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Taking on BlackRock: Alaska fights back against SEC ‘woke’ investment fund rules hurting American investors

Suzanne Downing
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Taking on BlackRock: Alaska fights back against SEC ‘woke’ investment fund rules hurting American investors

Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor is joining a 21-state coalition in filing formal criticism with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about a proposed rule requiring investment funds to consider “Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)” factors when making investment decisions.

The proposed rule, called “Enhanced Disclosures by Certain Investment Advisers and Investment Companies about Environmental, Social and Governance Investment Practices,” is an effort by the SEC to transform itself from the federal regulator of securities into a “regulator of social ills,” according to the coalition.

ESG investing practices by major firms like BlackRock, with $10 trillion under management, have a possible negative impact on retirement funds for Americans. ESG investment houses are making investment decisions contrary to the interests of retirees who are on fixed incomes, by making investments that place ESG over the needs of their clients. BlackRock manages several public sector retirement funds, and the company is pushing a net-zero energy transition among American companies it invests in. Last year it used its financial prowess to install climate activists on the boards of companies such as ExxonMobil.

The attorneys general are not the only ones calling out BlackRock. Glenn Beck wrote, “Why would BlackRock, the world’s leader in ESG, take half a billion dollars from Saudi Arabia — a country that’s doing the exact opposite of what BlackRock promotes? Maybe it’s because ESG is a scam that’s all about power, control, and money.”

In December of 2020, Dunleavy was the first governor to talk publicly about the hypocrisy of ESG funds. In 2022, he introduce HB 401, which would stop the state from doing business with institutions that target Alaska’s economy under the ESG rubric, but that profit from hostilities generated by bad-actor nations.

Dunleavy rolled out the bill, making it clear the revenue windfall was coming on the backs of human misery, and into profits of liberal financial institutions that claim to stand up for rights of oppressed. The legislation, which took aim at the hypocrisy of these ESG institutions, never passed. The House majority passed some meaningless resolutions, didn’t advance anything that has teeth and HB 401 expired with the end of session.

The West Virginia legislature passed a bill last month that puts it in law: It will no longer do business with Wall Street firms that boycott the fossil fuel industry.

West Virginia treasurer Riley Moore (R.) decided this week that BlackRock, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs, are ineligible for state banking contracts due to their boycotts of fossil fuels. The ban will cost the Wall Street firms $18 billion per year, according to Moore’s office.

This week’s letter is another arrow at ESG investment firms. Alaska is joining the states of West Virginia, Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.

A copy of the letter:

2022.08.16-ESG-Funds-CommentDownload

Win Gruening: When will schools return to normal?

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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Win Gruening: When will schools return to normal?

By WIN GRUENING

If the word “normal” seems overused these days, you aren’t imagining it.  Everyone wants to get back to normal. Especially in our local schools. But that’s easier said than done.

My perception of normal no doubt differs significantly from students in our schools. Student viewpoints will be disproportionately affected by disruptions due to Covid over the past two years while mine are shaped by a completely different experience and time.

Born and raised in Juneau, I was educated at Harborview Elementary School, Mt. Jumbo Jr. High School, and Juneau-Douglas High School.  With few exceptions, my teachers were excellent and I received a firm grounding in math, English, and science. Most of my classmates were prepared well enough to tackle their next step in life whether starting their first job or heading off to college, trade school, or the military.

Later, my own kids attended Juneau schools, had a similar experience, and are enjoying successful lives and careers.

But, somehow over the past 20 years, the “normal” school experience has changed.

Despite increased funding and periodic reform efforts, student achievement in Alaska hasn’t kept pace with the rest of the U.S. Even with some of the highest expenditures per pupil nationally, Alaska’s K-12 education system is plagued by poor test scores, absenteeism, and low graduation rates.  

Parents understand how critical it is that basic education be taught in our schools. Math, Language Arts, and Science are important enough foundational subjects that our educational institutions are required to measure student proficiency in them from kindergarten through high school. 

Alaska’s scores in all three of these areas are an embarrassing disappointment when compared to other states.  

And that was before Covid hit.

Arguably, trendy subject material is better taught at home or on an elective basis leaving more time for core subjects.   

Two areas in which Alaskan students have fallen woefully short are in reading and math. The Alaska Policy Forum (APF) reported that in 2013, only 27.5% of all fourth graders in Alaska scored nationally at or above a proficient reading level. Six years later, in 2019, only 25% scored at or above proficient, well below the national average.

