Chris Birch (Alaska)
Chris Birch was a member of the Alaska State Senate, representing District M from January to August 2019. He passed away on August 8, 2019.[1]
Birch was also a Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives, representing District 26 from 2017 to 2019.
Biography
Birch and his family moved to Alaska in the 1950's. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mining engineering from the University of Alaska in Fairbanks in 1972, as well as a master of science degree in engineering management in 1979. He became a licensed professional engineer in 1978, and moved to Anchorage with Alyeska Pipeline Service Company in 1991.[2] Birch passed away August 7, 2019.[3]
Committee assignments
2019-2020
Birch was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Community & Regional Affairs Committee, Vice chair
- Senate Education Committee
- Senate Resources Committee, Chair
- Senate Labor & Commerce Committee
2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Alaska committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • Labor & Commerce |
| • Resources |
| • State Affairs |
Campaign themes
2016
Birch's campaign website highlighted the following issues:
| “ |
Alaska’s State Budget
Alaska’s Economy
|
” |
| —Chris Birch, [5] | ||
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2018
- See also: Alaska State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for Alaska State Senate District M
Chris Birch defeated Janice Park in the general election for Alaska State Senate District M on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Chris Birch (R) | 58.5 | 8,665 |
 | Janice Park (D)  | 41.2 | 6,110 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 43 | ||
| Total votes: 14,818 | |||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for Alaska State Senate District M
Chris Birch defeated Bekah Halat in the Republican primary for Alaska State Senate District M on August 21, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Chris Birch | 77.9 | 3,144 |
| Bekah Halat | 22.1 | 892 | ||
| Total votes: 4,036 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Alaska Democratic, Libertarian, and Independence parties primary election
Alaska Democratic, Libertarian, and Independence parties primary for Alaska State Senate District M
Janice Park advanced from the Alaska Democratic, Libertarian, and Independence parties primary for Alaska State Senate District M on August 21, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Janice Park | 100.0 | 1,738 |
| Total votes: 1,738 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2016
Elections for the Alaska House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 16, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 1, 2016.
Chris Birch defeated David Gillespie in the Alaska House of Representatives District 26 general election.[6][7]
| Alaska House of Representatives, District 26 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican |  Chris Birch |
64.15% | 5,141 | |
| Democratic | David Gillespie | 35.85% | 2,873 | |
| Total Votes | 8,014 | |||
| Source: Alaska Secretary of State | ||||
Bill Goodell ran unopposed in the Alaska House of Representatives District 26 Democratic Primary.[8][9]
| Alaska House of Representatives, District 26 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Bill Goodell (unopposed) | |
Chris Birch defeated incumbent Bob Lynn in the Alaska House of Representatives District 26 Republican Primary.[8][9]
| Alaska House of Representatives, District 26 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Chris Birch |
59.23% | 1,149 | |
| Republican | Bob Lynn Incumbent | 40.77% | 791 | |
| Total Votes | 1,940 | |||
Birch campaigned against the 83-year-old Lynn by saying the legislature needed "new energy," and asserted that the representative should retire. Birch is 65 years old. Lynn received backing from a new Alaskan political group, "Together for Alaska," but was not able to secure the victory in the primary election.[10][11]
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of Alaska scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2019
In 2019, the legislature was in session from January 15, 2019, through May 14, 2019.
- Legislators are scored by the Alaska Business Report Card on "how they support legislation that helps Alaska’s private business sector."[12]
- Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2018, the 31st Alaska State Legislature was in session from January 16 through May 13.
|
2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
|---|
|
In 2017, the Alaska State Legislature was in session from January 17 through May 17. The legislature held a special session from May 18 to June 16, a second special session from June 16 to July 15, a one-day special session on July 27, and a fourth special session from October 23 to November 21.
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Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Chris Birch Alaska House. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Alaska House of Representatives
- Alaska House of Representatives District 26
- Alaska House of Representatives elections, 2016
- Alaska State Legislature
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ US News & World Report, "Republican Alaska State Sen. Chris Birch Dies," August 8, 2019
- ↑ Chris Birch State Senate, "About," accessed March 2, 2020
- ↑ Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman, "Chris Birch, Senator, Engineer & Grandfather, Passes Away at 68," accessed March 2, 2020
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Chris Birch, "Issues," accessed July 26, 2016
- ↑ State of Alaska Division of Elections, "November 8, 2016 General Election Candidate List," accessed August 22, 2016
- ↑ Alaska Secretary of State, "General Election Official Results 2016," accessed December 2, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 State of Alaska Division of Elections, "August 16, 2016 Primary Candidate List," accessed June 8, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 State of Alaska Division of Elections, "2016 Primary Election results," accessed September 12, 2016
- ↑ ADN.com, "In GOP, 65-year-old Birch touts 'new energy' against 83-year old Lynn," accessed August 17, 2016
- ↑ ADN.com, "New political group backs legislative candidates who favor broad deficit-reduction plan," accessed August 17, 2016
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Alaska Business Report Card, "About," accessed November 5, 2019 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "abrc" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid<ref>tag; name "abrc" defined multiple times with different content
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Kevin Meyer (R) |
Alaska State Senate District M January 2019–August 2019 |
Succeeded by Josh Revak (R) |
| Preceded by Bob Lynn (R) |
Alaska House of Representatives District 26 2017–2019 |
Succeeded by Laddie Shaw (R) |
