New Alaska Senate president on upcoming session: 'Its OK for politicians to fight'
The incoming president of the Alaska Senate on Thursday predicted the next legislative session would be contentious, marked by an ideological rift between his own Republican-led majority and the new House majority coalition, which consists mostly of Democrats.
Fairbanks Sen. Pete Kelly offered an enthusiastic embrace of the ideology of capitalism — which he called the "engine of a free republic" — in a breakfast speech to his pro-business audience at the Resource Development Council in Anchorage.
Kelly and Anchorage Rep. Chris Tuck, the new House Majority Leader, addressed the council, a group that promotes Alaska's oil, mining, timber, fishing and tourism industries, two weeks before the Legislature begins.
Rather than speak about the nuts and bolts of legislation, Kelly set his philosophy in contrast to what he called a "socialist" ideology espoused by the left, citing the results of last year's Democratic caucuses in Alaska as evidence. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, took 81 percent of the turnout of 10,600 participants.
Read more: https://www.adn.com/politics/2017/01/05/new-alaska-senate-president-on-upcoming-session-its-ok-for-politicians-to-fight/