The deadline to file for the Aug. 20 primary was 5 p.m. on June 1 at the Division of Elections, and it was a busy day, indeed, for both the aspiring candidates and Election Division staff. Those who were busy filing on the final day had to first have their official financial disclosure notarized and on file with the Alaska Public Offices Commission and be registered with APOC as an official candidate. It’s quite a checklist and for a few, it came down to the wire.
The Division of Elections worked late on Saturday to get all the candidates who completed their paperwork by 5 p.m. into the division’s website. Must Read Alaska will update this list as needed this weekend.
But first, some observations about the list of candidates who will be on the primary ballot are in order:
12 – Number of congressional candidates who filed with Division of Elections. This has been unchanged for several days. The three major candidates remain the same: Democrat Incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola, Republican Nick Begich, and Republican Nancy Dahlstrom.
120 – Number of state legislative candidates who filed for the August 20 primary.
61 – Number of Republicans who filed.
32 – Number of Democrats who filed.
18 – Number of no-party candidates who filed. These are Undeclareds and Nonpartisans, and most historically use a U or an N designation to trick moderate voters into believing they are moderates, and then caucus with Democrats.
3 – Number of Alaskan Independence Party candidates who filed.
3 – Number of Libertarian Party candidates who filed.
3 – Number of unchallenged Republicans. All three are incumbents: Rep. Dan Saddler of Eagle River, Rep. DeLena Johnson of Palmer, and Rep. Cathy Tilton of Wasilla.
5 – Number of unchallenged Democrat or no-party candidates. They are all incumbents: Sen. Jesse Kiehl of Juneau, Sen. Donny Olson of Golovin, Rep. Rebecca Himschoot of Sitka, Rep. Sara Hannan of Juneau, and Rep. Zack Fields of Anchorage.
8 – Total number of legislative seats unopposed.
5 – Number of legislative candidates who filed with their Native names in quotes for the ballot.
17 – Number of legislative races that have more than one Republican in the race. They are Senate Seat D – Bjorkman and Carpenter; Senate Seat F – Borbridge and Kaufman; Senate Seat H, McKay and Vazquez; Senate Seat L – Goecker, Jackson, McCarty, Merrick; Senate Seat N – Wilson, Wright, and Yundt; Senate Seat R – Cronk and Squyres; House District 6 – Slaughter and Vance; House District 7 – Gillham and Ruffridge; House District 8 – Elam and Hillyer; House District 9 – Bauer, Ellis, and Pennington; House District 10 – C. Johnson and Kopp; House District 27 – Eastman and Underwood; House District 28 – Menard, Moore, Sumner, and Wright; House District 30 – Holmes and McCabe; House District 33 – Prax and Welch; House District 34 – Cottle and Tomaszewski; House District 36 – Goode, Mock, Schwanke, and Snodgress.
3 – Number of races that have more than one Democrat in the race. They are House District 15 – Darden and Wells; House District 38 – Jimmie, McCormick, and Sosa; and House District 40 – Burke and Chase.
18 – Number of Democrat and no-declared-party candidates who had signed the petition to recall Gov. Mike Dunleavy in 2019. They are: Janice Park, Forrest Dunbar, Jason Avery, Savannah Fletcher, Rebecca Himschoot, Sara Hannon, Ky Holland, Walter Featherly, Calvin Schrage, Andy Josephson, Alyse Galvin, Cliff Groh, Genevieve Mina, Ted Eischeid, Maxine Dibert, CJ McCormick, Victoria Sosa, and Robyn Burke.
3 – Number of legislative races with more than four candidates. District 36 has 6 candidates; Senate Seat L has 5 candidates and Senate Seat R has 5 candidates. These are the only races that will be impacted by the open primary, which whittles the field to four candidates for the Ranked-Choice General Election.
