{"id":34,"date":"2026-05-14T21:07:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T21:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=34"},"modified":"2026-05-14T21:07:45","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T21:07:45","slug":"alaska-legislature-rejects-dunleavy-ag-appointee-stephen-cox","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alaskamovingnetwork.com\/?p=34","title":{"rendered":"Alaska Legislature rejects Dunleavy AG appointee Stephen Cox"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Alaska Legislature rejected Gov. Mike Dunleavy\u2019s pick for attorney general, Stephen Cox, on a 29-31 vote Thursday morning, an extraordinary rebuke of the governor\u2019s appointment to head the Department of Law.<\/p>\n

Read more Legislature passes resolution supporting program that helps Alaska Native corporations get federal contracts<\/a><\/p>\n

Democratic lawmakers in the House and Senate said they were concerned about a range of controversial choices Cox has made since his appointment in August 2025. Several pointed to amicus briefs Alaska has authored or joined during Cox\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s vote was only the second rejection of a commissioner-level appointment in state history. The last was during the Palin administration<\/u>.<\/p>\n

Sen. L\u00f6ki Tobin, an Anchorage Democrat, highlighted a brief Cox signed onto supporting the Trump administration\u2019s effort to sharply restrict birthright citizenship and said Cox had spent his time as attorney general \u201cfighting Lower 48 culture wars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe attorney general is not any one individual’s lawyer,\u201d Tobin said. \u201cHe is our lawyer. His responsibility is to fight for every Alaskan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunleavy\u2019s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Though lawmakers occasionally vote down appointments to lower-level boards and commissions, it is exceedingly rare for lawmakers to reject a governor\u2019s appointee to head a cabinet-level department. The Legislature approved Dunleavy\u2019s four other commissioners up for confirmation in unanimous or near-unanimous votes.<\/p>\n

Opponents of Cox\u2019s confirmation included nearly every Democrat and independent member of the Legislature, except Bethel Sen. Lyman Hoffman. Republican members of the bipartisan House and Senate majority caucuses were split.<\/p>\n

Every member of the Republican minority caucuses, with the exception of Anchorage Rep. Mia Costello, voted to confirm Cox.<\/p>\n

Read more Driver slams car into Wasilla Police headquarters<\/a><\/p>\n

During confirmation hearings, Democratic lawmakers highlighted other controversies<\/u>, including Cox\u2019s advice to the Division of Elections to comply with a U.S. Department of Justice request to turn over Alaska\u2019s unredacted voter rolls. Civil rights groups are challenging the decision in court.<\/p>\n

Many minority Republicans defended Cox, including Big Lake Republican Rep. Kevin McCabe, who said Cox was simply carrying out the governor\u2019s priorities.<\/p>\n

\u201cI suspect that a lot of what we are talking about here is not some rogue attorney general off on his own. I think that he’s had direction,\u201d McCabe said. \u201cHe’s doing a certain number of things that his boss is telling him to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other Republicans commended his character, saying they\u2019d been impressed with him in one-on-one interviews. Rep. Julie Coulombe, an Anchorage Republican, said she was grateful for a joint effort between the state and the municipality of Anchorage targeting retail theft, public disorder and drug use.<\/p>\n

\u201cAG Cox was vital to making that connection between the governor and resources for the Department of Law to come help our city, and I really, really appreciate that from him,\u201d Coulombe said.<\/p>\n

Even so, Rep. Andrew Gray, an Anchorage Democrat who chairs the House\u2019s judiciary committee, said Cox\u2019s record during his brief time in office made him a poor choice to head the Department of Law.<\/p>\n

\u201cStephen Cox is a nice person. His children and my child share a piano teacher,\u201d Gray said. \u201cI believe that Stephen Cox would make, probably, a good attorney general in a state. Just not in our state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Celebrate with us at Member Appreciation Day | May 16<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thursday\u2019s vote was only the second rejection of a commissioner-level appointment in state history. 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