Gov. Mike Dunleavy stands at the entry of the Alaska Federation of Natives convention art and crafts fair on Thursday. He shakes hands with convention attendees. (Photo by Yereth Rose/Alaska Beacon).
After the first full of Alaska’s new ranked-choice voting system, 21 of the 40 seats are held by Republicans in the Alaska House of Representatives.

Two candidates were still trailing after votes were tabulated Wednesday night. This makes the total 21. Republican incumbent Rep. Tom McKay from Anchorage was trailing Democrat Denny Wells at the time of the election, but is now leading Wells by four votes.

After trailing Walter Featherly at the beginning of the day, East Anchorage Republican Julie Coulombe is now leading Walter Featherly’s non-partisan campaign.

These results are not official and the Division of Elections will certify them on November 29. Recounts are possible. A state law permits a losing candidate in any race to request one. However, the candidate must pay for it unless the result is within 0.5%.

Reelection was easy for all three incumbents in the state office.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy was elected the first Alaska governor to reelect Tony Knowles in 1998. He also became the first Republican to do this since Jay Hammond 1978. He won with more than half of the vote and did not need to have ranked voting redistribution.

The incumbent Republican Lisa Murkowski, who was leading three challengers for the U.S. Senate seat, had 53.7% of votes after the ranked-choice process. Kelly Tshibaka (Republican) was her closest rival with 46.3%.

Mary Peltola, the incumbent Democratic Rep., also led three challengers after final tabulation and had 54.9% votes. Sarah Palin, a Republican with 45.1%, was her closest rival.

After defeating Roger Holland, an incumbent Republican senator, Cathy Giessel (R-Anchorage) will be back in the Alaska Senate.

She was one of 11 Republicans who were elected to the 20-member Senate.

Giessel was one of the four Republicans elected, despite opposition from local party officials who preferred other Republican candidates.

Giessel and other moderate Republicans are expected to announce in the coming days or week that they will form a coalition Senate majority, which includes all nine Democrats.



The Alaska Beacon originally published this story. It is republished with permission.