Legislative session move failed in 36 of 40 districts
Of the state's 40 legislative districts, 90 percent voted against the legislative move initiative on the Nov. 5 ballot, according to new results released this week.
State Division of Elections spokeswoman Virginia Breeze said all absentee and questioned ballots have been counted, and the state review board is working to certify the final count. Certification should be completed by Nov. 29, she said.
Four districts in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, where the initiative proposed to move legislative sessions, voted in favor of Ballot Measure 2.
Palmer, Wasilla, Susitna Valley, and the Chugiak-Peters Creek-Butte District were the only areas of the state that supported the move. In July 2001, the Mat-Su Borough and the City of Wasilla passed resolutions supporting the ballot measure.
House districts based in downtown Juneau and the Mendenhall Valley had the highest turnouts against the move, with 95 percent and 96 percent, respectively. Of the 15,757 Juneau voters that made it to the polls, 15,095 voted against the move and 661 voted in favor of it.
House District 2, representing Sitka, Wrangell and Petersburg, had the next highest turnout against the move, with 94 percent voting no.
In all, Alaskans voted 67 percent against the measure and 33 percent in favor.
The vote was much closer in 1994 on a similar initiative that would have moved the capital to Wasilla. In that election, 22 of the 40 House districts voted in favor of the move, but the initiative was defeated with 55 percent voting no.
Paulette Simpson, who worked with the Alaska Committee to defeat move initiatives this year and in 1994, said Ballot Measure 2 failed because it was fiscally irresponsible and did not have strong leadership.
"It never got momentum," Simpson said, noting that people are tired of voting on move initiatives.
This year's vote marked the sixth time Alaskans have been asked to move the seat of state government from Juneau.
"They've voted it down so many times, and they're tired of it," Simpson said.
Former Juneau Mayor Jamie Parsons said winning 36 of the legislative districts was "astounding."
The overwhelming defeat of the measure sends a clear message that will resonate with pro-move supporters up north.
He said Alaskans strongly rejected the measure partly because of the provision that would have repealed the FRANK Initiative, which guaranteed voters' the right to know and approve the cost of the move.
A 1994 ballot initiative required that the governor appoint a committee to determine the cost of a move and have voters approve those costs.
Mark Chryson, chairman of the pro-move Alaskan Independence Party, attributed the defeat of the measure to influence from the Republican Party and to the million-plus dollars spent by the Juneau-based Alaska Committee to fight the initiative.
"The AIP spent less than $300, grand total," Chryson said. "We came out way ahead dollar per dollar."
Chryson said the biggest problem for move advocates was Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich.
"If Alaskans want to know (why Ballot Measure 2 failed), we can blame the Republican Party," he said.
Like Parsons, Ruedrich said he felt the plan was defeated because of the provision attempting to repeal the FRANK Initiative.
"Mark's comments are very wide of the mark," Ruedrich said. "The Republican Central Committee voted to preserve the right of Alaskans to know the cost of any move of a governmental body such as the Legislature.
"We objected to that facet of Mark's initiative and encouraged all of our legislators to support the party position."
Timothy Inklebarger can be reached at timothyi@juneauempire.com.