Gov. Dunleavy picks former Texan U.S. Attorney for new state attorney general
- Alaska Beacon
- Aug 28
- 3 min read
Stephen Cox, a member of the Federalist Society, would face a legislative confirmation vote in the spring
By James Brooks
Alaska Beacon
Gov. Mike Dunleavy has named former Texas U.S. Attorney Stephen Cox to replace departing Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor, he announced in a prepared statement Thursday.
Cox’s appointment is subject to a confirmation vote by the Alaska Legislature next spring.
Dunleavy is term-limited, and new governors typically appoint a new attorney general, meaning that Cox is likely to serve for a little over one year.
Taylor, who announced last week that he would resign on Aug. 29, is expected to run for governor in 2026, joining an already-crowded field of candidates.
Cox will begin serving as attorney general-designee upon Taylor’s resignation, the governor’s office said.
A spokesperson for the Alaska Department of Law said Cox was not immediately available for an interview about his plans for the department.
“Stephen Cox brings a wealth of experience to the Attorney General’s office, and I am confident in his ability to serve Alaskans well,” Dunleavy said in a prepared statement. “From his service in the U.S. Department of Justice to his leadership on complex work here in Alaska, Stephen has demonstrated a wide breadth of experience and steadfast dedication to the rule of law.”
Cox, a graduate of the University of Houston law school, worked five years for Apache, the Houston-based oil company active in Alaska at that time.
According to the governor’s office, he specialized in Apache’s Cook Inlet operations.
Cox joined the Department of Justice in March 2017, during the first Trump administration and after working on Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz’s unsuccessful campaign for president in 2016.
When Cox was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas by Trump in 2020, Cruz said he and Cox had been close friends for two decades.
Cox has served as the president of the Houston, Texas chapter of the Federalist Society since 2016, according to his LinkedIn profile, a national conservative and libertarian legal organization.
Cox resigned as U.S. Attorney after President Joe Biden took office and took a job with Bristol Bay Industrial LLC, a holding company and investment subsidiary of the Bristol Bay Native Corporation, until being picked by the governor to become attorney general.
“I am honored that Governor Dunleavy has invited me to be a part of the Alaska story,” Cox said in a prepared statement. “And I am grateful to the Governor and the people of Alaska for the opportunity to serve. Since 2011, I have been privileged to work on Alaska’s development, and my family and I were blessed with the opportunity to move to Anchorage and make Alaska our home. My wife and I are grateful to be able to foster for our three children the best future Alaska can offer. The Anchorage community, and the entire state have become an inseparable part of our lives. I commit to work tirelessly to uphold the rule of law, protect the rights of all Alaskans, and ensure that our state’s laws are enforced with integrity.”
In 2023, Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan named Cox to a panel of experts that Sullivan intended to use to examine candidates for Alaska’s vacant U.S. District Court seats.
To date, that panel’s activities have not been publicized and the panel has not published a list of recommendations. Two of Alaska’s three federal judgeships remain vacant.
In private life, he and his wife have been active in the formation of Thomas More Classical School, a private Christian conservative K-6 alternative school, according to posts on LinkedIn. The school is scheduled to open in 2026 in Anchorage.
Cox lives in Anchorage with his wife, Cristina, and their three children.
• James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Alaska Beacon is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
