Alaska voters go to the polls Tuesday with a new voting system confusing to many

Alaska voters go to the polls Tuesday, August 16, for the state primary election. It will be like no prior primary election

Under the state’s new “ranked choice” voting procedure there are no political party slates. All candidates are listed on one ballot, although they are free to describe a political affiliation.

Gone is the closed Republican primary of prior years where only Republicans could vote the Republican slate.

Voters will cast one vote for a candidate of their choice on the primary ballot for U.S. Senate, for governor and lieutenant governor and for Congress, that for a full two-year term in the U.S. House of Representatives.

State House and Senate races are also on the ballot. In the legislative races voters will also cast one vote for a candidate on the list for the state House or Senate district.

One point of confusion for many is that there are two ballots for candidates for Congress to fill out the remaining months of former Cong. Don Young, who died last spring. A special primary vote-by-mail election was held in June to choose the top four candidates among over 40 who had filed to fill out Young’s term. Voters could only pick one, and the top four went on to the special election general election. On Aug. 16, for that election, voters will pick their top choices by order of preference.

The four top-vote getters in the June mail-in ballot were Sarah Palin, Nick Begich, Al Gross and Mary Peltola. Tara Sweeney was in fifth place. However, Al Gross withdrew his name but Sweeney was unable to move up into the top four for the “special general election” due to a technicality in the law.

Palin, Begich and Peltola all appear on the Aug. 23 ballot to fill out Young’s term under the first use of ranked voting. Voters will rank candidates one through three (there are only three on the ballot). The winner goes to Congress to fill out the deceased congressman’s term.

What confuses many is that the same three, plus Sweeny and others, will appear on the primary ballot for the full two-year term in Congress. On this ballot voters will mark only their top choice.

The top four of these will appear on the general election ballot in November and will be ranked, one through four. The winner is the candidate securing over 50 percent of votes. If the top vote getter does not get over 50 percent the candidate getting the smallest amount of votes is eliminated. Then those votes are reallocated to the voters’ next choices on the ballot.

This process continues until there are only two candidates left, and then the one with the ost votes wins. For the general election in November the same ranking process will play out in the U.S. Senate, governor and legislative races.

In the state House and Senate races there are few contests with four candidates, and while voters will pick their top choices all four will appear on the general election ballot, to be ranked. What’s important, however, is that the top choice totals in the House and Senate races wlll show the likely winners in November,

Here are the Mat-Su legislative candidates with certain information provided in response to questions from the Alaska Beacon, a statewide news service:

Senate District M, Palmer

In District M, one of the three Mat-Su senate districts, veteran Republican Sen. Shelley Hughes, of Palmer, is being challenged by Jim Cooper, also of Palmer, a Democrat

Hughes did not respond to questions. Cooper did, saying he opposes a constitutional convention; that he would be willing to join a coalition with another political party; that public employees should not have a defined benefit pension, and that he supports the state taking over permitting of construction in wetland

On the biggest need in the district, Cooper said: “Infrastructure needs to be strengthened – i.e. sewage treatment plants, roads, bridges. Another problem is the doctor to population ratio is one-half in Mat-Su when compared to the rest of the state and the nation. On abortion, Cooper said, “The state constitution currently protects the right to privacy, this includes women’s health care.. That should not be changed. Allowing women health care, all health care, should be a priority and that includes reproductive rights.

Senate District N, Wasilla

In District N, also in Mat-Su, incumbent Republican Sen. David Wilson of Wasilla has two opponents, both also Republican: Scott Clayton, also of Wasilla and, Stephen Wright, another Wasilla resident.

Wilson and Clayton did not respond to questions n their positions Stephen Wright did respond. He said he supports a constitutional convention and opposes defined benefits for public employees and state management of permitting in wetlands.

On a question of how the state of Alaska should set amount of the Permanent Fund dividend each year, Wright suggested the average earnings as traditionally calculated based on the ‘Hammond” 50-50 plan.” (Wright did not explain this but it is an apparent reference to one of several ideas on the PFD put forth by former Gov. Jay Hammond in the1970s. Gov. Mike Dunleavy is proposing a new version of a “50-50” plan that splits the annual Permanent Fund contribution to the state between the PFD and a payment for support of the state budget.

What’s the biggest need in your district, and how would you address it?

Wright said: “Full PFD, repeal SB26 and eradicate the faulty POMV bill from the legislature. (Wright did not explain what a full PFD is, or SB26 or what is faulty about the POMV.”

