Senate President Peter Micciche announced that he will not seek reelection this year. He served three terms in the Alaska State Senate after having previously served on the Soldotna City Council and as Soldotna Mayor. He has served as Majority Leader during the 30th Legislature and is the current President of the Senate of the 32nd Legislature.
Sen. Micciche tells KSRM that he wants to focus on his family:
“I had certainly been thinking and praying about this decision for a long time. A lot of time with the family talking about what’s next for the Micciches and the bottom line is this, I spent essentially 11 of the last 16 months away from my little girls and my wife and my family comes first. We made the decision. I have absolute clarity on that decision. It’s not retirement. I’m not done, but the bottom line is that I will not be seeking reelection to the senate.”
Sen. Micciche has also served on every senate standing committee, special committee, and finance sub-committee. He also has served as chairman or vice-chairman on all but two of the standing committees. As such, he says he will continue to serve his constituents until his term ends in January 2023:
“I believe our work as a Micciche team with my staff and I and, of course, the senate working with the House and the Governor have made Alaska a better place. We had a great closeout to this year’s session and it’s all ending this stage on a very positive note, but the bottom line is my family needs me. I am not going away because we will continue to do what the Micciches do and that’s serve our community until someday when the good Lord calls me home.”
The candidacy filing deadline is June 1 for the newly renamed Senate District D. According to the Alaska Division of Elections, there are three individuals certified to be on the ballot for the Alaska Primary, which include Republican candidates Tuckerman Babcock and Jesse Bjorkman and nonpartisan Andy Cizek.
