political ads for or against a candidate. It requires that donors report their contribution within 24 hours. The law also beefed up disclaimers that say who paid for a political ad, dictating that they stay on screen for the entire length of a video ad, for instance.

A group of contributors challenged the law, saying it infringed on their freedom of speech. Lower courts rejected the claims. Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order saying it wouldn’t take the case, without giving a reason.

The disclosure and disclaimer requirements for political spending were part of the same ballot initiative Alaskans approved in 2020 when they adopted ranked choice voting. A measure to repeal ranked choice voting remains too close to call as the state ballot count continues. Even if the repeal passes, the dark-money law would remain in effect. The sponsors of the repeal measure did not try to overturn those requirements.

Votes are still being counted, but lawmakers in the Alaska Legislature have already formed majorities and are outlining their priorities.

Here’s what to expect from the 34th Alaska Legislature.

In the House, the times are a-changin’

The House looks poised to flip from Republican-led control to a coalition made up mostly of Democrats and independents. That means, assuming the majority holds, Alaskans can expect a very different set of priorities from the last two years.

The leadership put out a list of their top four in an announcement naming the chamber’s leaders. No. 1 is a balanced budget that doesn’t exceed the statutory 5% annual draw on the Alaska Permanent Fund.

No. 2 is “stable public education funding to reduce class sizes and improve outcomes,” according to the news release announcing the new caucus.

“We have a situation where schools aren’t being able to meet their core functions, their core requirements in terms of providing a quality public education,” said the bipartisan majority’s speaker-to-be, Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham. “We want to take a good, hard look at that.”

Close behind is what the incoming House majority is calling “retirement reform.”  Hundreds of positions across the state are vacant, from teachers and police officers to snowplow drivers and ferry workers. Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage, the incoming House majority leader, said one reason for that is the state’s 401(k)-style retirement system.

“We went from being the most attractive state in the union for teachers to, we’re at the very bottom of the list with no social security, no pension, and a 401(k)-only [retirement plan] where, after a 25 year career, you’re lucky if you have $80,000 in your account,” Kopp said.

Last session, the Senate passed a bill that would have moved public-sector workers back to a defined benefit pension plan from their current so-called Tier IV plan, which functions similarly to a 401(k). But, citing dueling financial analyses of the plan that came up with wildly different cost estimates, the Republican-led House majority caucus prevented the pension bill from reaching the House floor.

Edgmon stopped short of endorsing last session’s Senate pension plan — but he said it’ll get a “hard look.”

Republicans hold out hope for House control

Republicans have consistently said the Edgmon-led coalition is getting ahead of itself — there are some races that aren’t quite settled as of the latest update Saturday afternoon, including an House race where incumbent Rep. Cliff Groh, D-Anchorage, leads Republican challenger David Nelson by a handful of votes. They’re hopeful that they might be able to come up with a majority led by Republicans.

At the same time, at least some House Republicans share some of the same goals of the Democrat-heavy bipartisan coalition — even if they don’t necessarily agree on the best way forward.  Rep. Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks, who was in the Republican-led majority last time around, said the 401(k)-style plan is clearly in need of improvement.

“I think the Tier IV system is probably inadequate for many Alaska employees, you know, state and local, teachers, et cetera,” Stapp said. “You should certainly look to enhance the retirement system to ensure that you can better retain employees in Alaska, although I will say that really needs to be couched in actuarial risk.”

Stapp said his biggest priority is addressing energy costs, another of the Edgmon-led coalition’s four goals.

In the Senate, meet the new boss, same as the old boss

The leadership of the Senate looks almost identical to the past two years. It has the same president, same Rules Committee chair, and the same majority leader: Sen. Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage.

“I see the priorities being pretty much what they were last year with slight modifications,” Giessel said.

For now, Giessel said it’s a bit too soon to say exactly what the Senate will prioritize — majority lawmakers are planning a retreat before the session to talk things through. But like House leadership, Giessel said a balanced budget is at the top of the list, along with reining in energy costs. And Giessel said she’d, of course, be “thrilled” to carry a pension bill through the Senate again, as she did during the last session.

Boosting education funding for public schools, just like the House, is another big focus for the Senate majority. Sen. Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage, who chaired the Senate Education Committee last year, said a boost in per-student funding would go a long way toward helping Alaska’s students do better.

“We know that the base student allocation is how our schools are able to deploy the right tactic and technique when needed and necessary,” Tobin said. “That is going to be a strong focus over the next two years, helping ensure that our schools have the resources to do the things we’re asking them to do.”

