West Anchorage Representative Lindsey Holmes announced Saturday her decision to jump ship from the Democratic party over to the Republican ticket, KTUU reports. In addition to the party registration swap, Rep. Holmes also announced she will have a seat on the House Finance Committee and she'll be joining the House Majority Caucus.
Rep. Holmes is a lawyer who says she's left-leaning on social issues, but more conservative on the business side of things. She was first elected to office in 2006 under the Democratic ticket.
On Saturday, she said, via news release, that she's "enjoyed a close working relationship with the Majority for many years now" and she's discovered that "we share a common vision of Alaska."
Rep. Holmes has sponsored no less than 4 pre-field bills-- including HB 56, passenger vehicle rental tax; HB 57, entity transactions act; HB 17, student loan principal reductions; and HB 44, advance health care directives registry-- in preparation for the upcoming legislative session.