The 2022 Alaska Senate elections took place on November 8, 2022, with the primary elections being held on August 16, 2022.[ 1] State senators serve four-year terms in the Alaska Senate, with half of the seats normally up for election every two years.[ 2] However, because most districts were greatly changed in redistricting , elections were held for 19 of the 20 seats; the only exception is District T, represented by Democrat Donny Olson , which was mostly unchanged in redistricting and thus did not have an election. Some senators were elected to serve four-year terms, while others would serve shortened two-year terms.[ 3]
Following the previous election in 2020 , Republicans had control of the Alaska Senate, with 13 seats to Democrats ' seven seats. One Democrat caucused with the Republicans, giving them a governing majority of 14 seats.
After the 2022 elections, Republicans lost two seats to Democrats, reducing their majority to 11–9. However, a coalition government was formed with eight Republicans and all nine Democrats.
Background
In 2020, Alaskan voters approved Ballot Measure 2, an initiative to implement a nonpartisan blanket top-four primary with a single, open primary where candidates from all parties are listed on the ballot and the top four vote getters advance to the general election.[ 4] The general election is then resolved using instant-runoff voting , where voters rank the candidates and the candidates receiving the lowest votes are eliminated one by one until one candidate has a majority. The first election using the new system was the 2022 election cycle. As of the close of candidate filing, none of the elections for the Alaska Senate had more than four candidates.
Predictions
Overview
Primary elections
2022 Alaska State Senate election Primary election – August 16, 2022
Party
Votes
%
Candidates
Advancing to general
Seats contesting
Republican
105,695
65.01
29
29
16
Democratic
47,461
29.19
13
13
11
Independent
5,869
3.61
3
3
3
Alaska Independence
2,344
1.44
2
2
2
Veterans of Alaska
1,217
0.75
1
1
1
Totals
162,586
100.00
48
48
—
Two Republicans and one Democrat withdrew before the general election.[ 6]
General election
2022 Alaska Senate election General election — November 8, 2022
Party
Votes
%
Seats not up
Seats up
Candidates
Before
After
±
Republican
154,004
64.75
0
13
27
13
11
2
Democratic
68,181
28.67
1
6
12
7
9
2
Independent
8,205
3.45
—
—
3
0
0
Alaska Independence
3,049
1.28
—
—
2
0
0
Veterans of Alaska
2,378
1.00
—
—
1
0
0
Write-ins
2,031
0.85
—
—
—
0
0
Total
237,848
100.00
1
19
45
20
20
Summary of results
Retiring incumbents
Detailed results
Source for primary results[ 11]
Source for general election results[ 12]
District A
District B
District C
District D
General election[ 13]
Party
Candidate
First choice
Round 1
Round 2
Votes
%
Transfer
Votes
%
Transfer
Votes
%
Republican
Jesse Bjorkman
6,950
45.8
+122
7,072
46.6
+532
7,604
53.6
Republican
Tuckerman Babcock
6,311
41.6
+20
6,331
41.7
+263
6,594
46.4
Independent
Andy Cizek
1,768
11.7
+19
1,787
11.8
-1,787
Eliminated
Write-in
140
0.9
-140
Eliminated
Total votes
15,169
15,190
14,198
Blank or inactive ballots
1,046
+992
2,038
Republican hold
District E
General election [ 14]
Party
Candidate
First choice
Round 1
Round 2
Votes
%
Transfer
Votes
%
Transfer
Votes
%
Republican
Cathy Giessel
5,611
33.6
+41
5,652
33.8
+2,229
7,881
57.0
Republican
Roger Holland (incumbent)
5,521
33.1
+11
5,532
33.1
+417
5,949
43.0
Democratic
Roselynn Cacy
5,490
32.9
+28
5,518
33.0
-5,518
Eliminated
Write-in
58
0.4
-58
Eliminated
Total votes
16,680
16,702
13,830
Blank or inactive ballots
735
+2,872
3,607
Republican hold
District F
District G
District H
District I
District J
District K
District L
Republicans Joe Wright and Clayton Trotter withdrew prior to the general election.[ 15]
District M
District N
General election[ 16]
Party
Candidate
First choice
Round 1
Round 2
Votes
%
Transfer
Votes
%
Transfer
Votes
%
Republican
David Wilson (incumbent)