Alaska’s per-pupil expenditures ranked sixth-highest among all states, yet our fourth-graders scored dead last nationally in reading proficiency and were the fifth-lowest in math proficiency, according to the 2019 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). In separate state-sponsored tests, less than 40% of Alaska’s fourth-graders were proficient in science.

There is little improvement in succeeding grade levels all the way through high school where many students are being promoted and graduate without the basic skills necessary to succeed in entry level job positions or public colleges.

The Alaska Legislature’s recent passage of the Alaska Reads Act that included important education reforms, for which APF has been advocating since 2013, is a promising start. It seeks to increase students’ reading proficiency to an acceptable level by age nine. Curiously, despite unanimous approval in the Senate and bi-partisan support in the House, neither of Juneau’s two representatives voted for the bill.

Much more needs to be done. Even though Juneau students as a group scored above the statewide average in PEAK tests, less than 50% were proficient in math or language arts.  

The Juneau School Board has demonstrated a great deal of confidence in Juneau’s current superintendent, Bridget Weiss, who has led the district since 2018. She was recently granted a contract extension into 2025 along with a 10% salary increase to $185,000 annually.

Four goals set by the Juneau school board are improving reading achievement, a safety and security review, reviving multitiered system of supports for individual students at elementary schools, and updating the district’s strategic plan.

That’s fine, but why not explicitly include target goals in student achievement in the core subject areas of Math, Language Arts and Science? How else can our students be expected to succeed?

We should resist the overwhelming temptation to continue to blame low performance on lack of funding and now, lingering Covid impacts.

Administrators and our school boards warrant community and parent support in their effort to educate our children, but must be held accountable for results. 

Alaska school districts can no longer afford to maintain the status quo.

Our community’s potential workforce and our children’s futures depend on it.

After retiring as the senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in Alaska, Win Gruening became a regular opinion page columnist for the Juneau Empire. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. He is involved in various local and statewide organizations.

Reasons for ballot rejection: Signatures, postmarks

Notes from the trail: Mat-Su may return to hand-counts, a chili feed on the calendar, and Sarah in new spat with NYT

Suzanne Downing
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Notes from the trail: Mat-Su may return to hand-counts, a chili feed on the calendar, and Sarah in new spat with NYT

Hand count? The distrust in the election process activated citizens in the Mat-Su Borough. As many as 70 people attended the Mat-Su Borough Assembly meeting on Wednesday, and about half of them testified that they don’t trust vote tabulating machines any longer, and want to return to hand counting ballots.

A presentation on hand counting was made to the Assembly by a group of citizens, lasting about 12 minutes, and others testified at the meeting, which can be seen here. (The section with the presentation starts at 1 hour, 27 minutes into the meeting.)

Assemblywoman Dee McKee has been drafting a resolution for Sept. 6 that would direct the clerk to do a hand count for borough races. Those interested should attend that meeting to learn more.

Events: The annual Republican chili cook-off takes place at the Palmer Train Depot on Friday at 5:30 pm. There will be no chili from Sen. David Wilson, who has won two years in a row. (Wilson will not have come back from the Kenai in time to cook up his secret recipe, giving someone else a chance to win for a change.) The event is a fundraiser for the Valley Republican Women of Alaska.

Palin knocks the New York Times: Sarah Palin objects to the New York Times saying she said she would vote for Mary Peltola in second place. The New York Times reporter who is in Alaska right now said that during a forum, Palin pointed at Peltola as an indication that she would pick Peltola second. Nick Begich, in that forum, said he would vote for Sarah Palin.

We’ve seen the tape and it’s inconclusive what Palin meant when she pointed to Peltola. The two appear to be chummy, but there could have been another meaning, which was simply agreeing with Peltola that she did not want to say who she would vote for second. It is clear she did not want to vote for Begich, and her own Instagram shows she did not, while Begich has been clear he would vote for her second.

Here’s the original item from the Times:

Palin also wrote, “When did I EVER say I’m voting democrat?” There is Byron Mallott, the Democrat candidate for lieutenant governor who she voted for in 2014. Palin has long been in a dispute with the New York Times, and so the fight continues:

While students can’t get to school due to lack of bus drivers, Anchorage School Board focused this summer on ‘land acknowledgement’ policy

Suzanne Downing
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While students can’t get to school due to lack of bus drivers, Anchorage School Board focused this summer on ‘land acknowledgement’ policy

During the first days of classes in Anchorage that began today, over 10,000 students are not going to be able to ride the bus to school because there are not enough school bus drivers. The bus schedule is extremely curtailed and, at this point, unpredictable.

