As I wrote last week, Alaska’s state House is currently controlled by a bipartisan coalition led by and made up of mostly Republicans. That coalitions seems to have lost enough members to relegate it to the minority, while the current minority coalition — which is primarily made up of Democrats — seems set to take its place.
While there are still some uncalled races left, the current minority coalition appears to have picked up at least four seats, according to the Alaska Beacon. Democrats flipped two seats, one in North Slope and one in Anchorage, while a coalition-aligned Republican and independent also won races in Anchorage. That Republican, Chuck Kopp, has already been announced as the new majority leader in the House. Two more districts currently held by members of the majority coalition, one in Southwest Alaska and another in Anchorage, could also see flips to the new primarily-Democratic coalition.
Meanwhile, the current Republican-led majority coalition has only flipped two seats so far, one in Ketchikan currently held by an independent and one in Mat-Su currently held by Republican, Dan Eastman, a hardline conservative who was not a member of the majority coalition.
In the state Senate, another bipartisan coalition made up of almost every member of the chamber seems set to maintain control. Democrats currently have one more member in that coalition than Republicans, though the Senate president is a Republican.
