A member of the Democratic Party, he caucused with the Democrat-led majority in the House of Representatives that includes independents and Republicans.
[3] In December 2017, after seven female capitol staffers aired complaints of inappropriate sexual behavior by Westlake, he apologized.
[4][5] According to procedures in such a circumstance, elected District 40 representatives of his Democratic party submitted three names of prospective replacement candidates to the governor.
[7] From those, district Democrats forwarded the governor the names of three candidates from whom he might choose to replace Westlake: Sandy Shroyer-Beaver and Eugene Smith, both of Kotzebue and Leanna Mack of Utqiagvik.
Instead Walker picked John Lincoln, an official with the Kotzebue-based NANA Regional Corporation, and he forwarded his choice to House Democrats for confirmation.