Inside the quiet political revolution shaking up the Last Frontier 

In most statehouses, party lines are drawn in permanent ink. But in Alaska, the lines are more like pencil marks: erasable, and sometimes ignored outright. 

After the 2022 elections, Alaska’s 20-member state Senate broke from the usual red-vs-blue setup. Instead of letting three far-right Republicans hold the chamber hostage, the remaining eight Republican state senators teamed up with the nine Democrats to form a bipartisan governing caucus.  

This coalition agreed from the start to sideline culture-war battles and focus on shared priorities: the economy, education, public safety, and a balanced budget. As the new majority leader Catherine Giessel put it, “We decided we’re going to stay on the ideas that we can find agreement on.”

Why Alaska? 

Alaska has a history of independence: 

  • Only one third of Alaska voters are registered Democrats or Republicans; the rest are independent or third-party voters. 
  • In 2006, long before ranked choice voting was implemented, the state Senate was also run by a bipartisan coalition much like today’s. 
  • Senator Lisa Murkowski, the third-most bipartisan Republican in the U.S. Senate, has represented Alaska for over two decades; again, well before ranked choice voting came around.

What It Means 

The results speak for themselves.  

For the first time in years, the state legislature in 2023 passed a balanced budget without descending into chaos or needing a marathon of special sessions. The state Senate is on track to do it again this year, too.  

In 2024, the legislature passed a bipartisan bill creating a regulatory framework for underground carbon storage, bringing clean energy and new revenue streams to the state. They also extended the state’s renewable energy grant fund for another decade.

Will It Last? 

Alaska’s experiment in bipartisan governance is still unfolding. But for now, the center is holding. And in a political climate where gridlock is the norm, that’s no small feat. 

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