It may be one of the stranger alliances in Alaska politics.
State Sen. Lyda Green, a conservative Republican from Wasilla, has joined forces with four other Republicans and eight Democrats to form a group controlling the state Senate.
She announced the coalition to reporters Friday at the Legislative Information Office in Anchorage, but senators said the deal gelled earlier this week during the on-going special session in Juneau.
If the arrangement sealed by a handshake holds, Green -- the Republican with the longest tenure in the Senate -- will be Senate president. "It's something you prepare for and work toward and keep your eye on," Green said.
The arrangement would put two of the most powerful political jobs in the state -- governor and president of the Senate -- in the hands of Valley politicians. Sarah Palin of Wasilla was elected governor earlier this month.
"The cream rises to the top," said Sen. Charlie Huggins, another Republican from Wasilla. "Does that put us in good stead? I think so. But each of those people have a much broader vision for this state."
Green appears to have won the Senate president post over North Pole Republican Gene Therriault, who is not a member of the ruling coalition. Neither Green nor Therriault had enough Republican votes within the Senate to win the powerful post outright and Green's side began courting Democrats.
The November election -- Republicans lost control of both houses of the U.S. Congress; Palin, who had earlier knocked out Gov. Frank Murkowski, beat former Gov. Tony Knowles on her way to the governor's office -- showed that voters were "crying out for a change," Green said.
Senators must work together across party lines to accomplish major projects like the proposed gas pipeline, she said, and Democrats agreed.
"If you just look at the label ... I'm seen as one extreme and Lyda Green is seen as another extreme," said Sen. Johnny Ellis, the Senate Democratic leader who now will be part of the new majority. "Shouldn't it give people hope that two people like us and folks more in the middle from rural Alaska can all -- urban- rural, conservative-progressive -- set that aside? I think the public will be very welcoming of that relationship."
Democrats who have been shut out of the leadership now will be able to contribute, he said.
Coalitions are nothing new for the Legislature and usually stick if the organization makes it to the session's start, especially if the partisan split is fairly even, said Mike Doogan, newly elected House member and former Daily News columnist.
The first one seems to date to 1963 when the House was split evenly among Democrats and Republicans and Bruce Kendall, an Anchorage Republican, became speaker, according to Doogan.
The Senate has had its share too, including a coalition that formed in 1993 when the party split was 10-10 and Republican Rick Halford became president by bringing in George Jacko, a Democrat.
"What it tends to do is wash out the kind of partisan legislation that you might otherwise get," Doogan said of the coalitions.
Two years ago, Eagle River Republican Pete Kott tried and failed to wrest power from the named House Speaker, John Harris of Valdez, by aligning with Democrats. But that time, the partisan split wasn't even close.
In the incoming Senate, there are 11 Republicans and nine Democrats. Other leaders in the new majority:
• Sen. John Cowdery, R-Anchorage, will continue as chairman of the Rules Committee, which controls whether bills reach the Senate floor.
• Sens. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, and Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, will co-chair the Senate Finance Committee. Hoffman is the only Democrat with an announced leadership role so far, but many committee positions are still open. Hoffman and Green served on the Finance Committee together and their relationship likely laid the groundwork for the coalition, Ellis said.
• Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, will continue as majority leader.
In addition, the coalition includes Huggins and the following Democrats: Anchorage Sens. Ellis, Hollis French and Bettye Davis, and Sen.-elect Bill Wielechowski; Sen. Donny Olson of Nome; Sen. Kim Elton of Juneau; and Sen. Albert Kookesh of Angoon.
The only Democrat not in the group is another newly elected senator, Joe Thomas of Fairbanks, who sided with that area's contingent. Not a single Anchorage Republican other than Cowdery has joined the majority organization.
At stake in the struggle for control of the Senate are chairmanships of a number of committees as well as coveted positions on the Finance Committee. Green and her colleagues say the door is open to any who want to join their coalition and that a number of decisions are on hold until they see who comes over.
French, a former prosecutor, is among the Democrats who may get a chairmanship.
"In Juneau we shook hands, the whole group that was there. In politics, a handshake is a contract, you know," Cowdery said. "We're not just going to put some of the Democrats in just any committee. I think Hollis French will probably chair Judiciary."
To be part of the majority coalition, members must agree to vote for the group's budget but otherwise are free to go their own way. They'll still caucus in closed-door sessions, a practice that the Democrats criticized when they were in the minority.
"We will continue to differ on some hot spot issues and that is the nature of this game," Green said. "If you stick to your beliefs, your ideology and your philosophy, and you vote your heart, you'll do fine."
Daily News reporter Lisa Demer can be reached at ldemer@adn.com and 257-4390.
