A call from Assembly member and House candidate Suzanne LaFrance to winner-apparent James Kaufman put an end to the suspense for District 28 today. LaFrance left a message on Kaufman’s answering machine conceding the race.
LaFrance was the plug-and-play candidate for the Democrats, skipping the primary, but being inserted in the General Election to take on the winner of the Republican Primary, Kaufman. Adam Lees had won the primary for the Democrats but ceded the position to LaFrance, who was thought to have a better chance of beating Kaufman.
Kaufman said he was out and about in the South Anchorage hillside neighborhood taking down campaign signs and missed the call.
342,624 votes have been counted in the state so far, with more to be counted on Sunday.
LaFrance tightened up the race with 5,416 votes to Kaufman’s 5,851, and in her message she admonished him that he needs to listen to the people she represents.
LaFrance had postured as a conservative to voters but, in fact, is part of the Anchorage Assembly’s progressive leadership group. Kaufman is a conservative.
District 28 is a high-engagement area of the state, encompassing Girdwood, Indian, Bear Valley, O’Malley, and Huffman neighborhoods. Many voters cast absentee ballots in the district, which is one of the last to have those absentees counted.
11,744 votes were cast in the race, including 463 that peeled off for a third candidate, Benjamin Fletcher. But Kaufman won nearly 50 percent of the vote.
If ranked-choice voting was being used in this race, it’s likely that LaFrance would have won, as both she and Fletcher were liberal candidates, while Kaufman is conservative. The most likely scenario would be that Fletcher’s votes would have been assigned to LaFrance. Ranked-choice voting passed with Ballot Measure 2 and will be used in the next election in 2022.
In the district, Joe Biden edged out Donald Trump 5,906 to 5,823, reflecting the overall “bluing” of Anchorage as resource and private-sector jobs have been driven out of the state, and government jobs become a greater share of the job market.
With this race completed, a couple of others are still waiting for a batch of votes to be counted on Sunday: David Nelson in District 15 leads Lyn Franks, and Rep. Lance Pruitt leads Liz Snyder in District 27.
Both Franks and Snyder are Democrats, Nelson and Pruitt are Republicans.
Nelson leads in District 15 by 116 votes, while Pruitt leads in District 27 by just 58 votes.
How do we get rid of rank choice voting before the next election?
I think we should demand a recount on 2 …seems fishy, it was behind and all of a sudden pulled ahead.
This is NOT good for Alasaka!
We would need to get it on a ballot measure in 2023. I think that’s the earliest we can do that.
Tell your Representative and Senator that we don’t want it. Anyone who Voted No on 1 and Yes on 2 does not understand rank choice. You would most likely get some one that wants to stick it the Oil Companies thru this type of voting.
We need to have a ballot initiative that requires a 60% approval to be implemented. I am tired of seeing outside influence trying to change Alaska through the ballot initiative process.
Very politely ask your state representative and your senator to co-sponsor a bill to repeal ranked-choice voting effective immediately.
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Follow up frequently, be a (courteous) pest, ask for status updates until the bill is on the floor for a vote.
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Offer to write talking points for them to use against the anticipated “we the people mandate” argument from people who believe their livelihoods depend on ranked-choice voting.
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Publicize everything, briefly and factually, tell your representative and senator beforehand you intend to do so.
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Ask every politician who writes essays what specifically he has done, is doing, or will do to ditch ranked-choice voting.
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What do you have to lose?
I believe there was an EXTRA-STRONG push from pro Ranked-Choice-Voting (RCV) outside-interests, to “wine & dine” a large, easily persuaded (mail-in/drop-in) voting-block in Alaska …
that’s the bad news, the GOOD NEWS is these jurisdictions adopted, THEN REPEALED RCV: North Carolina; Pierce County, Washington; Burlington, VT; Aspen, CO; and Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Glad she conceded. Her entire race was a deceit. Good luck to the winner. There’s a swamp in Juneau too; pull the plug.
I have lived in Juneau for 63-yrs. I am to the point where I would welcome a capital move to whatever enclave is foolish enough to welcome such a curse.
Wayne, Truer words were never uttered. I smile when I hear folks from the Mat-Su Valley express their desire for locating the disease called Government within their boundaries.
Too bad LaFrance gets to go back to the Assembly.
This has always been an interesting point for me. Ms. LaFrance ran for re-election to the Assembly just last year and then, apparently overnight, decided that the Legislature would be somehow better. This speaks volumes about her: She thinks it is all about her and her desires. A person with this attitude does not deserve to serve in public office.
Congratulations, James. Well run race.
VoS: While we don’t want LaFrance on the Assembly, we really want her on the Assembly rather than working her way up the democrat food chain like Alyse Galvin has done. LaFrance is little more than a reliable yes vote for the unions and the political left. No positions. Shoot, she doesn’t even respond to constituents unless it is an election year. As such, she has nothing for the opposition to grab hold of, sort of a political featureless ball, which makes her difficult to engage and defeat. It also allows her to run the sort of political campaign she did this fall, which almost worked. She WILL be back. Cheers –
Anchorage Assembly’s progressive leadership i would call them out acting more like a group that will encourage a coup either for them or agianst their plans. A civil war is the only way to stop these socialist democrats. Its not all bad when countrymen fight one another, in-fighting is all part of a growing government’s history.
It’s my understanding that only one subject can be proposed on a ballot initiative. Will this “fact” make the results null and void?????
Good. The Democrat party needs a few more reality checks like this. The way they twist and bend the rules is the fast road to a banana republic.
Reckon it’s time to ‘pull the plug’ on the Democratic elements in the assembly 2boot!
My neighbors and I are not doing the happy dance. Ballot harvesting gave us Bill and Ivy again.
Bill is trying so hard to make Alaska like Flint Michigan.
“…in her message she admonished him that he needs to listen to the people she represents.”
Oh, that’s rich. The Assembly member who called a group of protesters at Loussac Library “a riot,” and who subsequently tried to have APD disperse the protesters has the gall to tell Kaufman to “listen to the people he represents?” I look forward to voting for *anyone else* who runs against LaFrance in the next municiple election.
Congratulations to James, a good solid Republican conservative. These phony attacks by Democrat liberals pretending to be moderate Independents have been exposed as the frauds they are.
The term “progressive” is being diminished. The proper term in context would be “liberal” or, more definitively, “leftist.” It is important we preserve the unique power and versatility of the English language; it is one of the cornerstones that enabled western civilization to be the primary exponent of human advancement worldwide.
Wayne, I disagree, you might want to review “Liberal “. John Adams was a Liberal. The term that best describes today’s progressives or Leftists is Facist. They seek to silence any debate or differing viewpoints through political correctness and use of their goon squads.
The passage of Prop 2 is a travesty and should never have made it on the ballot. The US Constitution holds that election law is the exclusive domain of the state legislatures. I don’t believe Prop 2 would stand a court contest.
Where do I sign up to help? The late surge in votes in favor of prop 2 is not credible – we need a full audit of the election and recount by observable hands. Several state congressional races look suspicious also.
Absolutely
Exactly. Furthermore if we want fair elections then we need to go back to the old fashioned way – voting in person, and on paper. No more mail in ballots or computers where ballots can be hacked, manipulated, etc. Nothing has corrupted our voting system more than mail in ballots. Unless you are in the military and stationed out of the country – then no mail in ballots. Period.
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