Another priority for Senate leadership is election reform. The Senate Rules Committee chair, Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, said he’d like to revive elements of bills that have stalled in the closing days of recent legislative sessions.

“I think that the big issues continue to remain the witness signature requirement, ballot curing, and then just ensuring the security and integrity of the election process,” Wielechowski said.

The Senate majority looks a lot more secure than the House’s bipartisan caucus, but it might be a bit smaller this time than last. Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, said she’s optimistic the all-GOP minority will reach the five-member minimum to get seats on Senate committees, which could give them more influence.

“Having a seat at the committee tables is one more opportunity to be able to get things done,” Hughes said.

Alignment in the House and Senate sets up conflicts with the executive branch

The bipartisan Senate majority last session frequently found itself at odds with Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy. Now that the majorities in the House and Senate will likely be in relative alignment, that could set up some conflicts with the executive branch.

But Edgmon, the incoming House speaker, said he’s optimistic.

“There’s common ground out there that we can all sort of get to,” he said. “The challenge will be to try to find it and to work towards getting something through the legislature that the governor can ultimately support, that we think meets the objectives of everyone.”

At the same time, it’s also not clear exactly who will be in the governor’s mansion come January — there’s no shortage of speculation that Dunleavy will leave to join the Trump administration, which could scramble the dynamics.

The 34th Alaska Legislature convenes Jan. 21.

Republican Nick Begich declared victory in the race for Alaska’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Saturday, celebrating an impending win over Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola.

“Alaskans have spoken,” Begich said in a social media post. “It will be the honor of a lifetime to have the opportunity to serve as your voice in Congress.”

The organization Decision Desk HQ projected Begich would win the seat Saturday morning, flipping the seat from Democratic to Republican control. The Associated Press had yet to call the race as of late Saturday afternoon. Begich leads Peltola by more than 8,300 votes, 48.7% to 46.1%.

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A representative for Peltola did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Alaska Division of Elections added roughly 6,800 votes to its count on Saturday.

The update narrowed the gap in another high-profile statewide race, a ballot measure that would repeal the state’s open primary and ranked choice voting system.

As of Saturday’s update, “Yes” on Ballot Measure 2 leads by just 895 votes in a race that has seen 310,289 votes counted so far. The margin is now 50.1% to 49.9%, well within the 0.5% threshold that would trigger a state-funded recount.

The update did not significantly change the standings in other races.

The Division of Elections estimated Saturday that roughly 9,000 ballots were left to count. Counting is scheduled to conclude on Wednesday, Nov. 20.

The election is expected to be certified on Nov. 30.

Correction: An version of this story misstated Alaska’s recount procedures. Races with a less than 0.5% margin can be recounted at the state’s expense, but the recount must be requested. Recounts are only automatic in the case of a tie.

President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday night that he will nominate North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum to be secretary of the Department of the Interior.

“He’s going to head the Department of Interior, and it’s going to be fantastic,” Trump said in a speech during an America First Policy Institute dinner at his Mar-a-Lago resort. He said there will be a formal announcement on Friday.

“We’re going to do things with energy and with land interior that is going to be incredible,” Trump said.

As secretary, Burgum will play a key role in pushing Trump’s agenda to increase oil, gas and coal production on public lands.

Interior is a sprawling department responsible for managing 20% of U.S. surface land, as well as federally owned mineral rights. This gives Interior control over nearly a quarter of all energy development in America, on- and off-shore.

Burgum is known as a big booster of oil and gas drilling, though his state’s boom has mostly occurred on private land such as the Bakken oil field. Historically, Interior secretaries have generally come from Western states with large tracts of federal public land, while North Dakota is only about 4% federally owned.

The Trump administration is expected to reverse President Biden’s focus on conservation and renewable energy policy enacted by current Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the nation’s first Indigenous Cabinet member.

Haaland also has been implementing a controversial and first of its kind rule that will allow public land to be leased for conservation, not just drilling.

“In this era of this really terrible climate crisis, those are considerations that need to be made when we’re managing our public lands,” Haaland told NPR last month.

Interior is also in charge of U.S. national parks, monuments and wildlife refuges. It also oversees relations with 566 federally recognized Native American tribes, including Alaska Natives, Hawaii Natives and affiliated Island Communities.

Burgum was elected governor in 2016 on a campaign focused on anti-establishment politics. Before that, he led a software company that he sold to Microsoft for $1.1 billion in stock in the early 2000s.

