By SUZANNE DOWNING
March 17, 2026 – A debate over Alaska’s budget took an interesting turn on Monday, when a Big Lake lawmaker pointed out that the political “majority” in the Alaska House doesn’t represent a majority of Alaskans.
During a recent floor session, Rep. Kevin McCabe (R-Big Lake) pointed to voter population data showing that members of the House Republican minority collectively represent slightly more Alaskans than the Democrat-led majority coalition.
According to McCabe’s calculation, the House minority represents 300,289 voters, while the House majority represents 299,834 voters, a difference of 455 people.
The comments came during debate over whether to draw from Alaska’s Constitutional Budget Reserve to fund a supplemental budget, a recurring flashpoint between the Republican minority and the bipartisan majority coalition.
The Alaska House is currently controlled by a coalition majority made up primarily of Democrats, along with independents and a couple of Republicans: Rep. Chuck Kopp and Rep. Louise Stutes. That coalition holds the necessary 21 votes to organize the chamber and control committees.
But McCabe’s argument highlights a different metric: not the number of seats, but the number of constituents each caucus represents.
Because House districts vary in size, and because political alignment does not always match geographic population centers, the partisan or coalition breakdown of seats does not always translate neatly into proportional representation of voters.
McCabe suggested that discrepancy matters when major fiscal decisions are being made.
The comments came as lawmakers considered tapping the CBR to cover a supplemental spending package, a move that typically requires a supermajority vote.
Republicans in the minority have frequently opposed such draws, arguing that the state should restrain spending or find alternative solutions rather than dip into savings.
By raising the representation numbers on the House floor, McCabe appeared to be making a broader point: that the coalition advancing the spending plan may not reflect the will of a true majority of Alaskans.
Watch the video clip of McCabe’s floor remarks here.
5 thoughts on “By the numbers, Democrat-led majority represents fewer Alaskans than Republican minority”
There is elected More candidates behind an R and between Democrats and Republicans there are more registered Republicans. However I see the majority of Alaska legislature represents Alaska very well that Alaskans are very government dependent and they elect R’s and D’s who are government dependent too.
I’m sorry to have to Admit this Rep McCabe. Life on Alaska must get worse or worsen before it gets better. I hate to say that out loud because it sounds like I lost all hope and that there is no hope for Alaska. When in the pain and suffering and difficulty we find out what really mattered all along. That’s God!
If Alaskans knew better we’d done it by now even facing the inevitable discomfort of changes. Pride won’t let a lot of Alaskans get a title more uncomfortable than we already are. To get rid of pride you have to fall first.
Left leaning districts have been grossly overrepresented while conservative leaning districts have been underrepresented. In many cases districts were formed to provide the least number of legal voters to fit in a left leaning district while at the same time other districts were formed to provide the most number of legal voters to fit in a right leaning district. The last redistricting saw next level gerrymandering that was beneficial to the left, hurt the right, and in no way was it balanced.
> whether to draw from Alaska’s Constitutional Budget Reserve to fund a supplemental budget
The looting of our state continues unabated. We are ruled by criminals.
One more reason we must elect a true Republican as our next governor – because the next governor will be appointing 2 of the 5 members of the redistricting board. How is this related to what Rep. McCabe pointed out? The fact that 19 Republican Minority House members represent more people than the 21-member Democrat-led coalition is due to the last redistricting process. Thanks (said with sarcasm) to then Senate President Cathy Giessel, Speaker Edgmon, and the judicial appointment to the redistricting board, red districts got the shaft. Red districts were loaded toward the max number of people allowable while blue districts were lightened toward the minimum allowable. And some of those red districts were growing by leaps and bounds – for example, those in the Mat-Su, and some of those blue districts were shrinking. This all added up to the odd phenomenon McCabe described.
The 2026 election will have great impact on the 2030 to 2040 decade because the next governor will make redistricting appointments before the end of the 4-year term. I, like you, care about our children, our grandchildren, our young people. We must elect a tried and true conservative as our next governor and must do everything we can to elect real Republicans to the House and Senate in Juneau to avoid setting a course toward trouble for our babies now being born, for our children in our schools, for our teenagers approaching graduation, for our young people setting their foundation.
Redistricting matters. Who we send to Juneau matters. Who we elect as governor matters. I am a tried and true Republican (with a record to prove it) and a fighter with solutions and an action plan not just one-line slogans (see my detailed website and videos on social media outlining specific steps to build a strong Alaska). I will also work like no other governor has to help elect legislators who have the integrity to stick to the Republican principles they portrayed while campaigning with an “R” after their name.
One more thing, it’s a risk to vote for a candidate that’s not proven. How often are we disappointed when we elect someone who doesn’t stick with what they said when they campaigned? You don’t have to worry about that with me. I’ve stuck with my word; my stands in the House and Senate and my voting record are proof. If you want a strong and effective governor who has demonstrated – unlike any other candidate – how to get major items across the finish line in a tricky legislature without forsaking conservative values, I’m your go-to. Don’t let great-sounding rhetoric manipulate your emotions. Go with the solid conservative who’s proven. Alaska’s future is not a guessing game. Please join and support me as your next governor so we can avoid an income tax, avoid re-instating public pensions that will sink the ship, avoid discouraging business and new investment, and avoid sending our state into a downward economic spiral and our young people out of state. “Choose Hughes” (may that phrase stick in your head!) so together we can build a strong Alaska with boundless opportunities – a state where Alaskans can live rewarding and affordable lives!
Is he basing his figures on our bloated voter roll information, that had the dead, those that no longer live here, and non-extistent persons registered to vote? We need to DUMP these corrupted voter rolls and start over with real voters re-registering with photo ID and proof of citizenship and residency!