Education
Yale University.
cellist politician marathon runner
Yale University.
A Democrat, he represents the state"s thirty-fourth district, which encompasses many Southeast island communities including Hoonah, Sitka, Haines, Kake, Klawock, Craig, and Metlakatla. Committees
House Transportation
House State Affairs
House Fisheries
Legislation
House Bill 216, sponsored by Kreiss-Tomkins, was signed into law on October 23rd, 2014, making each of the twenty Native languages in Alaska an official language of the state. The act, which was passed by large bipartisan majorities in both chambers, adds Inupiaq, Siberian Yupik, Central Alaskan Yup"ik, Alutiiq, Unangax, Dena"ina, Deg Xinag, Holikachuk, Koyukon, Upper Kuskokwim, Gwich"in, Tanana, Upper Tanana, Tanacross, Hän, Ahtna, Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian languages as official languages of the state.
2012 Election
Due to the 2010 Census redistricting, Bill Thomas, a state representative since 2004, was no longer an incumbent in some of the towns of the modified district.
Kreiss-Tomkins" hometown of Sitka fell into the 34th district and no other candidates from the Democratic party filed to run in the primary, so he decided to run for the seat. After a recount that decreased Kreiss-Tomkins" margin of victory from 34 to 32, the vote was finalized on December 3, 2012, almost a month after election day.
2014 Election
In the 2014 mid-term elections, Kreiss-Tomkins was re-elected with 60 percent of the vote (3393 votes to 2288). Kreiss-Tomkins faced St. Petersburg Republican Steven Samuelson, who lost twice before to Peggy Wilson of Wrangell in primaries.
Kreiss-Tomkins was elected in a slightly altered district that now includes St. Petersburg and the northern end of Prince of Wales Island, but no longer covers Haines and Metlakatla.
After Kreiss-Tomkins" victory in 2012, The Nation wrote an article about him titled ″Alaska"s Lesson for the Left.″ Following the 2014 legislative session, during which Kreiss-Tomkins sponsored a successful bill that made Alaska"s Native languages official, the Washington Post named him one its ″40 Under 40,″ a list of people younger than 40 making a name for themselves in politics outside the Beltway. As a freshman at Sitka High School in 2003, Kreiss-Tomkins was a major online organizer for the Howard Dean presidential campaign. He"s a cellist; he toured Southeast Alaska with the Indigo Piano Trio.
He is also a mountaineer.
In 2009 he climbed the highest volcano in the world, Argentina’s Ojos del Salado, to conclusively measure its height against a neighboring peak in Chile.
Foreign the 28th Legislature, Representative Kreiss-Tomkins is a member of the following committees:.