Tuckerman Babcock, former Dunleavy chief of staff, will run for state Senate

Tuckerman Babcock, a longtime Republican insider and former chief of staff to Gov. Mike Dunleavy, will challenge Senate President Peter Micciche, R-Soldotna, in this year’s election for the Senate seat covering the northern Kenai Peninsula.

Babcock filed a letter of intent Tuesday with the Alaska Public Offices Commission, an act that allows him to begin fundraising. He said in a brief interview that he intends to register his candidacy with the Alaska Division of Elections.

Micciche has also registered as a candidate; the two men are the only candidates to date for the district. The deadline to enter the race is June 1.

Asked why he decided to run, Babcock said he has observed the Legislature struggling to address longstanding issues, such as the Permanent Fund dividend, and believes he has an ability “that can help bring sides, bring people together and get some of these outstanding issues resolved.”

Last year, a federal judge ruled that Babcock and Dunleavy illegally asked hundreds of state employees for the equivalent of a loyalty pledge when Dunleavy entered office in 2018.

“People like to focus on what they see as a mistake. And they like to ignore the 99% of the time that you’re moving forward and making progress,” Babcock said of that ruling.

The Alaska Legislature is debating whether to pay $495,000 to settle a lawsuit related to the loyalty-pledge issue. A second lawsuit is tentatively scheduled to go to trial this year to set damages.

Babcock has not previously served in statewide elected office. He ran unsuccessfully for a Matanuska-Susitna Borough state House seat in 1988 and 1990, served as executive director of the state redistricting board in 1991, and worked in the administration of then-Gov. Wally Hickel.

After leaving the Hickel administration, he worked as a political consultant on a variety of Republican political campaigns and with Matanuska Electric Association.

He served as chairman of the Alaska Republican Party for a brief period in the early 2000s and was reelected in 2016. He was chairman until Dunleavy picked him as his chief of staff, a role he held until 2019.

“I want government to work, but I don’t want the footprint to be too large on people. I want people to be in charge of their own lives, their own decisions, their own future. And most of the time, I’ve been working behind the scenes, but that’s been my driving force the whole 40 years,” Babcock said of his political career.

Under Alaska’s new election system, up to four candidates may advance from the August primary election to the November general election, where a winner will be chosen by ranked-choice voting.