Dunleavy chooses longtime House members to fill Senate vacancies

Iris Samuels, Anchorage Daily News on Nov 26, 2025

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Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced Wednesday that he had selected two longtime House members to fill vacancies created by the resignation of two Senate Republicans.

Dunleavy selected Sutton Rep. George Rauscher to replace Wasilla Sen. Mike Shower; and Wasilla Rep. Cathy Tilton to replace Palmer Sen. Shelley Hughes. The governor's choices are subject to confirmation by Senate Republicans under Alaska law.

Shower resigned last month to focus on his run for lieutenant governor. Hughes resigned several weeks later to run for governor. Both had served in the all-Republican Senate minority.

Senate President Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, said Wednesday that Senate GOP members would gather in Anchorage on Saturday to vote on whether to confirm Rauscher and Tilton. Confirmation requires support from at least five out of nine current Senate Republicans.

Of the nine Senate Republicans, four are members of the more conservative all-GOP minority, which is aligned with the House minority of which Tilton and Rauscher are members; while five are members of the bipartisan majority.

Stevens said he did not expect the votes to be controversial, but he said the voting will be conducted by secret ballot, to avoid "any bad feelings between any of the current senators and the new senators." If confirmed, the new Senate members will be asked to resign their House posts and be sworn in on Saturday, Stevens said.

Tilton and Rauscher are among the longest-serving Republicans currently in the House. Tilton, who previously served as House speaker, has been a member of the Legislature since 2015. Rauscher has been a member since 2017.

Dunleavy chose Rauscher from a list of three candidates recommended by local GOP officials, which included Big Lake Republican Rep. Kevin McCabe and Ryan Sheldon, who last year served as a legislative staffer to another House member.

Dunleavy chose Tilton from a list that also included Tom Bergey and Gerrie Deal.

"I can't think of two Alaskans more qualified and committed to public service to serve in the Alaska Senate than Representatives Rauscher and Tilton," Dunleavy said in a statement.

If Tilton and Rauscher depart the House, another replacement process will begin. Local Republican party members from their districts are expected to solicit names of interested candidates, and will then forward three names for consideration to Dunleavy. Dunleavy will have 30 days from the time of Tilton and Rauscher's resignations to forward names to House Republicans for a confirmation vote.

That will provide little time for the new House members to prepare ahead of the next legislative session, which is scheduled to begin in Juneau in mid-January.

The changes in the composition of the Legislature come as Republicans are facing changes in their leadership. The departure of Shower — who previously served as Senate minority leader — sets up the caucus to choose a new leader in the coming weeks. And earlier this week, House Minority Leader Mia Costello said she would no longer serve in the leadership position, meaning the 19-member House minority is also expected to choose a new leader.