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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 09-73 Governor Requests Public Vote on Senate District B April 3, 2009, Juneau, Alaska – Governor Palin Thursday called for an open vote by the Senate on her appointment of Tim Grussendorf to the Alaska Senate. Concern has been expressed that a vote of the entire chamber on this appointment would be contrary to the practice and desires of political caucuses in the legislature. “My primary objective is to respectfully request the Senate to take this matter up and vote on it in public session,” Governor Palin said. “The Alaska people and particularly the people of...

GRUSSENDORF: Party plans to give slate of 3 new names to governor. JUNEAU -- The Alaska Senate Democrats on Wednesday rejected Gov. Sarah Palin's appointment of legislative aide Tim Grussendorf to the state Senate. The decision came during a two-hour closed-door meeting in the office of Senate Majority Leader Johnny Ellis, an Anchorage Democrat. Around 50 people -- legislators, lobbyists, and news media -- jammed into the Capitol hallway outside Ellis' office when word came out that a decision had been made. The Democrats were tense and tight-lipped as they left the office, referring all questions to Ellis -- who...

Federal stimulus Grussendorf said he agrees with some of Palin's concerns about accepting federal money that Alaska may not be able to sustain. "I'm not interested in something that's going to grow government and then disappear," he said. He said he's concerned about increasing the state's budget deficit in future years. "We cannot continue to burn through our savings at the rate that we're seeing right now," he said. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Bringing more revenue to the state is more likely to come from drilling for oil in ANWR, rather than selling natural gas, Grussendorf said. "Responsible development in...

Gov. Sarah Palin today announced Tim Grussendorf, a legislative aide from Juneau, is her a choice to replace Kim Elton in the Alaska Senate. Grussendorf is chief of staff for Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel. Now he must be approved by a simple majority of the nine Senate Democrats currently seated. In picking Grussendorf, Palin is rejecting Rep. Beth Kerttula, D-Juneau, the only name recommended to the governor by southeast Democratic leaders after Elton resigned to take an Interior Department position with the Obama administration in Washington, D.C. Earlier this month, Palin invited other applicants to apply, saying she thought there...