Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy received nearly twice as many votes as his nearest rival in last week’s primary election for governor.
The incumbent received 64,676 votes as of Aug, 17 to 34,248 for former Gov. Bill Walker, running as an independent, and 33,974 for former Anchorage Rep. Les Gara, running as a Democrat.
Dunleavy won by an even larger margin in Wrangell, where his 256 votes in the Aug. 16 primary far exceeded the combined total of Walker, 126, and Gara, 63.
It was the opposite 30 miles away in Petersburg, where Walker outpolled Dunleavy, 273-225.
Dunleavy carried every Ketchikan and Prince of Wales Island precinct over Walker except Saxman.
In the statewide tally, Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce was leading Wasilla Rep. Christopher Kurka as the more conservative Republican alternative to Dunleavy in fourth place, 10,594 to 6,091.
The top-four finishers will advance to the Nov. 8 general election.
Several thousand questioned ballots and absentee/early votes remain to be counted, scheduled for Aug. 31, though it really doesn’t matter whether Walker or Gara come in second in the primary — both will advance to the general election.
Dunleavy said he was pleased with the early returns in voters’ first chance to weigh in on him since he was elected. “We feel good about where we are, but this is only the start of the race,” he said in a statement. He’s running with former Corrections Commissioner Nancy Dahlstrom as his running mate in the first Alaska election in which candidates for governor can choose their own lieutenant governor candidates.
It was the first primary in which any Alaskan could vote for candidates from any party since 1996. A citizen’s initiative in 2020 abolished party primaries in Alaska, instead lumping all candidates into a single primary election.
Gara said the primary “is just a pit stop on the way to November,” noting that Republican voters have traditionally turned out at a much higher rate than Democrats in Alaska primaries. His running mate, Jessica Cook, is a teacher.
Walker said he felt good about his campaign heading into the general election. He added that many of his voters aren’t used to voting in primaries, which under the old system were heavily partisan. He didn’t face a primary when he was elected in 2014 or in his reelection bid in 2018, since independents then could petition to directly join the general election ballot. Now all candidates must enter the primary to get a spot on the November ballot.
“Our support is in the middle,” Walker said of him and his running mate Heidi Drygas, a former labor commissioner who is a registered Democrat.
Both Walker and Gara each said they would be the strongest challenger to Dunleavy. Both are aiming not only to be voters’ first choice in November, but also to be the second choice of those whose first preference is the other candidate. Under ranked-choice voting, being the No. 2 choice can be important in reaching the 50% threshold to win an election.
With additional reporting by the Sentinel.
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