Pro-Denali resolution picks up more support in Alaska House before advancing to Senate

A pro-Trump Republican who represents the state House district that includes Denali is now backing a resolution asking Trump to keep the peak’s name intact.

Rep. Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake, joined other Republicans, plus Democrats and independents in a 31-8 vote that asks Trump to reverse his decision to label North America’s tallest mountain as “Mount McKinley.”

The peak had that name between 1896 and 2015, when the Obama administration officially renamed it Denali following decades of lobbying by Alaskans.

The Alaska House of Representatives had voted 28-10 on Monday to approve House Joint Resolution 4, which asks that Trump keep the Denali name, but McCabe requested that vote be reconsidered, and on Wednesday, lawmakers voted again.

Speaking in the House, McCabe said he had heard “significant discussion” from his district since initially opposing the resolution.

“Alaskans have embraced, in my opinion, the name Denali,” McCabe said. “Not just Native Alaskans, but the people that live there, the people that thrive there, the people that use Denali and the park for their livelihood, and they have clearly told me that despite the fact that they all support the executive, the chief executive of the United States, and his ability to do this through executive order, that they would also like him to know that they would like to keep the name Denali.”

Rep. Dan Saddler, R-Eagle River, had also voted against the resolution on Monday and switched his vote. Rep. Bill Elam, R-Nikiski, was excused absent from Monday’s vote and voted in support of the resolution on Wednesday.

House Joint Resolution 4 advances to the Senate, where it has broad support.