The Anchorage School Board, dominated by social justice warriors, had not focused on the transportation needs of students this summer. Instead, the board was caught unaware, according to Board President Margo Bellamy.

Instead, the board has been working on passing resolutions such as a new “land acknowledgment” policy, that will require students to be indoctrinated once a week with the recitation that they are colonizers who have no real right to live on the land they occupy.

An abbreviated land acknowledgement posted on the Anchorage School District’s web pages.

The mandatory weekly land acknowledgement resolution is working its way through the Governance Committee process of the Anchorage School Board. The proposal has been discussed since at least March.

Sponsored by School Board President Margo Bellamy and member Carl Jacobs, it was supposed to be approved early this month, before the start of the school year. It has been delayed, because its wording is under dispute by Board member Dave Donley, who has challenged it and pointed out that students are not even being taught the Pledge of Allegiance. But it will be brought up again in the Governance Committee on Aug. 24, along with the topics of “Safe and Secure Storage of Firearms Education, and “Student Adult Boundaries.”

In addition to the land acknowledgement emphasis, the board has been working on defying voters’ intent when they voted down the bond proposal to replace Inlet View Elementary School. The board is moving the planning of that replacement ahead by bringing it before the Urban Planning Commission.

The board is not, however, focused on the district’s upcoming $60-100 million budget deficit that is expected for the next fiscal year.

Meanwhile, many parents are trying to deal with the problem of how to get their students to school safely. Some are organizing car pools, while others are keeping students at home and home schooling them. The problem of a lack of drivers will probably extend for several weeks, as the district lacks as many as 70 drivers.

School began today in the Anchorage public schools.

Republicans call for end of forced Covid vaccinations on children in D.C. schools

SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR
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Republicans call for end of forced Covid vaccinations on children in D.C. schools

By CASEY HARPER | THE CENTER SQUARE

A coalition of leading Republicans called on Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to end the district’s “unreasonable and destructive” vaccine mandate mandate for kids over 12.

In a Thursday letter to D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH), James Comer (R-KY), and Steve Scalise (R-LA) called on the mayor to end her enforcement of the rule that all children over the age of 12 attending either private or public schools in D.C. must be given a Covid vaccination.

Several children of lawmakers and legislative aides attend schools in the D.C. area while their parents are serving in Congress. Students return to school at the end of the month, meaning only a few days remain to repeal the mandate or put many families in a difficult position. Washington, D.C. is one of few cities to have a vaccine mandate for students.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved vaccines for kids as young as six months old, though research has shown children are much less likely than adults to experience serious harm from COVID-19.

The lawmakers also pointed out that vaccines have been less effective than promised in preventing transmission of the virus.

“As we have seen over the last year and a half, COVID-19 vaccine mandates fail to prevent the contraction or transmission of COVID-19,” the letter said. “In the face of this science, the D.C. Council’s vaccination mandate creates a likelihood that thousands of D.C. schoolchildren will be locked out of learning opportunities this school year, setting these children further behind in their academic progress.”

Lawmakers also point out that the policy could disproportionately keep minority children out of schools since they are vaccinated at lower rates.

“The District is far outside the educational mainstream in mandating a vaccine on school-aged children. According to the Washington Post, D.C.’s school mandate ‘is among the strictest in the nation, according to health experts, and is being enacted in a city with wide disparities in vaccination rates between its White and Black children,’” the letter said. “The D.C. Council’s decision raises serious questions about why a local government would decline to follow the science and instead choose to place an entire population of youth at further risk of academic decline … To assist us in conducting important oversight into D.C.’s alarming attempt to expel thousands of students who fail to comply with a vaccine mandate, we request a staff-level briefing as soon as possible, but no later than August 25, 2022.”

Recent polling shows that the majority of parents are not interested in vaccinating their children. As The Center Square previously reported, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey released in July reported that 83% of surveyed parents with children under 5 years old who are eligible for the vaccine are not planning to get their child vaccinated right now.

For parents of children over 5, vaccine rates hover around 50%, depending on the age bracket.

“Parents’ intentions to vaccinate their older children have remained relatively steady since the start of the year with about 6 in 10 parents of teenagers, ages 12-17, saying their child has been vaccinated (57%),” Kaiser said. “Vaccine uptake among children ages 5-11 also appears to have slowed with 4 in 10 parents saying their child in that age group has gotten the vaccine – similar to the share in April. Nearly 3 in 10 parents of 12 to 17 year-olds and nearly 4 in 10 parents of 5 to 11 year-olds say they definitely will not get their child vaccinated for COVID-19.”

