Republished June 09, 2022 - 3:58 PM
Original Publication Date June 09, 2022 - 10:56 AM
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska House Majority Leader Chris Tuck said he will not seek reelection this year, citing a redistricting map that put him in House and Senate districts in which he would have run against friends and fellow Democratic lawmakers.
Tuck had filed to run for an Anchorage House seat for which Rep. Andy Josephson also filed. Tuck withdrew on Wednesday.
If Tuck had run for state Senate, he would have been in a district with Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson. The filing deadline was last week.
"I got into politics to make things better and campaigning against great lawmakers like Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson and Rep. Andy Josephson would not make things better,” Tuck said in a statement.
Tuck, who was first elected to the House in 2008, said he looks forward to spending more time with his children.
Eleven state lawmakers have said they're not planning to seek reelection, and eight others are running for other offices. Senate President Peter Micciche, a Soldotna Republican, and Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich, an Anchorage Democrat, have both opted not to seek reelection.
The Anchorage Daily News reported that the Alaska Public Offices Commission has proposed a $56,500 fine against Tuck for failing to report $500 in campaign income he received shortly before the 2020 election.
Tuck told the newspaper the contribution was disclosed in another report and that the proposed fine was not a factor in his decision against seeking reelection.
Heather Hebdon, the commission's executive director, said that the commission, which met this week, tabled the matter “to allow staff time to review and respond, if necessary, to the additional materials he provided at the meeting.”
News from © The Associated Press, 2022