Copies of the Alaska State Constitution were available outside the lieutenant governor’s office on Monday, Dec. 13, 2021. If voters choose to have a constitutional convention next year, the state’s foundational document could be rewritten. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

Copies of the Alaska State Constitution were available outside the lieutenant governor’s office on Monday, Dec. 13, 2021. If voters choose to have a constitutional convention next year, the state’s foundational document could be rewritten. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire)

Alaska conservatives launch group to encourage ‘yes’ vote on constitutional convention

The Nov. 8 vote could bring sweeping changes to the way Alaska operates

  • By James Brooks Alaska Beacon
  • Tuesday, August 9, 2022 10:13pm
  • NewsState News

By James Brooks

Alaska Beacon

A group of conservative Alaskans, headed by a leading member of the Alaska Republican Party, has formed a new campaign organization intended to encourage Alaskans to call a constitutional convention and allow sweeping changes in the way Alaska runs its government, sets its budget and regulates the lives of its residents.

Jim Minnery, president of the anti-abortion Alaska Family Council, announced the creation of ConventionYes on Monday. Minnery is a member of the new group’s steering committee. The group’s chair is Craig Campbell, national committeeman for the Alaska Republican Party.

“The Constitutional Convention call is a fundamental question for ‘We the People,’” Campbell said in a prepared statement. “This is an opportunity for us to go back to see where our state is and where we want to go and under what rules we want to live by.”

Alaskans are asked once per decade whether they want to call a convention, and the next vote is on the Nov. 8 general-election ballot.

Convention opponents have been campaigning for months, arguing that a convention — particularly in a politically polarized time — will cause uncertainty and chaos.

“It is a slippery path, and once you decide to open up a convention, the constitution is very clear that delegates who are selected are completely free to entirely rewrite the document,” said Bruce Botelho, a former Democratic attorney general who chairs the leading anti-convention group.

The Alaska Supreme Court has repeatedly interpreted Alaska’s constitutional right to privacy to cover health care, including access to abortion.

A convention could be a first step to banning or limiting access here, either directly — by rewriting the privacy clause — or indirectly, by changing how judges are chosen.

R. Keith Heim, a member of the ConventionYes steering committee, said his biggest interest is changing the constitution to mandate large Permanent Fund dividends.

“The biggest driving force for the convention, yes, is to basically put this Permanent Fund dividend into the constitution,” he said.

Asked about the abortion issue, Heim said each member of the steering committee has “our own personal things that we’re bringing to the group.”

Among the other members are Jake Libbey, publisher of the conservative Christian website the Alaska Watchman; former Alaska legislator Fritz Pettyjohn; conservative Alaska environmental scientist and lodge owner Fred Vreeman; and Leigh Sloan, an Anchorage woman who says on her website that her “desire is to shift paradigms in our culture to reflect kingdom truths.”

The latter term is sometimes used to describe evangelical Christian ideals.

The group has not yet registered with the Alaska Public Offices Commission and lists its top three donors as two members of the steering committee and a relative of Pettyjohn.

In comparison, the vote-no group Defend Our Constitution is well established and well-funded, having listed more than $320,000 in donations as of its latest disclosure report.

Among the supporters of the “vote no” cause are the chambers of commerce in Fairbanks, Juneau and Ketchikan, the Alaska Municipal League, and the regional Native corporations Sealaska and Doyon Ltd.

Many independent and Democratic politicians oppose the convention idea, as do some Republican candidates.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy is a notable exception, saying in an interview earlier this month that he will not advise Alaskans to vote for or against the convention. Despite that stance, Dunleavy voiced many of the talking points espoused by the new vote-yes group.

Heim said one of the new group’s key goals is to overcome the vote-no group’s assertions that the convention will cause chaos.

He said it’s important to understand that voting yes doesn’t trigger immediate action. State lawmakers will have a chance to pass enabling legislation, there will be a vote for delegates, and there will be a third vote to decide whether to accept what those delegates decide, a process that is likely to take years.

“We’ve just got to get the people to understand that voting yes is not going to kill the state,” he said. “It’s going to enable the people to say, ‘I don’t think this is right.’”

James Brooks is a longtime Alaska reporter, having previously worked at the Anchorage Daily News, Juneau Empire, Kodiak Mirror and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. This article originally appeared online at alaskabeacon.com. Alaska Beacon, an affiliate of States Newsroom, is an independent, nonpartisan news organization focused on connecting Alaskans to their state government.

More in News

A Kenai Peninsula Food Bank truck in the Food Bank parking lot on Aug. 4, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Food bank seeks turkey donations as Thanksgiving nears

The local food bank is calling for donations of $25 to “Adopt-A-Turkey” for a local family in need

Seward City Hall is seen under cloudy skies in Seward, Alaska, on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Seward budget hearing covers bed tax, wages, emergency medical services

The Seward City Council on Nov. 12 considered a series of legislative items connected to 2025 and 2026 budget

The results of ranked choice tabulation show Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, winning reelection in the race for Senate District D. (Screenshot/Gavel Alaska)
Bjorkman, Vance win reelection after tabulation of ranked choice ballots

An effort to repeal ranked choice voting and the open primary system was very narrowly defeated

Jacob Caldwell, chief executive officer of Kenai Aviation, stands at the Kenai Aviation desk at the Kenai Municipal Airport on Thursday, Sept. 13, 2022, in Kenai, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Aviation, Reeve Air submit proposals to bring air service back to Seward

Scheduled air service has been unavailable in Seward since 2002

Erosion damage to the southbound lane of Homer Spit Road is seen on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024, following a storm event on Saturday in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
City, DOT work to repair storm damage to Spit road

A second storm event on Saturday affected nearly a mile of the southbound lane

Kenaitze Indian Tribe Education Director Kyle McFall speaks during a special meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Charter school proposed by Kenaitze Indian Tribe given approval by school board

The application will next be forwarded to the State Department of Education and Early Department

Suzanne Phillips, who formerly was a teacher at Aurora Borealis Charter School, speaks during a special meeting of the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District’s Board of Education in Soldotna, Alaska, on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Aurora Borealis charter renewal clears school board

The school is seeking routine renewal of its charter through the 2035-2036 school year

State House District 6 candidates Rep. Sarah Vance, Dawson Slaughter and Brent Johnson participate in a candidate forum hosted by the Peninsula Clarion and KBBI 890 AM at the Homer Public Library in Homer, Alaska, on Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Saturday update: House District 6 race tightens slightly in new results

Neither incumbent Rep. Sarah Vance or challenger Brent Johnson have claimed 50% of votes in the race

A grader moves down 1st Avenue in Kenai, Alaska, during a snow storm on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Storm system to bring weekend snow to western Kenai Peninsula

Extended periods of light to moderate snow are expected Friday through Sunday morning

Most Read