Former CIA director says Republican Party is most extremist, dangerous force in world

Suzanne Downing
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Former CIA director says Republican Party is most extremist, dangerous force in world

A former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency has called the Republican Party the most extremist and dangerous force in the world.

Retired Gen. Michael Hayden was commenting on a Twitter message from British author and Financial Times contributor Edward Luce, who wrote: “I’ve covered extremism and violent ideologies around the world over my career. Have never come across a political force more nihilistic, dangerous & contemptible than today’s Republicans. Nothing close.”

Hayden replied, “I agree. And I was the CIA Director”

Hayden is a retired Air Force general who was named director of the National Security Agency during the Bill Clinton administration and was named CIA director by President George W. Bush. He wrote the nonfiction book, “The Assault on Intelligence, American National Security in an Age of Lies.”

The CIA is the agency that houses America’s spies and keeps an eye on despots around the world — people like Xi Jinping, the president of China, which is the world’s largest thought police; and people like Vladimir Putin, president of Russia and ruthless invader of Ukraine. According to Hayden, the Republican Party is more of a threat than dictators he knows of across the globe.

Alaska State Senate: 13 Rs could make up the majority

Suzanne Downing
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Alaska State Senate: 13 Rs could make up the majority

The Tuesday primary for Alaska State Senate showed solid results for Republican candidates, although a couple of incumbents may be picked off by fellow Republican candidates in the Nov. 8 general election.

Republicans are poised to pick up one seat from Democrats in November and no Republican senators are in serious danger from a Democrat threat. These are the seats that may make up the Republican majority in January:

Senate Seat A: In Sitka-Southeast, incumbent Republican Sen. Bert Stedman is comfortable with 67.22% of the primary vote against Republican Michael Sheldon.

Senate Seat C: In Kodiak-Homer, incumbent Republican Sen. Gary Stevens, who used to represent Senate Seat P, is in the lead with 61.61% of the vote. Both of his challengers are Republicans, but combined only received 39%.

Senate Seat D: Tuckerman Babcock has over 50% of the vote in this three-way race, and it looks like he’ll be the leader as Jesse Bjorkman trails far behind with 35.60%. A third candidate, not aligned with a party, got 14.35%.

Senate Seat E: This is a south Hillside district in Anchorage, and incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Holland was surprised by former Sen. Cathy Giessel, a Bill Walker-endorsing Republican, getting ahead of him. Giessel has 36.12% and Holland has 31.23%, with the Democrat taking about 32%.

Senate Seat F: Republican Rep. James Kaufman is in solid condition for the general election with 56%.

Senate Seat H: Although Republican Sen. Mia Costello is trailing behind Democrat Rep. Matt Claman by 200 votes, she has not really started to campaign, and Claman spent $70,000 or more to get ahead of her, yet didn’t perform that well. Costello can win this district when she sets her goals on winning. It’s 50.91% to 49.09% at this point, with months to go.

Senate Seat L: Rep. Kelly Merrick, a representative who is a registered Republican but votes with the House Democrats, did surprisingly well with 53% of the vote in a four-way race for the conservative district. Merrick is unpredictable as a lawmaker but will probably join the majority Republicans — for now.

Senate Seat M: Incumbent Republican Sen. Shelley Hughes easily dominated with 77% of the vote for this Valley seat.

Senate Seat N: Incumbent Republican Sen. David Wilson is in a good position with 46% of the vote against two other Republicans, Scott D Clayton, and Stephen Wright.

Senate Seat O: Incumbent Republican Sen. Mike Shower has a strong challenge from Republican Doug Massie, who has picked up 53.29% of the vote. Shower may end up going back to flying commercial cargo jets full time. Right now, he has 46.71% of the vote.

Senate Seat P: Jim Matherly did very well in Fairbanks and is poised to beat incumbent Democrat Sen. Scott Kawasaki in December. It’s Matherly at 45.73%, with Kawasaki at 47.79% and Republican Alex Jafre at 6.48%.

Senate Seat Q: Incumbent Republican Sen. Robert Myers easily won with 64.02% against two other candidates.

Senate Seat R: Incumbent Republican Sen. Click Bishop easily bested Elijah Verhagen, 56.94% to 25.69%, with Robert Williams, an AIP candidate, peeling off 17.37%.

Senate Seat S: Sen. Lyman Hoffman, a Democrat, often makes a deal to join the Republican caucus. Must Read Alaska marks him safe with over 61% of the vote for his rural Alaska district.

