Alaska House of Representatives
Encyclopedia
The Alaska House of Representatives is the lower house
Lower house
A lower house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the upper house.Despite its official position "below" the upper house, in many legislatures worldwide the lower house has come to wield more power...

 in the Alaska Legislature
Alaska Legislature
The Alaska Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is a bicameral institution, consisting of the lower Alaska House of Representatives, with 40 members, and the upper house Alaska Senate, with 20 members...

, the state legislature of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of about 15,673 people (2000 figures). Members serve two-year terms without term limits
Term limits in the United States
Term limits in the United States apply to many offices at both the federal and state level, and date back to the American Revolution.-Pre-constitution:...

. With 40 Representatives, the Alaskan House is the smallest state legislative lower house in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

.

The House convenes at the State Capitol
Alaska State Capitol
The Alaska State Capitol is the state capital of Alaska. Located in the state capital of Juneau at the corner of East 4th Street and Main Street, it houses the Alaska Legislature and the offices for the governor of Alaska and lieutenant governor of Alaska....

 in Juneau
Juneau, Alaska
The City and Borough of Juneau is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of the then-District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900...

.

Current composition

Affiliation Party Total
Republican Democratic
Alaska Democratic Party
-Introduction:The Alaska Democratic Party is the primary Democratic Party political organization in the state of Alaska, headquartered in Anchorage....

Vacant
End of previous legislature 21 3 15 39 1
Begin 24 4 12 40 0
Latest voting share 70% 30%

Leadership

The Speaker of the House presides over the House of Representatives. The Speaker is elected by the majority party caucus followed by confirmation of the full House through the passage of a House Resolution. In addition to presiding over the body, the Speaker is also the chief leadership position, and controls the flow of legislation and committee assignments. Other House leaders, such as the majority
Majority leader
In U.S. politics, the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.In the federal Congress, the role differs slightly in the two houses. In the House of Representatives, which chooses its own presiding officer, the leader of the majority party is elected the Speaker of the...

 and minority leader
Minority leader
In U.S. politics, the minority leader is the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative body. Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the minority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat, with their counterpart being of the opposite party. The position...

s, are elected by their respective party caucuses relative to their party's strength in the chamber.

The current Speaker is Republican Mike Chenault
Mike Chenault
Charles Michael "Mike" Chenault is the Republican Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives for the 26th Alaska State Legislature. He currently represents Alaska's 34th District, which encompasses most of the central Kenai Peninsula, exclusive of the cities of Kenai and Soldotna and the area...

 of Nikiski
Nikiski, Alaska
Nikiski is a census-designated place in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. The population was 4,327 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Nikiski is located at ....

, who represents District 34 . The Majority Leader is Alan Austerman
Alan Austerman
Alan David Austerman is a Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives, representing the 36th District since 2009. He is cuurently the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives. He also serves on the Fisheries, Military and Veterans Affairs, and Community and Regional Affairs...

 of Kodiak
Kodiak, Alaska
Kodiak is one of 7 communities and the main city on Kodiak Island, Kodiak Island Borough, in the U.S. state of Alaska. All commercial transportation between the entire island and the outside world goes through this city either via ferryboat or airline...

, who represents District 36 . The Minority Leader
Minority leader
In U.S. politics, the minority leader is the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative body. Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the minority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat, with their counterpart being of the opposite party. The position...

 is Democrat Beth Kerttula
Beth Kerttula
Elizabeth J. "Beth" Kerttula is a Democratic member of the Alaska House of Representatives, representing the 3rd District since 1998. She has served as the House Minority Leader since 2006. She is the daughter of Jalmar M...

 of Juneau
Juneau, Alaska
The City and Borough of Juneau is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of the then-District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900...

, who represents District 3 .
Position Name Party Residence District
Speaker
Speaker (politics)
The term speaker is a title often given to the presiding officer of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body. The speaker's official role is to moderate debate, make rulings on procedure, announce the results of votes, and the like. The speaker decides who may speak and has the...