Leveraging his other entrepreneurial success in his real estate development firm and software venture capital group, Burgum ran a largely self-funded campaign in the 2024 Republican presidential primary and focused on energy and taxes before dropping out of the race last December. He then became a vocal supporter of Trump and hosted fundraising events for him while being shortlisted for the Republican vice presidential nomination.

Restoring and expanding fossil fuel energy development should be priority one at Interior in the coming Trump term, former Interior official William Perry Pendley wrote in Project 2025, a blueprint for the new administration published by the the Heritage Foundation.

Emissions from burning and extracting fossil fuels from public lands and waters account for about a quarter of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Trump’s previous Interior secretaries became embroiled in ethics scandals. He dismissed Ryan Zinke, a Republican congressman from Montana, after 21 months as Zinke was facing multiple ethics investigations. An investigation by Interior’s inspector general found Zinke had misused his position to advance a development project in his Montana hometown.

Trump then elevated former oil industry lobbyist and Deputy Interior Secretary David Bernhardt to the top of the agency. Nine months after his appointment, the Government Accountability Office found Bernhardt had twice violated the law at Interior when he directed the National Park Service to use park entrance fees for maintenance to keep parks open during the 2019 government shutdown.

As soon as news broke that President-Elect Donald Trump would nominate firebrand Congressman Matt Gaetz as his attorney general, a scrum of reporters at the Capitol wanted to know what Sen. Lisa Murkowski thought.

“He’s under investigation by the House Ethics Committee but now he could potentially be attorney general,” a Bloomberg reporter said.

“Do you think he’s a serious candidate?” Murkowski asked, poised at the door of the Senate Chamber.

The reporters tossed the question back at her — is Gaetz a serious candidate?

“Not as far as I’m concerned,” she said.

Murkowski ducked into the Senate Chamber and the reporters took to their phones to post her exact words: “Not as far as I’m concerned.”

This was a preview of coming attractions. Expect Murkowski to be in the spotlight a lot next year. Trump, if he follows the normal procedure, will need the Senate to confirm his cabinet and hundreds of other appointments. Murkowski, as a non-MAGA Republican, is among a handful of senators who could stand in his way.

Gaetz is a surprise pick. He’s a Trump loyalist and a hard-right House member who led the ousting of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The House Ethics Committee has been looking into allegations against Gaetz involving sexual misconduct and illegal drug use, among other accusations, all of which Gaetz denies. His newly announced resignation from the House ends the investigation.

Trump will need just 50 Republican senators for the confirmation vote, so he can afford to lose a few. But Murkowski isn’t the only skeptical Republican. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said important questions will be raised at Gaetz’s confirmation hearing. Based on their voting history, Collins and Murkowski are the most likely to vote against their party. But the Gaetz pick was such a shock that even more conservative senators raised doubts about his confirmation.

Everybody’s talking about it.

“It’s no secret that there is a possibility that Governor Dunleavy may become the next secretary of the Interior or possibly Energy secretary under the Trump administration,” said Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer, who’s been close with the governor.

Though nothing has been confirmed, the rumor mill is churning. Hughes is one of many lawmakers and other Alaskans speculating that Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy may leave the governorship for Washington, D.C.

The publication NOTUS, citing three anonymous sources, reported Monday that Dunleavy has spoken with the Trump transition team about a possible job as Interior secretary, adding to the pile of rumors about his possible new position.

The rumors reached a fever pitch Tuesday night, when Dunleavy teased an “announcement” that he would deliver to Alaskans via livestream alongside Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom. Hundreds of people commented on the post, many guessing his announcement was an appointment, some even already sending their congratulations.

“For an Alaskan governor to hold a seat in the Trump cabinet would mean amazing things for the State!” one commenter said.

But then, about 90 minutes later, Dunleavy announced that there would be no livestream after all.

It’s unclear what Dunleavy planned to announce. His communications director said he did not know what the governor planned to say.

The Trump transition team isn’t saying anything either. Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson, declined to confirm or deny that Dunleavy had spoken with the incoming administration about a potential job.

“President-Elect Trump is making decisions on who will serve in his second Administration. Those decisions will be announced when they are made,” she said.

Dunleavy is not the only person on the proverbial shortlist for Interior. Politico has floated another oil-state chief executive — Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota. Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin is also under consideration, according to NOTUS. Or maybe, per Politico, Wyoming Sen. Cynthia Lummis, Katharine McGregor. Or heck, maybe the Trump administration’s most recent Interior secretary, David Bernhardt.

Trump and Dunleavy over the years

One thing is certainly true: Trump and Dunleavy have a long history. Dunleavy endorsed Trump’s reelection bid back in August 2023. Dunleavy sat near Trump at the Republican National Convention. He had box seats for Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally just last month.