5,133
44.5
+37
5,170
44.8
+954
6,124
58.7
Republican
Steven Wright
3,347
29.0
+38
3,385
29.4
+926
4,311
41.3
Republican
Scott Clayton
2,923
25.3
+54
2,977
25.8
-2,977
Eliminated
Write-in
141
1.2
-141
Eliminated
Total votes
11,544
11,532
10,435
Blank or inactive ballots
2,244
+1,097
3,341
Republican hold
District O
District P
District Q
District R
District S
Aftermath
Negotiations for a governing coalition in the state senate occurred after ranked-choice votes in the state were tabulated. The bipartisan coalition was announced two days later on November 25, with eight Republicans and nine Democrats leading the new Senate majority. They stated that their top priorities would be energy costs, education, and the economy.[ 17] Incoming Senate President Gary Stevens also remarked that the bipartisan coalition was necessary to pass responsible budgets and respond to calls for "more moderation" by the electorate.[ 18]
See also
Notes
^ Sen. Hoffman had caucused with the Republican majority since 2015.
References
^ "Election Calendar" . Alaska Division of Elections . Alaska Division of Elections. Retrieved January 21, 2022 .
^ "About the Legislative Branch" . The Alaska State Legislature . The Alaska State Legislature. Retrieved January 21, 2022 .
^ Kitchenman, Andrew; KTOO, Andrew Kitchenman, Alaska Public Media &; Kitchenman, Andrew (November 11, 2021). "Alaska Redistricting Board finishes work to adopt maps; opponents say courts could toss out portions" . KTOO . {{cite web }}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link )
^ Piper, Kelsey (November 19, 2020). "Alaska voters adopt ranked-choice voting in ballot initiative" . Vox . Retrieved February 23, 2022 .
^ Jacobson, Louis (May 19, 2022). "The Battle for State Legislatures" . Retrieved May 19, 2022 .
^ Maguire, Sean (October 12, 2022). "11 Alaska legislative candidates withdraw from the general election" . Anchorage Daily News . Archived from the original on November 26, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022 .
^ "Senator Lora Reinbold Will Not Seek Reelection" . Alaska Native News . May 27, 2022.
^ Maguire, Sean. "Alaska general election filing deadline passes with 10 incumbents not seeking reelection" . alaskasnewssource.com .
^ "Anchorage Sen. Natasha von Imhof will not run for reelection or other office in 2022" . Anchorage Daily News .
^ Samuels, Iris; Herz, Nathaniel (June 2, 2022). "Senate minority leader plans retirement as Alaska's election filing deadline arrives" . Anchorage Daily News . Retrieved June 9, 2022 .
^ "Official Results" (PDF) . Alaska Division of Elections . August 16, 2022.
^ "Official Results" (PDF) . Alaska Division of Elections . November 18, 2022.
^ "RCV Detailed Report | General Election | State of Alaska | Senate District D" (PDF) . Alaska Division of Elections. November 30, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2022 .
^ "RCV Detailed Report | General Election | State of Alaska | Senate District E" (PDF) . Alaska Division of Elections. November 30, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2022 .
^ Brooks, James (September 7, 2022). "Legislative primary results encouraged some Alaska House and Senate candidates to quit" . Alaska Beacon .
^ "RCV Detailed Report | General Election | State of Alaska | Senate District N" (PDF) . Alaska Division of Elections. November 30, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2022 .
^ Sabbatini, Mark (November 25, 2022). "Bipartisan majority formed for new state Senate" . Juneau Empire . Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved November 27, 2022 .
^ Downing, Suzanne (November 25, 2022). "Senate Democrat-dominated majority announces formation, and Sen. Stevens, incoming Senate president, says he doubts they'll overturn ranked choice voting" . Must Read Alaska . Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved November 27, 2022 .
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