 
Mike Chenault
Mike Chenault
Charles Michael "Mike" Chenault is the Republican Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives for the 26th Alaska State Legislature. He currently represents Alaska's 34th District, which encompasses most of the central Kenai Peninsula, exclusive of the cities of Kenai and Soldotna and the area...

 
Republican Nikiski 34
Majority Leader
Majority leader
In U.S. politics, the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.In the federal Congress, the role differs slightly in the two houses. In the House of Representatives, which chooses its own presiding officer, the leader of the majority party is elected the Speaker of the...

 
Alan Austerman
Alan Austerman
Alan David Austerman is a Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives, representing the 36th District since 2009. He is cuurently the Majority Leader of the House of Representatives. He also serves on the Fisheries, Military and Veterans Affairs, and Community and Regional Affairs...

Republican Kodiak
Kodiak, Alaska
Kodiak is one of 7 communities and the main city on Kodiak Island, Kodiak Island Borough, in the U.S. state of Alaska. All commercial transportation between the entire island and the outside world goes through this city either via ferryboat or airline...

 
36
Minority Leader
Minority leader
In U.S. politics, the minority leader is the floor leader of the second largest caucus in a legislative body. Given the two-party nature of the U.S. system, the minority leader is almost inevitably either a Republican or a Democrat, with their counterpart being of the opposite party. The position...

 
Beth Kerttula
Beth Kerttula
Elizabeth J. "Beth" Kerttula is a Democratic member of the Alaska House of Representatives, representing the 3rd District since 1998. She has served as the House Minority Leader since 2006. She is the daughter of Jalmar M...

 
Democratic Juneau
Juneau, Alaska
The City and Borough of Juneau is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of the then-District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900...

 
3

Membership (27th Alaska State Legislature)

Alaska State House of Representatives
27th Alaska Legislature, 2011-2012
District Name Party Residence First elected
1 Republican Ketchikan
Ketchikan, Alaska
Ketchikan is a city in Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, United States, the southeasternmost sizable city in that state. With an estimated population of 7,368 in 2010 within the city limits, it is the fifth most populous city in the state....

 
2006
2 Republican Wrangell
Wrangell, Alaska
Wrangell is a city and borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. At the 2000 census the population was 2,308.Its Tlingit name is Ḵaachx̱aana.áakʼw . The Tlingit people residing in the Wrangell area, who were there centuries before Europeans, call themselves the Shtaxʼhéen Ḵwáan after the nearby Stikine...

 
2000
3 Democratic Juneau
Juneau, Alaska
The City and Borough of Juneau is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel in the panhandle of the U.S. state of Alaska. It has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of the then-District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900...

 
1998
4 Republican Juneau 2008
5 Republican Haines
Haines, Alaska
Haines is a census-designated place in Haines Borough, Alaska, United States. As of the 2000 census, the population of the area was 1,811. Haines was formerly a city but no longer has a municipal government...

 
2004
6 Republican Stony River
Stony River, Alaska
Stony River is a census-designated place in Bethel Census Area, Alaska, United States. The population was 61 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Stony River is located at ....

 
2010
7 Democratic Fairbanks
Fairbanks, Alaska
Fairbanks is a home rule city in and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage...

 
2010
8 Democratic Fairbanks 2002
9 Democratic Fairbanks 2006
10 Republican Fairbanks 2010
11 Republican North Pole
North Pole, Alaska
North Pole is a small city in the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, United States. It is part of the Fairbanks, Alaska metropolitan statistical area. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated its population as of July 1, 2009 at 2,226. The name "North Pole" is often applied to the entire area covered...

 
2010
12 Republican Chickaloon
Chickaloon, Alaska
Chickaloon is a census-designated place in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, United States. It is part of the Anchorage, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 
2010
13 Republican Palmer
Palmer, Alaska
Palmer is the borough seat of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the state of Alaska, USA. It is part of the Anchorage Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the population of the city is 5,937....

 
2002
14 Republican Wasilla
Wasilla, Alaska
Wasilla is a city in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, United States and the sixth-largest city in Alaska. It is located on the northern point of Cook Inlet in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley of the southcentral part of the state. The city's population was 7,831 at the 2010 census...