Love fest: Palin tells Peltola she’ll vote for her

Suzanne Downing
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Love fest: Palin tells Peltola she’ll vote for her

Democrat Mary Peltola, the dark horse candidate who got just 10.1% of the vote in the special election primary, is now the candidate to beat for filling out Congressman Don Young’s term. The term ends in January and meanwhile, there’s another election underway for the two-year seat, and voters are going to get to decide again who is their congressional representative.

Of the 157,252 votes counted so far in Tuesday’s special general election for the temporary seat, 58,614 voters chose Peltola for that honor, according to the latest results from the Alaska Division of Elections.

By mid-day on Wednesday, 386 of 402 (96.02%) of the Aug. 16 precinct votes have been counted — at least as far as the first round of counting in the ranked choice voting scheme. Peltola is in the percentage lead with 38.05% of the vote. She’s followed by Alaska’s most famous export, Sarah Palin, who won 49,190 votes, or 31.93% of the vote.

Nick Begich trails in third place, and although he expects to do well in the absentee ballots, there are probably not enough to boost him over Palin. He’s come a long ways, but she still leads him by 3%.

The big unknown is where the second choice votes go. If all of Begich’s voters didn’t rank Palin second, Peltola could win the temporary seat. But many Begich voters did, in fact, vote for Palin second. That means in the second round of counting, Palin could add votes. She could pull ahead.

Palin, who told Steve Bannon that her preferred pronoun would be “congressman,” would then become the incumbent congressman that three others on the Nov. 8 ballot would have to beat in order to become the next congressional representative.

A significant portion of the time that ranked choice voting is used, according to experts at the Republican National Committee, there is a clear majority and there is no need for a second round of counting.

But 80% the time there’s a second round of counting, the first place winner ends up winning the race. This would suggest that Peltola could win against Palin.

Palin is an unpredictable entity and Alaskans won’t know until Aug. 31 or Sept. 1 whether the Begich voters chose anyone in second place, whether they picked Palin, or aligned with Peltola as their second choice.

Meanwhile, while Begich has said he voted for Palin in the second place, Palin told Peltola that she will vote for Peltola in November, presumably in the number 2 slot, according to a reporter from the New York Times:

Devastating night for Democrats as Republicans on path to regain solid majority in House

Suzanne Downing
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18
Devastating night for Democrats as Republicans on path to regain solid majority in House

It was a good night for Republican candidates for the Alaska State House of Representatives. It looks like they have a good shot at regaining the majority in the House in November, with as many as 27 possible seats.

Importantly, no Republican incumbent is in danger from any Democrat anywhere in the state in the Alaska State House races. One, however, is in danger from a fellow Republican challenger: Rep. Ron Gillham of Kenai being challenged by Justin Ruffridge in House District 7. Ruffridge is picking up all the Democrat and moderate votes to possibly overtake solid Republican Gillham in November, when the two will face off again.

In the House, 35 of the 40 seats had three or fewer candidates, which means voters will see the same people on the November ballot. But in November they will be ranking them, rather than doing the “pick one” vote they just did in the primary election.

Analyzing the results, it looks like Democrats can win Districts 1, 2, 3, 4, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, and possibly 20. They’ll also win 37, 38, and 39, the most rural areas of the state that always vote Democrat. That’s a minority of 13 in a House of 40.

Republicans look strong for wins in Districts 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 18, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, and 40.

A review of the Republican-likely districts:

House District 5: Republican incumbent Rep. Louise Stutes was challenged by Republican Benjamin Vincent, but she took 63.00% of the vote, and Vincent got 37.00%.

House District 6: Republican incumbent Rep. Sarah Vance showed strength in her Homer-Anchor Point district, with 54.59% in a three-way contest.

House District 7: Republican incumbent Rep. Ron Gillham was challenged by Republican Justin Ruffridge, and Ruffridge pulled ahead with 55.97%. This is the Kenai-Soldotna area.

House District 8: Republican incumbent Rep. Ben Carpenter was not challenged. He had 100% of the vote for the bright red Nikiski area.

House District 9: Republican incumbent Rep. Laddie Shaw got 55.79% for this South Anchorage-Girdwood-Whittier seat. Newcomer David Schaaf, part of the farthest of the far left Democrats, lagged with 44.21%.

House District 10: Former Rep. Craig Johnson-R, in a four-way race, still came out strongly ahead with 50.63% for this Anchorage seat in a strong Republican district. He is well-known in this district.

