By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins announced Friday he will not seek re-election this fall to a sixth term in the state House of Representatives.
Kreiss-Tomkins, a Democrat, represents Sitka and 21 other Southeast communities.
The 33-year-old legislator said he’s been thinking about stepping down for the past couple of years and more intensely over the last half year.
Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (Sentinel File Photo)
“I have a desire to have just a little bit of life balance before I get too old,” he said. “Literally every adult birthday in my life has happened in the Alaska capital. Going right from college to the Legislature was an amazing transition but the Legislature is not all of life and I never wanted to become an organism of the Legislature.”
Kreiss-Tomkins has been in the House majority coalition for the past six years, and played an active role in helping form the bipartisan majority of the Democrats, independents and a few Republicans.
He is currently committee chairman of House State Affairs.
Kreiss-Tomkins has established or helped establish projects outside his role as a legislator, including the Outer Coast school, Alaska Fellows program and COVID Act Now.
“It’s been difficult to sort of sustain two lives in parallel,” he said. “And there’s been a lot of cost and tax trying to do that. Making this transition has been on my mind and it seemed timely to do it while I was 33 and not too much older.”
Kreiss-Tomkins said he’s considering what he would like to do after he wraps up his work as an elected official. “In session I’ll be pedal to the metal for the next couple months and more than that if we’re unlucky,” he said.
He said he’s proud of his work in the House which has included putting $10 billion more into the Permanent Fund principal over the last couple of years. “Bert (Stedman) has done a tremendous amount in the Senate,” Kreiss-Tomkins said.
Kreiss-Tomkins also cited his work to create the bipartisan coalition in the House and his work as co-chair on the Fiscal Policy Working Group, an ad hoc group from both houses and both parties focused on planning for Alaska’s fiscal future.
“Sort of trying to broker very disparate interests and ideologies to find a comprehensive solution for the state’s fiscal woes...” he said.
A born-and-raised Sitkan, Kreiss-Tomkins has also advocated for the preservation and growth of Alaska Native languages, including HB 19, which would allow provisional teaching credentials for foreign and Native language instruction in schools.
The bill passed the House 37-0 and it’s scheduled to be heard today in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee, a staff member said today.
Kreiss-Tomkins said the decision not to seek re-election has been an emotional one, and he appreciates the comments he has received since the announcement came out. He said the timing didn’t turn out to be great, coming the same day that Alaska’s longest serving congressman, Don Young, died suddenly. It has prompted questions of whether he plans to run for the vacant seat.
“The answer is of course no,” he said. “But it’s come up probably 15 times in the last two days.”
Kreiss-Tomkins said he will keep following politics, a passion of his since his pre-teen years, and continue trying to make a difference in the state.
In the announcement of his decision not to run again he said, “While I’m stepping away from the Legislature, I care about the future of Alaska more than ever, and finding ways to positively contribute to Alaska’s future will remain my North Star.”
