By SUZANNE DOWNING
May 14, 2026 – Stephen J. Cox, Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s appointee for Alaska attorney general, failed to win confirmation Thursday in a joint session of the Alaska Legislature, with all Democrats voting against him and several Republicans defecting to joining them.
The final tally was 29 votes in favor and 31 against, with the confirmation failing after the House split 19-21 and the Senate deadlocked 10-10.
The vote marked the first in what is expected to be a series of confirmation battles this week as lawmakers meet in joint session to consider Dunleavy administration appointees.
Cox was appointed attorney general last September after the resignation of Treg Taylor and has been serving in the role since then. Even if confirmed, his tenure likely would have lasted only until December, when a new governor is sworn in and traditionally appoints a new attorney general.
The debate before the vote revealed a sharp partisan divide over Cox’s role in national legal fights involving the Trump administration and conservative policy issues.
Rep. Andrew Gray, an Anchorage Democrat, criticized Cox for what he described as a lack of deep ties to Alaska and questioned the direction of the Department of Law under his leadership.
Gray focused heavily on the hiring of Solicitor General Jenna Lorence, saying she was too new to the state and lacked a meaningful relationship with Alaska. In fact, Rep. Gray has only himself lived in the state since 2017, four years before Cox physically moved to the state; Cox had worked on many legal issues in Alaska before moving north. He was the federal district attorney for Eastern Texas.
Gray also criticized a series of amicus briefs filed by the Department of Law in multistate legal cases, including litigation involving election law and social issues.
One brief Gray referenced involved a Mississippi case concerning absentee ballots received after Election Day. Gray argued the state should have taken a clearer position because Alaska also counts absentee ballots that arrive after Election Day if postmarked on time.
“I wouldn’t say I did any research into it. I didn’t do any polling of this thing … It’s highly controversial in any state,” Gray quoted Cox as saying about the issue during earlier questioning.
“Alaska is not just any state,” Gray remarked.
Gray acknowledged that Cox is “a nice person,” noting their children share the same piano teacher, but argued he was “not the right choice for Alaska.”
Rep. Mike Prax, a North Pole Republican, defended Cox as a capable administrator with broad legal and federal experience.
“He has a broad range of experience,” Prax said. “He has a degree of humility that I appreciate and a love of the law. He is there to enforce the law, not make the law.”
Sen. Loki Tobin, an Anchorage Democrat, delivered one of the strongest speeches against confirmation, accusing Cox of prioritizing national conservative legal battles over Alaska’s pressing public safety problems.
Tobin criticized the Department of Law for participating in more than 100 amicus briefs and lawsuits tied to national issues, including litigation involving birthright citizenship and election law.
“We deserve an attorney general focused on public safety, consumer protection, and missing and murdered Indigenous women, not ideological national battles,” Tobin said.
She also objected to one amicus brief related to birthright citizenship litigation, arguing it quoted a confederate soldier, something she found deeply offensive. Tobin identifies as a black person.
Sen. Forrest Dunbar, another Anchorage Democrat, also focused on the birthright citizenship litigation, arguing the legal theories advanced in the brief were historically and constitutionally flawed.
“If you vote yes, you will regret it for the rest of your life,” Dunbar warned lawmakers.
Republicans countered that the attorney general’s duty is to represent the legal interests and positions of the state and governor, not personally rewrite constitutional doctrine.
Rep. Jamie Allard of Eagle River pushed back directly on Tobin’s comments about birthright citizenship.
“I’m the daughter of two foreign-born individuals. You will not have that argument with me,” Allard said, defending Cox as “a man of character, integrity, and a good stand-up guy.”
Allard said Cox had been accessible to lawmakers and helpful on education and legal issues.
One of the surprises of the vote came when Republican Rep. Mia Costello voted against confirming Cox, siding with Democrats and a handful of other Republicans to sink the nomination. Other Republicans voting against the governor included Rep. Louise Stutes, Sen. Gary Stevens, and Sen. Cathy Giessel.
The failed vote leaves the Dunleavy administration without confirmation for one of its top cabinet officials during the final days of the legislative session. It’s likely he will find another position in his administration for Cox, who is nationally known for his intellect and strong constitutional legal foundation.
13 thoughts on “Legislature votes down confirmation of Stephen Cox as Alaska Attorney General”
You again betray your constituents Louise Stutes. Disgraceful.
It doesn’t matter how smart or how great a legal mind, Mr. Cox has. All that matters is whether he rolls with the Far Left Democrats and a few traitorous liberal Republican’s DEI wacko agenda. Apparently, he doesn’t.
Alaska is way out of touch with the rest of the country’s red states. Alaska has become a brainwashed last frontier for
liberal politics and weak-minded persons.
Please name all of the so-called Republicans who voted against Cox.
THEY will be the targeted enemy in this fall’s elections.
This isn’t so much a rebuke of a man who would, as Suzanne noted, likely serve only until December. Rather, it was yet one more slap-down of our embarrassingly weak and ineffective governor.
Who, among “conservative” legislators, has a grudge against Cox, and why?
The conservatives on the Kenai Peninsula, where Grand Jury rights have been hatched as a statewide issue, were not happy with Cox. He appears to stand with the idea of using the Dept of Law as a filter for gov’t corruption charges brought before a GJ. Neither was I happy, with the accepted dissolution of the AIP, backing the bureaucracy’s idea that an entire party can be destroyed by 3 traitors, rather than through a call to convention.
Bob, if we must wait around until you are 100% pleased with an elected or appointed public servant other than yourself, we and our children’s children’s children will all be dead before that happens.
A previous poster nailed it. Doesn’t matter how competent and skilled a litigator Mr Cox is. It only matters that he doesn’t bend the knee to the woke leftist mob that bullies its way through the Alaska State Legislature. Stand up and be counted or even as a Republican you can be replaced. I pray the Alaskan Republican Party parts ways with the likes of Stutes, Stevens and Giessel
And Mia Costello?
She’s a turncoat RINO through and through
Spoke with Mia today. Here is her rationale:
Mia voted against Cox based on some concerns following a Board situation at Holy Rosary that left sufficient questions for her support. This is not a RINO situation. It is something that was handled poorly enough to trigger a no vote. Both Cox and the Governor’s office were notified before her vote.
Sometimes taking care of business overrides party concerns. Appears Cox fouled this one off. Mia did not RINO out on this one. Cheers –
Primary every single GOP who betrayed their party. We need them OUT.
Vote “NO” on every pick of the Crime Boss Dunleavy. Dunleavy picks attorneys that will lie for him. No more, and let the next governor put an Attorney General in that is more capable and ready to work for the people of Alaska and uphold the law and not lie through their teeth to keep a governor in place that has no respect for the law.