House District 11: Republican Julie Coulombe, in a three-way race, is ahead with 45.62% for this Anchorage seat.

House District 13: Republican Kathy Henslee is challenging Democrat incumbent Rep. Andy Josephson in a district that does not favor Josephson. Henslee won all precincts in that district except for the one that Josephson lives in. In this three-way race that included Alaskan Independence Party candidate Timothy Huit, Henslee got 48.45% of the vote to Josephson’s 45.00%. She should pick up Huit’s second votes in November during the ranked choice process.

House District 15: Republican Rep. Tom McKay is in good shape with 46.11% of the vote in this district that is a little more purple than would be comfortable. But he was in a three-way race and should be able to pick up votes in November to get to 50+1.

House District 18: Republican incumbent Rep. David Nelson was challenged by two Democrats, but came away with 41.93% of the vote. Lyn Franks and Cliff Groh, Democrats, look like they could overtake Nelson if their voters rank them both, but this district is unique in that over half of it is on JBER, the military base, and the residents on base never vote in the primary, but will come out to vote for Nelson in the general election. For Nelson, it’s tight, but not scary tight.

House District 21: Forrest Wolfe, a Republican, is ahead of the Democrat for this east Anchorage seat being vacated by one-termer Rep. Liz Snyder, who is hard Democrat. The question is whether Donna Mears, the Democrat anointed by Snyder, can overtake Wolfe, who now has 49.01% of the vote in the three-way race. He needs 50+1.

House District 22: Stanley Wright and Lisa Simpson, both Republicans, combined to 56% of the vote. In November, if their voters rank them both, one of them can take this seat. Democrat Ted Eischeid now has 41.66% of the vote.

House District 23: Republican Jamie Allard is in the lead over Roger Branson, with 57.84% of the vote. This is an Eagle River seat, and Eagle River is solid red.

House District 24: Former Rep. Dan Saddler, a Republican, is in the lead for this Eagle River seat, with 53.83% of the vote. Republican Sharon Jackson lagged with 25.23% and the Democrat got 20.94%

House District 25: Republican incumbent Rep. DeLena Johnson is safe with 70.55% for this Palmer-area seat.

House District 26: An incredible showing for incumbent Republican Rep. Cathy Tilton, who took 81.36% of the vote for this Valley seat that no longer includes Chugiak. Tilton is House Minority leader.

House District 27: incumbent Republican Rep. David Eastman, in a three-way race, is comfortable with 52.25% for this Wasilla seat.

House District 28: This open Wasilla seat has four Republicans running, with Steve Menard in the lead with 34.37%. It’s a safe seat for the R column. Jesse Sumner will be strong in November, as he came in second with 31.86%.

House District 29: Republican incumbent Rep. George Rauscher is safe in this district, which was called District 9 before redistricting last year. Rauscher has 74.63% of the vote.

House District 30: Republican incumbent Rep. Kevin McCabe is in the lead with 50.45%, while his Republican challenger Doyle Holmes carved out 29.83% of the vote for this geographically stretched Big Lake seat.

House District 31: Republican incumbent Rep. Bart LeBon has 38.40%, with his challenger from the right, Kelly Nash, peeling off 25.39%, but the Democrat in the race is still just at 36.21%. This looks safe for a Republican.

House District 32: Fairbanks open seat shows William Stapp with 48.22%, followed by Timothy Givens with 19.73%, and the Democrat at 32%

House District 33: North Pole Republican Rep. Mike Prax had no competition.

House District 34: In Fairbanks, it appears Democrat Rep. Grier Hopkins is in trouble. The Republican votes between Frank Tomaszewski and Nate DeMars equal more than the Democrat votes for Hopkins. In November, if Republicans rank their ballots, either Tomaszewski or DeMars could oust Hopkins. The district lines do not favor a Democrat winning this seat and Hopkins failed to get a majority with three people on the ballot.

House District 35: A tight race between Republicans and Democrats, but if the Republicans pull themselves together they could beat Ashley Carrick, the Democrat, now in the lead with 39.71%. Republican Kevin McKinley has 28.56%, Republican Ruben McNeill has 12.38%, and no-party candidate Tim Parker has 17.33%. Constitution Party candidate Kieran Brown has 2.02%. In other words, it is mathematically possible for a Republican to win.

House District 36: Tok area voted strongly for Republican incumbent Rep. Mike Cronk, 66.07%.

House District 40: No-party candidate Josiah Patkotak has no competition.

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