Cathy Giessel

Giessel returned to the Alaska Senate in 2023, representing the newly configured District E after defeating incumbent Republican Roger Holland.

Ruth Bohms holds a degree from Gonzaga University School of Law and was admitted before the bars of Alaska and the United States Supreme Court.

[4] Giessel graduated from Lathrop High School in Fairbanks[1] and thereafter gained a Bachelor of Science in nursing from the University of Michigan before moving to Anchorage in 1974.

Giessel's initial Democratic challenger, local non-profit executive and advocate Hilary Morgan, dropped out of the senate race early in 2016.

[9] Giessel 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 again 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.

[16] 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.

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.

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.

[6] In a 2010 response to a questionnaire sent by the Alaska Family Action group, Giessel conveyed pro-life viewpoints, constitutional limits on benefits for same-sex couples and legislative blocks on the expansion of gambling excepting a referendum.

Following 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, which Giessel signed on to.

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 .
Giessel (center) with John Coghill (left) and Peter Micciche (right) during a Resources committee meeting in February, 2015.
Alaska Mining Day bill signing ceremony: Giessel with Governor Sean Parnell , Senate President Charlie Huggins , Micciche, Donald Olson and mining industry representatives.