Wrangell voters pick Chere Klein in GOP primary

Wrangell voters gave their say during Tuesday's primary, picking Chere Klein to run as the Republican candidate in November for the Alaska State House District 36 seat and voting "no" on the ballot measure by 246 to 184, according to the evening's unofficial tally.

Some 438 votes were counted after the polls closed at 8 p.m., with an additional 18 votes and about 50 absentee ballots left to hand-count. Absentee voting for the primary had begun Aug. 4.

For the Republican Party, Klein ran against candidates Patti Mackey and Agnes Moran. The seat became vacant after Rep. Peggy Wilson announced in April her decision not to run for re-election. The primary winner will run against Independent candidate Dan Ortiz for the seat in the November election.

Wrangell voters picked Klein with 186 votes, with Moran following at 67 and Mackey getting 44. Local Republicans also chose Dan Sullivan as their candidate for U.S. Senator with 134 votes; Don Young for U.S. Representative with 252; Sean Parnell for governor with 236; and Dan Sullivan for lieutenant governor with 189.

In the Democratic primary, Wrangell's voters picked Mark Begich for U.S. Senator with 60 votes; Forrest Dunbar for U.S. Representative with 39 votes; Byron Mallott for governor with 40; and Hollis French for lieutenant governor with 32.

Libertarian voters selected Mark Fish for U.S. Senator with eight votes; Jim McDermott for U.S. Representative with 29; Carolyn Clift for governor with 27; and Andrew Lee for lieutenant governor with 26. Alaskan Independence candidates for the Senate, Zachary Kile and Vic Kohring, were tied with six votes apiece.

Wrangell voters also rejected the first of four ballot measures to be decided upon in this year's elections, affirming Senate Bill 21. The legislation was passed by the Alaska Legislature last year to replace Alaska's Clear and Equitable Share, the production tax system established in 2007.

A "yes" vote would reject the SB 21, reverting to the previous ACES system. A "no" vote would be in favor of keeping the law

as is.

At press time 90% of precincts across House District 36 had reported. Klein secured the Republican candidacy with approximately 44% of the votes. Moran finished with 32% of the votes and Mackey rounded out numbers with 24% of the Primary's votes.

Final election results will be printed next week.