Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File
Rep. Josiah Patkotak, I-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.

Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File Rep. Josiah Patkotak, I-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.

America’s farthest-north state representative is planning to leave the Alaska Capitol

Patkotak says he’s running to be the next mayor of the North Slope Borough.

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.

Paktotak’s decision was made public via a Monday filing with the Alaska Public Offices Commission. The municipal election is Oct. 3, shortly before an expected special legislative session on a long-term state plan to balance state spending and revenue.

If Patkotak leaves the Legislature, Gov. Mike Dunleavy would select his replacement, subject to confirmation by the predominantly Republican House majority caucus.

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 in 2020. He won re-election unopposed last year.

“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. “That’s where I want to provide the leadership for the next — at least — three years with the mayoral term, if that’s what the folks decide.”

Patkotak said the opportunity to spend 12 months at home was a major attraction, and he feels he can “get more done from the administrative level” at the borough by being home to direct infrastructure work.

The North Slope Borough, home to vast oil fields, has an operating budget of over $300 million, and the borough mayor has significant control over how and where that money is spent. The mayor’s salary, $265,000, is more than twice the amount paid to state legislators in salary and per diem.

During the just-completed legislative session, Patkotak — an Iñupiaq leader whose name in the language is Aullaqsruaq — took an extended absence from the Capitol to lead a successful whaling crew.

Patkotak and several of his colleagues said he has been considering his options for several months. Rep. Mike Cronk, R-Tok, sits next to Patkotak on the House floor and said his colleague’s decision wasn’t a surprise, but that he will be sorely missed in the Legislature.

“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.”

Rep. CJ McCormick, D-Bethel and a first-year legislator, said it was “a privilege” to serve alongside Patkotak in the Bush Caucus, a group of rural legislators.

“I learned a lot from him in the short year we served together,” McCormick said.

Patkotak’s seat in the Capitol won’t be vacant until (and if) he wins the mayor’s seat. State law would then allow Dunleavy 30 days to name a replacement. Normally, a replacement must be of the same political party as the departing legislator, but because Patkotak is an independent, the governor may select “any qualified person” in the district.

The replacement must be confirmed by the other members of the departing legislator’s caucus in the Legislature.

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.

Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome and Patkotak’s colleague in the Bush Caucus and the House majority, said by text message that “it will be interesting to see how (Patkotak’s departure) changes the dynamic of the House.”

He noted that the governor will be able to pick “anyone he wants.”

“And I’m sure he would look for someone who is right-leaning who strongly supports resource development,” Foster said. “But you never know what you’re getting until the voting starts.”

Foster said that whether or not Patkotak wins his bid for mayor, he’s already made a difference in the Capitol.

“He’s proven himself to be one heck of a natural leader,” Foster said. “He has a ton of energy and ideas, and he’s really put a great spotlight on our Alaska Native community.”

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

(Juneau Empire File)
Aurora forecast for the week of Nov. 27

These forecasts are courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute… Continue reading

Angie Flick (center), finance director for the City and Borough of Juneau, provides details of an early draft of next year’s municipal budget to Assembly members as City Manager Katie Koester (left) and Budget Manager Adrien Wendel listen during a Finance Committee meeting Wednesday night in the Assembly Chambers. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Assembly members prepare to retreat so they can move ahead on next year’s budget

“Very draft” $190 million spending plan for FY25 based on status quo has $1 million deficit.

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Police calls for Monday, Nov. 27, 2023

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

The front page of the Juneau Empire on Nov. 30, 2005. (Photo by Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Empire Archives: Juneau’s history for the week of Dec. 3

Three decades of capital city coverage.

Cheyenne Latu (left), a pharmacy technician at Ron’s Apothecary Shoppe, and business co-owner Gretchen Watts hang a poster at the front counter Thursday announcing the store’s closure after Dec. 6 as Jessica Kirtley, another pharmacy technician, works at the front register. The nearby Safeway supermarket has agreed to take the prescriptions of all customers as well as hire all of the independent pharmacy’s employees, according to the co-owners who are retiring. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Ron’s Apothecary Shoppe closing after nearly 50 years as co-owners retire; last day is Dec. 6

Safeway taking over all prescriptions and offering jobs to all employees, according to owners.

Attendees at the Friends of NRA — Juneau’s banquet in 2019 talk near auction tables at Centennial Hall. The fundraising event is resuming Saturday after a four-year COVID-19 disruption. (Photo courtesy of Friends of NRA — Juneau)
Friends of NRA — Juneau fundraising banquet returns Saturday after four-year pandemic absence

New Zealand hunting safari, signed Ted Nugent guitar among items being offered.

Wade Bryson, a Juneau Assembly member, explains why he favors giving local businesses a “sales tax holiday” for at least one day next year, targeting Feb. 29 as a suitable date, during the Assembly’s Finance Committee meeting Wednesday night. The committee voted to hold onto the proposal for further study rather than sending it to the full Assembly. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
A local sales tax holiday? Don’t pack your shopping bags yet

Proposal to waive taxes for a day or two each year isn’t a quick sale to most Assembly members

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)
Police calls for Tuesday, Nov. 28, 2023

This report contains public information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

Choir members rehearse Tuesday night for a Bach holiday concert at Ḵunéix̱ Hídi Northern Light United Church. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire)
Quartet of Bach compositions joins lineup of local large-ensemble performances this season

Concerts this weekend part of resurging “wealth of riches” by choruses and orchestras, director says.

Most Read