Update – 12:00 pm Wednesday, August 17th
As of Wednesday morning, Election Day counting for the special general and primary elections has been completed for just over eighty percent of precincts in the state. In House District 30, which includes the Northern Susitna Valley, four of the twelve precincts remain to be counted. The precincts with no results posted as of Wednesday morning are Anderson/Clear, Cantwell, Denali Park, and Healy.
Much of the counting that took place late Tuesday into early Wednesday morning was in rural districts. In the U.S. House special election, Democrat Mary Peltola slightly expanded her lead in first-choice votes over Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich. Because the general election is ranked-choice, final results won’t be known until at least the end of August. In District 30, Sarah Palin performed significantly better than in statewide tallies, getting almost fifty percent of the vote.
In the primary election, Senator Lisa Murkowski slightly expanded her lead over fellow Republican Kelly Tshibaka overnight. Since up to four candidates in each race will advance to the general election in November. In District 30, Tshibaka received more than fifty-five percent of the votes counted thus far.
Governor Mike Dunleavy also had a strong statewide showing, receiving more than forty percent of total votes counted as of Wednesday morning. He performed even better in District 30, receiving fifty-eight percent of votes cast.
In local races, incumbent State Senator Mike Shower trailed fellow Republican Doug Massie by about 500 votes in Senate District O. In House District 30, incumbent Republican Kevin McCabe received just over fifty percent of the votes counted so far, giving him a large lead over Republican Doyle Holmes and Democrat Joy Mindiola. Due to the smaller number of candidates, everyone running in both Senate District O and House District 30 will advance to the general election in November.
Additional results from uncounted precincts are expected on Wednesday.
Original Story:
Unofficial results for the combined special general and primary elections began coming in late Tuesday.
As of 11:00 pm, a little more than half of precincts statewide had reported results, and eight of the twelve precincts in House District 30 had reported.
In the race to fill the remaining term of Representative Don Young, who passed away in March, Democrat Mary Peltola (pel-TOLL-ah) held an early lead in first-choice votes. Peltola, a former state legislator, had a lead of about five-thousand votes over Republican Sarah Palin and nearly ten-thousand more than Republican Nick Begich.
Because the special election is Alaska’s first ranked-choice election, the final winner will not be determined until the end of the month, as the Alaska Division of Elections will not fully tabulate the ranked choice ballots until the deadline for overseas ballots to arrive.
On the primary side of the ballot, up to four candidates for each race will advance to the general election in November regardless of their party affiliation.
In the race for U.S. Senate, Incumbent Lisa Murkowski held a slight lead over challenger and fellow Republican Kelly Tshibaka (shi-BAH-kah) late Tuesday. Murkowski and Tshibaka accounted for more than eighty percent of votes counted. Democrat Patricia Chesbro was in third place, and relatively unknown Republican Buzz Kelley was in fourth.
The primary race for U.S. House echoed the ranked-choice voting for the general, with Peltola in the lead, followed by Palin and Begich. Tara Sweeney was in fourth place.
In the race for governor and lieutenant governor, incumbent Republican Mike Dunleavy and his running mate, Nancy Dahlstrom, held a lead about twenty points over both Independent Bill Walker and Democrat Les Gara. Republican Charlie Pierce was in fourth place.
In local races, Incumbent State Senator Mike Shower was trailing his only challenger, fellow Republican Doug Massie, by about 400 votes.
In the State House race, incumbent Kevin McCabe held a significant lead over fellow Republican Doyle Holmes and Democrat Joy Mindiola.
Representative David Eastman no longer lives in the district that represents the Northern Valley. As of late Tuesday, he held a sizeable lead in the District 27 primary.
KTNA will have an update on current unofficial vote counts Wednesday morning.
