Alaska's Republican senators have given unanimous approval to Gov. Sean Parnell's pick to replace former Sen. Gene Therriault.

The nine senators met Thursday in Anchorage to confirm Rep. John Coghill, a Republican from North Pole. Coghill was named by Parnell from a list of three possible replacements forwarded by the District F Republican party.

Coghill said he'll resign from the House on Tuesday after he's sworn into his new office by Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell. He also said that while he will caucus with the minority, he'll seek ways to rebuild a Republican majority in the Senate.

"My commitment to the Republicans was to help them be successful," Coghill said following his confirmation Thursday. "I'm going to work with the minority, but they really are such a small minority that they are not going to carry anything. I intend to build relationships with all Republicans and every moderate Democrat I can get my hands on. I just see my job as looking out for Alaska, building relationships."

Senate President Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, said the bipartisan majority of 10 Democrats and six Republicans will meet Friday morning in Anchorage to decide committee assignments for Coghill and others. Stevens said he couldn't comment on whether the majority would also take up the possible acceptance of any current minority members into the majority.

The Republican minority includes Sens. Con Bunde of Anchorage, Fred Dyson of Eagle River, and Tom Wagoner of Kenai.

Therriault, who led the minority bloc, resigned in September to take a position as senior instate energy policy adviser in Parnell's administration. As the senior member, Bunde is now minority leader, he confirmed on Thursday.

"Clearly, the goal will be to work for what's in Alaska's best interest and focus our debates on what is good public policy, and avoid personality issues," Bunde said.

Like Coghill, Bunde is looking forward to a genuine Republican majority in th e future but acknowledged reorganization is unlikely right now.

"But there are people looking forward to the next election and hopefully having an opportunity to organize anew," he said.

Coghill said he will caucus with the Republican minority for now, but would consider joining a more conservation coalition in the future. The bipartisan structure grew more out of a falling-out over how to organize than from philosophical differences, he said.

"My focus is to try to bridge whatever I can help bridge between Republicans: personality, power structure, whatever," Coghill said. "So if they go away from doing that, then they lose me ... I think I can bring a breath of fresh air that can help maybe bridge that (split). If I get buried in the process of doing it, at least I tried."

He acknowledged that the shift from one body to the next effectively takes him from the top of the House power structure to the bottom of the Senate's.

Now, the North Pole Republicans in Coghill's District 11 will accept applications from people interested in filling the House vacancy. The local party will forward three names to Parnell. Meanwhile, Nome Democrats will be offering a replacement for longtime Rep. Richard Foster, who passed away Oct. 13.

The replacement is the second in the Senate this year. Dennis Egan of Juneau stepped into the seat vacated by Democrat Kim Elton when he took a job with the Obama administration.

Stevens noted that both new senators have a rich family tradition in Alaska politics. Egan is the son of the state's first governor, William Egan, and Coghill's father, Jack Coghill, is a former senator and lieutenant governor who was a delegate to the state's Constitutional Convention.

Contact Rena Delbridge at rena_alaskadispatch.com.