THE CANDIDATES
SENATE DISTRICT B
Sen. Jesse Kiehl, incumbent Democrat, unchallenged
SENATE DISTRICT D
Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, incumbent Republican
Rep. Ben Carpenter, Republican
Andy Cizek, Alaskan Independence Party
Tina Wegener, Democrat
SENATE DISTRICT F
Harold Borbridge, Republican
Sen. James Kaufman, incumbent Republican
Janice Park, Democrat
SENATE DISTRICT H
Sen. Matt Claman, incumbent Democrat
Rep. Tom McKay, Republican
Former Rep. Liz Vazquez, Republican
SENATE DISTRICT J
Sen. Forrest Dunbar, incumbent Democrat
Cheronda Smith, no party
SENATE DISTRICT L
Jared Goecker, Republican
Lee Hammermeister, Democrat
Sharon Jackson, Republican
Ken McCarty, Republican
Sen. Kelly Merrick, incumbent Republican
SENATE DISTRICT N
Sen. David Wilson, incumbent Republican
Stephen Wright, Republican
Rob Yundt, Republican
SENATE DISTRICT P
Leslie Hajdukovich, Republican
Sen. Scott Kawasaki, incumbent Democrat
SENATE DISTRICT R
Jason Avery, Democrat
Rep. Mike Cronk, Republican
Savannah Fletcher, no party
James Squyres, Republican
Robert “Bert” Williams, Alaskan Independence Party
SENATE DISTRICT T
Sen. Donny Olson, incumbent Democrat
HOUSE DISTRICT 01 -KETCHIKAN
Jeremy Bynum, Republican
Grant Echohawk, no party
Agnes Moran, no party
Rep. Daniel Ortiz has announced he is dropping but has until June 29 to formally withdraw.
HOUSE DISTRICT 02 – SITKA
Rebecca Himschoot, no party
HOUSE DISTRICT 03 – NORTH JUNEAU
Rep. Andi Story, incumbent Democrat
Former Rep. Bill Thomas, Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 04 – DOWNTOWN JUNEAU
Rep. Sara Hannan, incumbent Democrat
HOUSE DISTRICT 05 – KODIAK, SEWARD
Leighton Radner, Libertarian
Rep. Louise Stutes, incumbent Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 06 – SOUTH KENAI
Alana Greear, no party
Brent Johnson, no party
Dawson Slaughter, Republican
Rep. Sarah Vance, incumbent Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 07 – SOLDOTNA
Former Rep. Ron Gillham, Republican
Rep. Justin Ruffridge, incumbent Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 08 – NORTH KENAI
Bill Elam, Republican
John Hillyer, Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 09 – SOUTH ANCHORAGE
Lucy Bauer, Republican
Lee Ellis, Republican
Ky Holland, no party
Brandy Pennington, Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 10 – SOUTH ANCHORAGE
Rep. Craig Johnson, incumbent Republican
Former Rep. Chuck Kopp, Republican
Greg Magee, no party
HOUSE DISTRICT 11 – ANCHORAGE
Rep. Julie Columbe, Republican
Walter Featherly, no party
HOUSE DISTRICT 12 – ANCHORAGE
Joseph Lurtsema, Republican
Rep. Calvin Schrage, incumbent no party
HOUSE DISTRICT 13 – ANCHORAGE
Heather Gotshall, Republican
Rep. Andy Josephson, incumbent Democrat
HOUSE DISTRICT 14 – ANCHORAGE
Rep. Alyse Galvin, incumbent no party
Harry Winner Kamdem, Democrat
HOUSE DISTRICT 15 – ANCHORAGE
Former Sen. Mia Costello, Republican
Dustin Darden, Democrat
Denny Wells, Democrat
HOUSE DISTRICT 16 – ANCHORAGE
Carolyn Hall, Democrat
Nick Moe, no party
HOUSE DISTRICT 17 – ANCHORAGE
Rep. Zack Fields, incumbent Democrat
HOUSE DISTRICT 18 – ANCHORAGE
Rep. Cliff Groh, incumbent Democrat
Former Rep. David Nelson, Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 19 – ANCHORAGE
Kaylee Anderson, Republican
Rep. Genevieve Mina, incumbent Democrat
Russell O. Wyatt, no party
HOUSE DISTRICT 20 – ANCHORAGE
Rep. Andrew Gray, incumbent Democrat
Scott Kohlhaas, Libertarian
HOUSE DISTRICT 21 – ANCHORAGE
Rep. Donna Mears, incumbent Democrat
Aimee Sims, Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 22 – ANCHORAGE
Ted Eischeid, Democrat
Rep. Stanley Wright, incumbent Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 23 – EAGLE RIVER
