Primary election updates

By James Brooks

Democratic governor candidates Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and Tom Begich, and Republican candidates Bernadette Wilson and Dave Bronson led in early vote counting for Alaska’s Tuesday primary election for governor.

Seventeen people, including two Democrats, 12 Republicans and three independents, are seeking to replace Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who is term-limited and unable to run again this year.

By James Brooks

Primary voters have not removed any of the Alaska Legislature’s incumbent lawmakers, according to preliminary, incomplete vote tallies published late Tuesday by the Alaska Division of Elections.

Of the 40 state House and 10 state Senate races on ballots across the state, only five had more than four candidates. 

By James Brooks and Corinne Smith

Early vote counting in Alaska’s statewide, top-four primary election showed no surprises in the state’s two federal races.

For U.S. Senate, Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan and Democratic challenger Mary Peltola led a 16-candidate field with 324 of 403 precincts reporting results as of 12 a.m. Wednesday morning.

By Yereth Rosen

Under low, gray clouds that spit occasional rain sprinkles, candidates running for office in Alaska stood on street corners in Anchorage on Tuesday waving signs, rallying supporters and trying to win the attention and votes of passing motorists.

Tuesday’s primary election activities continued what is a longstanding tradition in Alaska politics, with the major statewide candidates gathering in the largest city to make their final pushes for votes.

By James Brooks

Early tallies from Tuesday’s statewide primary election showed overwhelming support for a ballot measure that will restrict the amount of money that political candidates can accept from groups and individuals.

With 324 of 403 precincts reporting by 12 a.m. Wednesday morning, Ballot Measure 1 had the support of 71.9% of participating voters. 

By James Brooks

At least two polling stations in rural Alaska opened late for the Tuesday statewide primary election, the Alaska Division of Elections confirmed late Tuesday, and observers independently reported other sites also opened late.

The problem was most acute in the southwestern village of Nunapitchuk, where bad weather grounded flights and kept elections workers from opening a polling place until 5 p.m. That gave local voters only three hours to vote before the scheduled 8 p.m. close.

By Corinne Smith

In Southcentral Alaska, voters in some of Alaska’s most conservative regions, including the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and Eagle River communities, cast their votes in Tuesday’s primary election.

They said one of their biggest challenges was deciding which of the 17 candidates for governor they would like to vote for. Voters also said they found the crowded congressional races daunting — there are 15 candidates for Alaska’s sole U.S. House seat and 16 candidates vying for the U.S. Senate seat.

By Rick Thoman

Have you ever wondered about how sea ice and ocean temperatures are changing, marine debris in the Bering Strait, the spread of beavers into northwest Alaska, “rusting rivers” or community-based observations of Bering Sea salmon?

For 20 years, the Arctic Report Card, supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has delivered timely and accurate information on the Alaska and Arctic environment that takes raw observations and makes them understandable to anyone interested in what’s happening across the top of the world.

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