Lawmakers, staff and other workers inside the Alaska State Capitol are preparing this week for the upcoming session of the Alaska State Legislature that starts Jan. 17, 2023. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Lawmakers, staff and other workers inside the Alaska State Capitol are preparing this week for the upcoming session of the Alaska State Legislature that starts Jan. 17, 2023. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire)

Alaska court: Anchorage Democrat qualified for House seat

A brief order from the state Supreme Court affirmed the superior court’s conclusion

  • Becky Bohrer Associated Press
  • Friday, January 13, 2023 10:46pm
  • NewsState News

Becky Bohrer

Associated Press

JUNEAU — A divided Alaska Supreme Court ruled Friday that an Anchorage Democrat who won a state House race was a qualified candidate.

Earlier this week, Superior Court Judge Herman Walker Jr. issued a decision finding that Democrat Jennifer “Jennie” Armstrong met residency requirements and accepting the results of the November election. His decision was appealed by Republican Liz Vazquez, who lost to Armstrong, and four others who had joined her in challenging Armstrong’s win.

A brief order from the state Supreme Court, shortly after hearing arguments in the case Friday, said simply: “We affirm the superior court’s ultimate conclusion that Ms. Armstrong was a qualified candidate as required by law. A full decision will follow.”

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Three justices heard the case: Chief Justice Daniel Winfree and Justices Jennifer Henderson and Susan Carney. Carney dissented, writing that she would reverse Walker’s finding that Armstrong was qualified.

Vazquez’s lawsuit alleged that Armstrong had not been an Alaska resident for at least three years immediately before filing for office and that Armstrong was therefore not qualified for the office.

Under the state constitution, to serve in the legislature one must be a “qualified voter who has been a resident of Alaska for at least three years and of the district from which elected for at least one year, immediately preceding his filing for office.” The filing deadline was June 1.

Attorneys for Vazquez and the other plaintiffs in court documents said evidence supported the assertion that Armstrong’s residency did not begin until at least June 8, 2019. Vazquez attorney Stacey Stone made similar arguments Friday.

The lawsuit had pointed to such things as a social media post, fishing license applications and the date when Armstrong registered to vote.

“While Armstrong may subjectively believe that she became a resident of Alaska when she `showed up, put her head down, and decided’ on May 20, 2019, the objective evidence says otherwise,” Stone and fellow attorneys for the plaintiffs wrote in court documents.

Armstrong said she moved to Alaska on May 20, 2019. She said that is when she and her now-husband discussed and decided she would move in with him in Anchorage. She testified her social media posts weren’t always contemporaneous and that a 2022 fishing license application tracing her residency to May 2019 was more precise than prior applications.

Walker, in his ruling, said he found Armstrong became a resident on May 20, 2019, based on the evidence provided to him. He said state law allows a resident to temporarily leave Alaska and maintain their residency as long as they intend to return. He said Armstrong left for prior commitments on May 20, 2019, and returned June 8, 2019.

He said he found her absence starting May 20, 2019, was temporary and that she “maintained her intent to return while she was away.”

More in News

An angler holds up a dolly varden for a photograph on Wednesday, July 16. (Photo courtesy of Koby Etzwiler)
Anchor River opens up to Dollies, non-King salmon fishing

Steelhead and rainbow trout are still off limits and should not be removed from the water.

A photo provided by NTSB shows a single-engine Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub, that crashed shortly after takeoff in a mountainous area of southwestern Alaska, Sept. 12, 2023. The plane was weighed down by too much moose meat and faced drag from a set of antlers mounted on its right wing strut, federal investigators said on Tuesday.
Crash that killed husband of former congresswoman was overloaded with moose meat and antlers, NTSB says

The plane, a single-engine Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub, crashed shortly after takeoff in a mountainous area of southwestern Alaska on Sept. 12, 2023.

Armor rock from Sand Point is offloaded from a barge in the Kenai River in Kenai, Alaska, part of ongoing construction efforts for the Kenai River Bluff Stabilization Project on Wednesday, July 23, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Work continues on Kenai Bluff stabilization project

The wall has already taken shape over a broad swath of the affected area.

An aerial photo over Grewingk Glacier and Glacier Spit from May 2021 shows a mesodinium rubrum bloom to the left as contrasted with the normal ocean water of Kachemak Bay near Homer. (Photo courtesy of Stephanie Greer/Beryl Air)
KBNERR warns of potential harmful algal bloom in Kachemak Bay

Pseudo-nitzchia has been detected at bloom levels in Kachemak Bay since July 4.

Fresh-picked lettuces are for sale at the final Homer Farmers Market of the year on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024, in Homer, Alaska. (Delcenia Cosman/Homer News)
USDA ends regional food program, pulls $6M from Alaska businesses

On July 15, the Alaska Food Policy Council was notified that the USDA had terminated the Regional Food Business Center Program “effective immediately.”

Exit Glacier is photographed on June 22, 2018. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
2 rescued by park service near Exit Glacier

The hikers were stranded in the “Exit Creek Prohibited Visitor Use Zone.”

Two new cars purchased by the Soldotna Senior Center to support its Meals on Wheels program are parked outside of the center in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, March 30, 2022. (Camille Botello/Peninsula Clarion)
State restores grant funding to Soldotna Senior Center

In recent years, the center has been drawing down its organizational reserves to provide some essential services.

A table used by parties to a case sits empty in Courtroom 4 of the Kenai Courthouse in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Former school district custodian pleads guilty to sexual abuse of a minor

Alexander Coxwell was arrested in September on allegations that he had engaged in an illegal sexual relationship with a then-14-year-old student.

Dick Hawkins speaks during a community meeting about the proposed Ninilchik Recreation Service Area at the Ninilchik Community Center in Ninilchik, Alaska, on Thursday, July 17, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Ninilchik residents consider creation of service area to fund pool

The Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly on Aug. 5 will consider an ordinance that would create the service area if it is approved by voters.

Most Read

You're browsing in private mode.
Please sign in or subscribe to continue reading articles in this mode.

Peninsula Clarion relies on subscription revenue to provide local content for our readers.

Subscribe

Already a subscriber? Please sign in