Unchallenged Rep. Kito optimistic about possible House coalition

Rep. Sam Kito III
Rep. Sam Kito III looks toward the House gallery shortly after being sworn in as the new representative in 2014. (Photo by Skip Gray/360 North)

With no named opponent on his ticket, Democratic Rep. Sam Kito III was already in Anchorage on election night for upcoming organizational legislative meetings.

“Of course, personally, quite disappointed in the national election, but what we started seeing in the Alaskan elections bodes fairly well for the potential of a coalition,” Kito said.

Kito said he’ll check election returns again first thing Wednesday, and has meetings already scheduled. He said he’d like to see a new coalition majority split the Alaska House of Representatives 25-15.

“It will be a coalition that will be bi- or tripartisan, considering that it’s looking like Dan Ortiz, our independent, is still in the running and doing pretty well down in Ketchikan,” Kito said. “So we’ll have an independent. Maybe there’ll be some other independents, too. So I would hope that Jason Grenn would consider working with a coalition. He’s already said he would and he’s running as an independent. So it would be Democrats, independents and Republicans.”

It would be marked shift in the House leadership, which Republicans have led for years.

Kito was vague about who specifically has been organizing and would be in the House leadership he was envisioning.

“There are people who’ve been talking to people and things, uh, before the election, really, you can’t go and lock things down, but you can get an idea of what different things people are interested in,” Kito said.

Kito’s House District 33 includes downtown Juneau, Douglas, Haines, Skagway, Klukwan, Excursion Inlet and Gustavus.

Jeremy Hsieh

Local News Reporter, KTOO

I dig into questions about the forces and institutions that shape Juneau, big and small, delightful and outrageous. What stirs you up about how Juneau is built and how the city works?

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