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P E N I N S U L A
Wednesday, November 7, 2018 Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Vol. 49, Issue 33
$1 newsstands daily/$1.50 Sunday
Alaskans choose Dunleavy By JAMES BROOKS Juneau Empire
Mike Dunleavy will be Alaska’s next governor. With 88.2 percent of precincts reporting, Dunleavy, the Republican candidate, led Democratic candidate Mark Begich 52.77 percent to 43.24 percent as of 11:25 p.m. Tuesday night, defying predictions of a close race. Prospects across Alaska were generally good for Republicans on election night, with Rep. Don Young on track to keep his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Young led independent challenger Alyse Galvin with 54.05 percent of the vote to Galvin’s 45.53 percent with 88.2 percent of precincts reporting. Ballot Measure 1, which proposed tougher environmental protections for salmon habitat, failed by a wide margin, trailing 36.30 percent to 63.70 percent with 88.2 percent of precincts reporting. The debate over Ballot Measure 1 became the most expensive state-level campaign in Alaska history as petroleum, construction and mining companies spent millions to defeat the proposition.
Ballot Measure 1 1 Ballot Measure
Yes
The governor’s race, however, seemed to garner the majority of public attention as it came to a tumultuous end. Dunleavy led opinion polls throughout the summer, and he kept that lead even as the abrupt resignation of Lt. Gov. Byron Mallott upended the race. Mallott’s resignation from office following “inappropriate comments” to an unidentified woman triggered incumbent Gov. Bill Walker to suspend his race for re-election days later. Walker urged his supporters to support Begich, and though
No
he remained on the Election Day ballot, his message appears to have resonated with voters. Walker had received 1.96 percent of the vote with 88.2 percent Senate District O of precincts reporting. Libertarian candidate Billy Toien received 1.82 percent of the vote, with 88.2 percent of precincts reporting. Voter turnout appeared to Peter Micciche be Shawn running Butler behind the midterm election four years ago, when Write in Votes 56.1 percent of Alaska’s regisBen Carpenter Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Dunleavy reacts to early favorable election returns tered voters cast ballots. That House District 30 election, like this one, saw the Tuesday in Anchorage. With Dunleavy are, from left, his wife, Rose, and daughters Ceil and See GOV, page A13 Maggie. (AP Photo/Michael Dinneen)
House District 29
Few upsets, despite a heated lead-up to election Gary Knopp
Write in Votes
By VICTORIA PETERSEN Peninsula Clarion
Alaskans came out Tuesday to exercise their right to vote in a race that determined a new governor, the same congressman, and several new state legislators. Don Young was able to maintain his incumbency this midterm election, with 54.05 percent of the vote against newcomer Alyse Galvin. The 85-year-old is the U.S. House of Representatives longestserving member and was first elected in 1973. Mike Dunleavy won a highly contested governor election that began as a three-way race and ended closely between former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich and former state Sen. Dunleavy. Preliminary results show Dunleavy holding at 52.77 percent of the vote. Alaska Ballot Measure 1 failed by a wide margin after Alaskans voted to oppose the divisive ballot initiative that sought to rewrite decades-old law regarding salmon habitat. While incumbent Sen. Peter Micciche’s name was the only one on the ballot for State Senate District O, he was not alone in the effort to represent the peninsula in a State Senate seat. Ron Gillham narrowly lost the Republican primary for the District O race and decided to
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launch a write-in campaign after residents encouraged him to stay in the race. The write-in efforts didn’t pay off for Gillham. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Micciche got 65.74 percent, with write-in candidates capturing 34.26 percent of the vote. Micciche said he is humbled and grateful District O constituents will be entrusting him with the State Senate seat once more. “I’ll be spending the next several months before I return to Juneau, reaching out to those who are shy about attending public meetings and making sure everyone feels heard,” Micciche said. “I’m pleased with the outcome and to continue serving the people of the peninsula. I want to thank my competitors. I believe they sharpen game and point out areas of improvement. Continuous improvement is always my goal.” Tuesday night’s write-in candidate Gillham said the race didn’t turn out as he had hoped but wanted to congratulate Sen. Micciche. “Peter made a lot of promises,” Gillham said. “I hope he keeps them. There’s a lot of people that are going to be watching him to make sure that he keeps his word.” In District 29, which encompasses Nikiski, Hope, Seward,
House District 29 House District 29
Sen. Peter Micciche (Clarion File)
House District 31 31 House District
Shawn Butler Ben Carpenter
Sarah Vance Paul Seaton
Ben Carpenter (Clarion File)
Senate SenateDistrict District O O Peter Micciche Write in Votes
Sarah Vance (Clarion File)
Cooper Landing and Sterling, Ben Carpenter of Nikiski won with 70.83 percent of the vote with all precincts reporting. “I like these numbers bet-
ter than the Primary Election,” Gary Knopp, who ran unop- along the busy Sterling HighCarpenter said Tuesday night. posed, was elected as the repre- way and Kenai Spur Highway “I appreciate the confidence sentative for District 30. intersection in Soldotna, also people had in me, especially as Tuesday afternoon several known as the Soldotna Y. House District 29 a first-time candidate.” groups waved political signs See VOTE, page A13
District 31: Vance defeats Seaton By MEGAN PACER and MICHAEL ARMSTRONG Homer News
Republican Sarah L. Vance has unseated nonpartisan incumbent Paul Seaton and taken the Alaska House of Representatives District 31 seat. In his 16th shot at the Alaska House of Representatives since being elected in 2002, Seaton ran to retain his District 31 seat against Vance. Despite his incumbency, a substantial campaign treasury and enthusiastic sign wavers on Election Day, Vance easily beat Seaton in a landslide of 58.52 percent to 40.36 percent with all precincts
reporting. “It’s pretty exciting. It’s humbling,” Vance said late Tuesday night at a Republican Party victory party at Land’s End Resort. Vance ran on a platform of protecting the Alaska Permanent Fund and repealing Senate Bill 91, a criminal reform bill that she criticized as being soft on crime. She said she thought those issues resonated with voters. “That’s been some of the two issues that have affected every Alaskan, regardless of party, regardless of financial status, regardless of age, demographics they hit hard for everyone,” she
Shawn Butler
said. “They wanted a change. They wanted someone who Ben Carpenter would represent them in their needs.” Seaton first won election by defeating incumbent Rep. Drew Scalzi in the Republican Party, but in this race Vance won the GOP nod and Seaton ran as a nonpartisan on the Democratic Party ticket. Facing opposition from Republicans who felt betrayed that Seaton had joined a bipartisan and independent House majority, Seaton stayed out of the primary and chose to face the winner in the general elec- Rep. Paul Seaton hands out flashlights at an election night partion. Scalzi was a one-term ty at Alice’s Champagne Palace on Tuesday, in Homer. (Photo See VANCE, page A13 by Michael Armstrong/Homer News)