Independent Rep. Josiah Patkotak of Utqiagvik is running to become the next mayor of the North Slope Borough and said he’s prepared to resign his seat in the Alaska Legislature if he wins the October municipal election. (via AlaskaBeacon)
Rep. Josiah Patkotak, I-Utqiagvik, demonstrates the fur hood of his coat while serving as Speaker pro tem of the Alaska House of Representatives on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2023, at the Alaska Capitol in Juneau, Alaska.
Patkotak, talking by cellphone from a goose-hunting trip in his home district, said that with current Mayor Harry Brower Jr. facing term limits that prevent another run, he’s interested in returning to municipal office. Patkotak served on the North Slope Borough Assembly before running for state office “I just figured I’d throw my name in the hat for the opportunity to serve in that capacity, thinking that I can really get some stuff done at the local level,” he said of the mayorship.
“Josiah is not only a colleague to me but is a friend and brother,” Cronk said. “He is as real a human as there is and no one is a bigger advocate for his people, their culture and subsistence ways of life. Rural Alaska is where his heart is, right after God.” Christopher Clark, a legislative historian and aide to Sen. Click Bishop, R-Fairbanks, said that after consulting legislative records, he was unable to find an instance since statehood when a governor was asked to fill a seat formerly held by an independent.
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Rep. Patkotak runs for mayor of North Slope Borough, says he’ll leave Legislature if he winsIndependent Rep. Josiah Patkotak of Utqiagvik is running to become the next mayor of the North Slope Borough and said he’s prepared to resign his seat in the Alaska Legislature if he wins the October municipal election. Via AlaskaBeacon
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