In Juneau’s family of precincts the core of downtown is the woke liberal and the airport area dwellers the relatively deep-red conservative. But as a whole the household, despite some recent arrivals and departures due to redistricting, remains pretty left-leaning compared to the neighborhood of districts representing Alaska.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, for instance, got 75.6% in Juneau’s largely downtown District 4, compared to her statewide first-choice tally of about 49%, according to precinct-by-precinct certified results of Alaska’s first ranked choice general election. Republican Nick Begich’s 13.1% in the district paled to his 23.3% statewide, but former Republican Gov. Sarah Palin was even more spurned at 10% in the district compared to 25.7% statewide.
The tallies for the three candidates were not surprisingly more conservative in District 3 which includes much of the Mendenhall Valley, as well as adding northern Panhandle communities such as Skagway and Haines as part of the redistricting process, but still saw a lopsided Peltola/Begich/Palin split of 62.8%/17.81%/17.79%.
But voters in the two districts also showed some moderate tendencies with a strong preference for former independent Gov. Bill Walker as he sought to reclaim his seat, while Republican Mike Dunleavy — who won an outright majority of votes statewide — finished third behind Democrat Gara in a number of local precincts.
Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski was similarly popular as a moderate, easily exceeding her 43.4% to 42.6% first-choice statewide lead over Republican challenger Kelly Tshibaka. Murkowski would have avoided a ranked choice instant run in both local districts, getting an average of 53.3% in District 3 and 57.8% in District 4.
But the Senate race also reveals the vast partisan differences among local precincts, as Murkowski’s totals ranged 36.8% in the airport area and 65.7% in Douglas for District 4. Furthermore, it shows the huge splits in the other Panhandle communities as the incumbent got a low of 40.3% in one of Haines precinct and 49.6% in the second more-central one, while both were far below the 80% she got in Klawock.
Below are the precinct results for Districts 3 and 4, along with how the candidates fared relatively on the local level. Results for candidates finishing far behind the serious contenders are noted only where exceptional. The same applies for the state Senate and District 3 House race where Jesse Kiehl and Andi Story were unopposed, and the District 4 House race where incumbent Democrat Sara Hannan won a landslide victory of 79.2% to 19.5% over undeclared challenger Darrell Harmon.
For statewide context, the following are the certified first-choice results for all candidates in the relevant races:
U.S. Senate: Lisa Murkowski (R) 43.8%, Kelly Chesbro (R) 42.6%, Pat Chesbro (D) 10.4%, Buzz Kelley (R) 2.9%.
U.S. House: Mary Peltola (D) 48.8%, Sarah Palin (R) 25.7%, Nick Begich III (R) 23.3%, Chris Bye (L) 1.7%.
Governor: Mike Dunleavy (R) 50.3%, Les Gara 24.2%, Bill Walker (I) 20.7%, Charlie Pierce (R) 4.5%.
State Senate District B: Jesse Kiehl (D) 95.8%, write-in 4.2%
State House District 3: Andi Story (D) 95.4%, write-in 4.6%
State House District 4: Sara Hannan (D) 79.1%, Darrell Harmon (U) 19.6%, write-in 1.3%.
For a precinct-by-precinct breakdown, click through the interactive map below.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com.