Rep. Jamie Allard, incumbent Republican
Jim Arlington, Democrat
HOUSE DISTRICT 24 – EAGLE RIVER
Rep. Dan Saddler, incumbent Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 25 – MAT-SU PALMER
Rep. DeLena Johnson, incumbent Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 26 – MAT-SU FAIRVIEW WASILLA
Rep. Cathy Tilton, incumbent Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 27 – WASILLA
Rep. David Eastman, incumbent Republican
Jubilee Underwood, Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 28 – WASILLA
Steve Menard, Republican
Elexie Moore, Republican
Rep. Jesse Sumner, incumbent Republican
Jessica Wright, Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 29 – SUTTON
Rep. George Rauscher, incumbent Republican
Bruce Wall, no party
HOUSE DISTRICT 30 – BIG LAKE
Doyle Holmes, Republican
Rep. Kevin McCabe, incumbent Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 31 – FAIRBANKS
Rep. Maxine Dibert, incumbent Democrat
Former Rep. Bart LeBon, Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 32 – FAIRBANKS
Gary Damron, Democrat
Rep. Will Stapp, incumbent Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 33 – NORTH POLE
Rep. Mike Prax, incumbent Republican
Michael Welsh, Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 34 – – FAIRBANKS
Joy Beth Cottle, Republican
Rep. Frank Tomaszewski, incumbent Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 35 – FAIRBANKS
Rep. Ashley Carrick, incumbent Democrat
Ruben McNeill, Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 36 – INTERIOR TOK-DELTA JUNCTION
James Fields, Libertarian
Pam Goode, Republican
Brandon P. “Putuuqti” Kowaski, Democrat
Dana Mock, Republican
Rebecca Schwanke, Republican
Cole Snodgress, Republican
HOUSE DISTRICT 37 – WESTERN
Darren Deacon, no party
Bryce Edgmon, no party
HOUSE DISTRICT 38 – BETHEL
Nellie D. “Unangiq” Jimmie, Democrat
Willie Keppel, Veterans Party of Alaska
Rep. CJ McCormick, incumbent Democrat
Victoria Sosa, Democrat
HOUSE DISTRICT 39 – NOME
Rep. Neal Foster, incumbent Democrat
Tyer Ivanoff, Alaskan Independence Party
HOUSE DISTRICT 40 – UTQIAGVIK
Rep. Thomas C. “Ikaaq” Baker, incumbent no party
Robyn “Niayuq” Burke, Democrat
Saima “Ikrik” Chase, Democrat
Interesting Bryce still going with that no party bit.
Just a quick correction: According to the DOE website, Andy Cizek filed for Senate District D for the AK Independence Party.
‘https://www.elections.alaska.gov/candidates/
You are correct, Scott, and thanks for the correction. Fixed. – sd
Suzanne, could you PLEASE do a deep dive on the senate seat L race. Including the actions and voting pattern of the incumbent and the record of the other candidates. I think Eagle River and Chugiak was grossly uninformed in the last go round and would like to see an attempt to fix that.
Here’s a fun fact you may have missed: Cheronda Smith and Kaylee Anderson listed the same address, an apartment in North Mountain View. Another fun fact will be gleaned by pouring through APOC reports to see how many different candidates are tied to Christian Killgore and Paula DeLaiarro (read: Ship Creek Group).
As for the Native names in quotes, something tells me that was done at the insistence of the Division of Elections, not the candidates themselves. At a certain point, births were reported with a Native name included as part of the legal name recorded on their birth certificate. I first noticed it occurring about 20 to 25 years ago with births at the Kotzebue hospital, then started seeing or hearing about it elsewhere. The APOC filings listed a District 40 candidate who did not file in the end, Qaiyaan Harcharek, who was listed without any mention of a tanik name.
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