Cathy Giessel

Catherine Andrea Giessel ( Bohms; born November 9, 1951) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, she has served as Majority Leader of the Alaska Senate since 2023. From 2013 to 2021, she represented District N in the Alaska Senate including Northeast Anchorage, Anchorage Hillside and the Turnagain Arm communities of Bird, Girdwood, Indian, and Anchorage, all within the municipality of Anchorage. First elected in 2010 while identifying with Tea Party values, she has also served as the vice-chair of the state Republican Party and had a career in nursing. After redistricting, she was elected to a different senate seat in 2012.

Giessel serves as chair of the Resources Committee and is a member of the Senate Majority Caucus. After Senate President Pete Kelly was unseated in 2018, she was elected president of the Alaska Senate, a post she held until 2021. She returned to the Alaska Senate in 2023, representing the newly configured District E after defeating incumbent Republican Roger Holland. She serves as Senate majority leader in the 33rd Legislature, overseeing a coalition caucus of eight Republicans and nine Democrats.

Early life and career Cathy Giessel was born Catherine Andrea Bohms in Fairbanks, Alaska on November 9, 1951, the oldest of three daughters (and four children overall) born to Gerald Johnson "Jerry" (1924–2002) and Ruth Odelia (née Bauer, born 1927) Bohms. Jerry arrived in Alaska in the late 1940s and worked for Wien Alaska Airlines (a predecessor to Wien Air Alaska). Ruth holds a degree from Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane, Washington and was admitted before the bars of Alaska and the United States Supreme Court. Ruth was a candidate for the Alaska Legislature in 1992, running as an Alaskan Independence Party candidate for a Fairbanks-based seat in the Alaska House of Representatives. In 2010, she was named an 'exceptional leader' by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing. Giessel won the November general election defeating challenger Vince Beltrami, 51.90% to 47.57%. She again campaigned on positions strongly supporting natural resource development, diversified economic development, right-sizing Alaska state government, the creation of a comprehensive plan to the state government's budget challenges, and supported more school choice options for parents of K-12 students. Due to a continued budget shortfall, further reductions in state spending were a top priority for the new senate majority caucus. Other priorities of the caucus are plans to pass a state spending limit bill and review formula driven programs to make additional reforms to the state's most costly programs in an effort to get the state budget under control.

Committee assignments Resources (chair) Special Committee on Arctic Policy (chair) Health and Social Services State Affairs Education Legislative Budget and Audit Legislative Council (alternate) Finance Subcommittee Environmental Conservation Health & Social Services Natural Resources

Caucus memberships In-state Gas Caucus Outdoor Heritage Caucus

2014: Senate District N election Though elected in 2012 following redistricting, a challenge to the newly drawn districts caused Giessel to be up for reelection again in 2014. She won the November general election, defeating Democratic challenger Harry Crawford Jr., 54.7% to 44.97%. This time Giessel was elected to a 2-year seat up for reelection in 2016. She campaigned on a position of pro natural resource development, in-state gasline development, and diversified economic development. She supported more school choice options for parents of K-12 students. Due to the sharp fall of oil prices and Alaska's ensuing fiscal gap in 2015, the budget and curbing state spending became top priorities for the new senate majority caucus. Education funding was another top priority for the caucus.

Committee assignments Resources (chair) Special Committee on Arctic Policy (co-chair) Health and Social Services (vice-chair) Labor and Commerce (vice-chair) Education Legislative Budget and Audit Finance Subcommittee Environmental Conservation Health & Social Services Natural Resources

Caucus memberships In-state Gas Caucus Outdoor Heritage Caucus

2012: Senate District N election Giessel (left) being sworn in at the opening of the 28th Alaska State Legislature. Alaska legislators are typically sworn in on opening day in groups of five; to Giessel's left are Anna Fairclough, Kevin Meyer, Peter Micciche, and Lesil McGuire.

Though elected in 2010 to serve a four-year term, redistricting led to her being up for election again in 2012 for a new senate seat serving District N. In the August Republican primary, Giessel defeated challenger Joe Arness by 67%. She won the November general election, defeating Independent Ron Devon, the husband of Mudflats author Jeanne Devon, 58.8% to 40.7%. Her campaign positions were pro natural resource development, in-state gasline development, increased economic development, and oil tax reform. Increasing oil production through oil tax reform was a decisive issue during the 2012 election and became a top priority for the new senate majority caucus which was formed.

Giessel was appointed to chair the Senate Resources committee which moved Governor Parnell's oil tax reform legislation and advanced the Alaska Stand-Alone Pipeline project.

Committee assignments Resources (chair) Community and Regional Affairs (vice-chair) State Affairs (vice-chair) Administrative Regulatory Review (vice-chair) Legislative Budget and Audit Legislative Ethics Alaska Arctic Policy Commission Finance Subcommittee Environmental Conservation Natural Resources Labor & Workforce Development

Caucus memberships In-state Gas Caucus Outdoor Heritage Caucus

2010: Senate District P election Giessel ran for the Senate District P seat in 2010 when Republican incumbent Con Bunde retired after 18 years in the legislature, the last eight in the Senate. She faced two moderates in her party primary: Anchorage assemblywoman Jennifer Johnston and cardiologist Mark Moronell. Taking advantage of the split in the moderate vote she won her party's nomination for the general election – 46% over 28% for Moronell and 25% for Johnston. In the November election, she beat Democrat Janet Reiser and independent conservative Phil Dziubinski 49% to 39% and 12% respectively. Dziubinski, who had recently retired from a career working for BP, spent over $150,000 of his own money on his campaign.

During her freshman term, Giessel served on the Senate committees on labor & commerce, state affairs, the finance subcommittee on the legislature, and was a member of the Joint In-State Gas Caucus. She aligned herself with the 'Senate Minority' caucus: a grouping of Republican senators who rejected the dominant bipartisan 'Senate Majority' caucus.

In the 2011 mid-term Alaska Business Report Card (a grading system run by several Alaska business coalitions judging state officials on how favorable they are to the business community). Giessel received an A+, the only senator to receive the highest grade, and only one of five state legislators in both houses.

National involvement In 2013, Giessel was appointed to chair the Energy Producing States Coalition (EPSC), a bipartisan group of legislators across 10 states that focuses on energy and transmission development issues. After a decision by the Interior Department to withhold $110 million in federal mineral revenue sharing payments because of sequestration, the EPSC issued a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee leadership denouncing the act, to which Giessel signed.

Personal life Giessel and Richard Giessel are married and they have three children and several grandchildren. and the Second Amendment Sisters. She received the Anchorage Republican Woman of the Year award in 2007.