His administration even filed to overturn the results in four key states in the chaotic post-election period back in 2020.

On Friday, Dunleavy shared a video of Trump extolling the job he’s done as governor and promising more work on resource development.

“Thank you to everyone in Alaska, and thank you to your great governor,” Trump said. “We’re going to work together just like we have in the past. It was a very special relationship. Mike, thank you very much. I look forward to a long and enduring future relationship.”

And Dunleavy isn’t exactly closing the door — or even trying very hard to make it look like the door is closed.

“Will there be discussions on potential positions in Washington? There may be,” Dunleavy told Alaska’s News Source the day after Election Day, the only interview he’s given since the election.

Dunleavy’s office has declined to comment further on the possibility he will join the Trump administration, only pointing reporters to the Alaska’s News Source interview.

“I’ve got two years left in my term, and I love this state,” he told reporter Steve Kirch during that interview. “My biggest focus, my biggest concern, on what is best for Alaska, how I can help Alaska.”

What it could mean for Alaska’s federal public lands

Alaska Oil and Gas Association President and CEO Kara Moriarty said Trump’s election was “good news for Alaska,” saying she expected the president-elect’s administration to believe resource development “should be done and can be done with strong oversight.”

Moriarty said Dunleavy shared Trump’s values on the subject.

“The governor has never been shy about believing that oil and gas is really important to Alaska’s economy,” she said.

In the Alaska’s News Source interview, Dunleavy pitched a policy agenda for the state that he hoped the Trump administration would accomplish — things firmly within the policy portfolio of an Interior secretary, like opening opportunities for oil and gas drilling in areas that are currently off-limits.

In particular, Dunleavy said he hoped the Trump administration would remove Biden-era rules limiting oil and gas drilling in the National Petroleum Reserve — Alaska, restrictions that are now facing legal challenges from the oil and gas industry.

“I think on federal land, that is, you know, top of the list,” Moriarty said.

Though the Biden administration allowed an early phase of ConocoPhillips’ Willow project to go forward, the president also issued rules severely limiting development on 13 million acres of the NPR-A in the western Arctic.

In addition to the NPR-A, “close right behind is the 1002 Area,” Moriarty said, referring to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge’s coastal plain. The federal government is required to hold two lease sales within the 1002 area thanks to the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The Biden administration recently announced plans for a new lease sale on the coastal plain that would be subject to severe environmental restrictions aimed at protecting wildlife and other resources.

Dunleavy also said he hoped the Trump administration would act on another of his longtime priorities: removing restrictions that limit development in the 17-million-acre Tongass National Forest, the nation’s largest national forest and the largest remaining temperate rainforest in the world.

The first Trump administration rolled back the so-called Roadless Rule in 2020; the Biden administration reimposed it last year.

Dunleavy also said he hoped the federal government would greenlight a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge connecting the communities of King Cove and Cold Bay.

The Fish and Wildlife Service announced Wednesday that it would take comments on an environmental review recommending that a land swap allowing the road to be built be allowed to go forward.

Dunleavy’s priorities have drawn criticism from conservation groups.

“Governor Dunleavy has attempted over the last six years to turn Alaska’s world class public lands and wildlife into a garbage dump,” said Cooper Freeman, the Alaska director for the Center for Biological Diversity. “As an Interior secretary, we would bet that it would be an all-out onslaught on wild nature and biodiversity, and we would be careening towards complete climate catastrophe under his watch.”

State lawmakers weigh in

State lawmakers are split on the prospect of Dunleavy ascending to the Interior Department or another Trump administration post.

Rep. Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks, said Dunleavy moving to the Interior Department would be a boon for the state.

“I think anyone you know, any person who’s been in Alaska government would probably make a good Interior secretary,” he said, “because most of the issues that Alaska face are kind of federal land management issues [and] permitting issues.”

Dunleavy would not be the first Alaska governor to serve as Interior secretary. Wally Hickel departed during his first term to serve in the position under then-President Richard Nixon.

State Senate majority leader Cathy Giessel, R-Anchorage, was less enthused about Dunleavy possibly leaving the governor’s mansion for Washington, D.C.

“It’s disappointing to me, just because I’m a lifelong Alaskan, and this really is my priority,” she said. “But we’ll see what happens.”

Dunleavy’s second term isn’t over until December 2026. If he resigned from the job before then, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom would take over as the state’s chief executive.

Dahlstrom is a former legislator and former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Corrections who Trump endorsed during this year’s U.S. House race. She later dropped out of the race after placing third in the primary election.