 
2008
15 Republican Big Lake
Big Lake, Alaska
Big Lake is a census-designated place in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska, United States. It is part of the Anchorage, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area...

 
2004
16 Republican Chugiak
Chugiak, Alaska
Chugiak is an unincorporated community in the Municipality of Anchorage in the U.S. state of Alaska, situated approximately 20 miles northeast of downtown Anchorage. It is located between Eagle River to the south, and Eklutna to the north, and between Knik Arm to the west and the Chugach...

 
2002
17 Republican Eagle River
Eagle River, Alaska
Eagle River is a community within the Municipality of Anchorage situated on the Eagle River for which it is named, between Fort Richardson and Chugach State Park in the Chugach Mountains. Its ZIP code is 99577...

 
2006
18 Republican Eagle River 2010
19 Democratic Anchorage
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...

 
2008
20 Democratic Anchorage 2002
21 Republican Anchorage 2010
22 Democratic Anchorage 1998
23 Democratic Anchorage 2002
24 Democratic Anchorage 2004
25 Democratic Anchorage 2006
26 Democratic Anchorage 2006
27 Republican Anchorage 2010
28 Republican Anchorage 2006
29 Democratic Anchorage 2008
30 Republican Anchorage 2008
31 Republican Anchorage 2002
32 Republican Anchorage 2002
33 Republican Kenai
Kenai, Alaska
Kenai is a city in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 7,464...

 
2004
34 Republican Nikiski
Nikiski, Alaska
Nikiski is a census-designated place in Kenai Peninsula Borough, Alaska, United States. The population was 4,327 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Nikiski is located at ....

 
2000
35 Republican Homer
Homer, Alaska
Homer is a city located in Kenai Peninsula Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population was 5,364. One of Homer's nicknames is "the cosmic hamlet by the sea"; another is "the end of the road"...

 
2002
36 Republican Kodiak
Kodiak, Alaska
Kodiak is one of 7 communities and the main city on Kodiak Island, Kodiak Island Borough, in the U.S. state of Alaska. All commercial transportation between the entire island and the outside world goes through this city either via ferryboat or airline...

 
2008
37 Democratic Dillingham
Dillingham, Alaska
- Natural resources :Dillingham was once known as the Pacific salmon capital of the world and commercial fishing remains an important part of the local economy...

 
2006
38 Democratic Bethel
Bethel, Alaska
Bethel is a city located near the west coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, west of Anchorage. Accessible only by air and river, Bethel is the main port on the Kuskokwim River and is an administrative and transportation hub for the 56 villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.Bethel is the largest...

 
2008
39 Democratic Nome
Nome, Alaska
Nome is a city in the Nome Census Area in the Unorganized Borough of the U.S. state of Alaska, located on the southern Seward Peninsula coast on Norton Sound of the Bering Sea. According to the 2010 Census, the city population was 3,598. Nome was incorporated on April 9, 1901, and was once the...

 
2010
40 Democratic Kotzebue
Kotzebue, Alaska
As of the census of 2000, there were 3,082 people, 889 households, and 656 families residing in the city. The population density was 114.1 people per square mile . There were 1,007 housing units at an average density of 37.3 per square mile...

 
1996

See also

  • 26th Alaska State Legislature
    26th Alaska State Legislature
    The 26th Alaska State Legislature was elected in November 2008.-Sessions:* First session: January 20, 2009–May 19, 2009* Special session: August 10, 2009* Second session: January 19, 2010–April 18, 2010...

     - the preceding legislature
  • Alaska Senate
    Alaska Senate
    The Alaska Senate is the upper house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The Senate consists of twenty members, each of whom represents an equal amount of districts with populations of about 31,347 people . Senators serve four-year terms, without term...

  • Alaska State Capitol
    Alaska State Capitol
    The Alaska State Capitol is the state capital of Alaska. Located in the state capital of Juneau at the corner of East 4th Street and Main Street, it houses the Alaska Legislature and the offices for the governor of Alaska and lieutenant governor of Alaska....

  • List of Alaska State Legislatures

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK