Have we seen our last state party chair lobbying in the legislature? There was quite a flap recently, over the news that the chair of the state Democratic party was also working in the Capitol as a lobbyist. It's not only ethically wrong, but probabley morally wrong as well," said state Senator Scott Fitzgerald. A couple of Democratic county party chairs raised a fuss over the lobbying activity by Joe Winike, and Fitzgerald. The Republican minority leader in the Senate is now proposing a bill that would ban the practice.
Fitzgerald called Winike's lobbying "outrageous," and while Wineke subsequently agreed to stop his lobbying on behalf of AT&T, Fitzgerald says there's nothing to stop this from happening again. The Juneau Republican thinks state party chairs have so much influence when it comes to whether or not legislators get reelected, that they really should not be engaged in lobbying them.