Stedman: ‘Highly unlikely’ to join Alaska Senate’s majority coalition

Sitka Republican says he expects leftward legislative push by new majority with JKT as governor; predicts 11-9 majority-minority caucus split

State Rep. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, speaks on the Senate floor in Juneau on May 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Chloe Anderson)

By Shannon Haugland

Daily Sitka Sentinel

Sen. Bert Stedman says he wasn't surprised to see a leftward shift in the Legislature since the Nov. 3 “blue tidal wave” election, and he sees it as unlikely he will be part of a majority bipartisan coalition in the Senate this coming year.

Stedman, a Sitka Republican, ran unopposed for a new four-year term in the Senate this year. Votes are still being counted in the other legislative races on the ballot.

Stedman has served in the Senate majority during his 23-year career, as part of a “coastal” and Republican leaning coalition.

“When we look at our coalitions in the Legislature, which we’ve operated under for several years, the coalition is shifting farther away from center,” he said in an interview Friday. “It makes it difficult for some of us to continue being members of that coalition."

Stedman spoke to the Sentinel after returning home from Anchorage, where he had traveled for talks about the post-election reorganization of the Senate.

“The Senate is still in discussion, but it’s highly likely that I will be not be joining the majority coalition,” he said.

Noting the campaign messages by Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins, who is likely to be the next governor, about “keeping things in the center,” Stedman said, “I think he’s going to find a Legislature much farther left. That’s going to be kind of interesting as we launch the next legislative year."

Stedman is the longest-serving chair or co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, with 14 years at the helm, including the last eight. He hopes to stay on Finance.

“There’s quite a difference between being the chairman of the committee and a minority member of the committee,” he said. “But you can’t stay chairman forever.”

Stedman expects that if Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins is declared the winner in the governor’s race, the more liberal House and Senate majorities will push an agenda that’s been sidelined “for 25 years,” since Gov.Tony Knowles.

“I can’t blame them for exercising that opportunity,” he said. “It’s not dissimilar from when Murkowski got elected governor and the Republicans had control of both bodies. It's just politics."

Stedman expects if the Senate majority coalition ends up with 11 members, which is the current prediction, it will make it difficult to reach an agreement in order to pass legislation.

"Those in the majority would like to have a number bigger than 11: that's the bare minimum they need to have a majority," he said. "It's extremely hard to operate with 11 people. Very difficult. And they would, I'm sure, like to have a larger majority. But from a Republican perspective, they're not centralist enough to put a balanced coalition together."

Stedman also expects that as governor, Kreiss-Tomkins will be receptive to calls for more improvements at Mt. Edgecumbe High School, "and I'll be supporting him on that." In the last year Stedman secured $24 million to upgrade the dorms, cafeteria, and the classroom building at ther state boarding school.

"There's a lot of things I can work with JKT on, things I think he would support," Stedman said.

• This article originally appeared in the Daily Sitka Sentinel.