On abortion, Wright said: “The Republican platform I support is life at conception till natural death. We are done with the death culture on the left. Protect all life as abundantly as we protect our freedom to live it. Time to stand for the unborn and we have the medical technology to save life at all stages of life.”

Senate District O, Wasilla

In Senate District O, Republican incumbent Sen. Mike Shower of Wasilla is opposed by Doug Massie, also Republican and also a Wasilla resident. Shower and Massie did not respond to questions

Mat-Su state House races

House District 25 (Palmer)

In House District 25, incumbent Rep. DeLena Johnson, Republican, is opposed by Lawrence Wood, also Republican. Both are Palmer residents.

Johnson did not respond to questions on policy, but Wood did.

Wood said he favors a constitutional convention and would not join a House coalition led by another party. On defined benefit for public employees, Wood said he favored those. He also favors a state takeover of federal wetlands permitting.

On priorities for the district, Wood had a lengthy answer:

“I will work to protect our rights in any emergency declaration. To prevent another 2020 COVID response in which Alaska had the 4th most restrictive mandates in the U.S. We need to insure the doctor-patient relationship is inviolate, that the patient is in charge in consultation with their doctor, prevent any future tyranny by an unelected ‘expert’ who does nothing but repeat the lies of a federal bureaucrat, and insure that drugs that are effective are made available in Alaska’s pharmacies by prescription–for COVID early treatment, Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine are just two. Fear was the principle tool used in motivating Alaskans to obey mandates. Fauci lied, people died. Our governor refused to address the availability of Ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine even after other governors ordered availability. Several states have passed laws requiring availability of these drugs. Further, no one should die without being able to say good-bye their loved ones. The Legislature dumped the pandemic response on the governor and ran and hid giving the gov(ernor) carte blanche to abuse constitutional rights, ignoring the 30 days review of an emergency declaration that is their responsibility. In doing so, the Legislature who is our voice and watchdog to prevent abuse failed us. I don’t want that to happen again.”

On abortion, Wood said: “Outlaw abortion. Abortion is murder.”

House District 26 (Wasilla)

In House District 26, Rep. Cathy Tilton, the Republican incumbent, is being opposed by Daniel Stokes, a Libertarian. Both are Wasilla residents. Neither responded to questions on policies

House District 27 (Wasilla)

In House District 27, Rep. David Eastman, the incumbent, is being opposed by Stu Graham and Brendan Carpenter. All three are Republican and all three live in Wasilla.

Eastman and Graham did not respond to questions on policies, but Carpenter did.

Carpenter said he opposes a constitutional convention and would not join a House organization led by another party. He also said he would not support defined benefits to public employees.

On priorities for the district: “We have a homeless issue and there’s no easy fix to it. And you can see that in Anchorage and other cities. Government isn’t the answer, but it can facilitate the ease with which nonprofits, Christian organizations and other organizations can get involved.”

On the Permanent Fund Dividend: “You follow the law of the land (meaning a ‘full’ dividend.

On abortion: “I’m against abortion and I want to stop it. I believe there are three exceptions: rape, incest and to save the life of the mother. We need to have an honest debate

House District 28 (Wasilla)

In House District 28, there is no incumbent, and four are competing for this open seat. They include Rachel Allen; Steve Menard; Jesse Sumner and Jessica Wright. All are Republican and all live in Wasilla. None of the four responded to questions on policy positions

House District 29 (Palmer, Glennallen, Valdez)

In House District 29, incumbent Republican Rep. George Rauscher of Palmer is opposed by Elijah Haase, who is nonpartisan, of Valdez. Neither responded to questios on policy positions

House District 30 (Wasilla, Big Lake)

In House District 30, incumbent Republican Kevin McCabe, of Big Lake, has two opponents, Doyle Holmes, Republican of Willow, and Joy Mindiola, a Democrat, of Wasilla. McCabe and Mindiola did not respond to questions on policy positions, but Holmes did.

Holmes said he does not support a constitutional convention and would not join a House organization led by another party. He also does not favor defined benefits pensions for public employees. He favors a state takeover of wetlands permitting.

On priorities for the district, Holmes said: “Roads and schools proper funding.” On abortion, he said: “We don’t have much choice (on restrictions) as long as present State Supreme Court judges rule all attempts to change it unconstitutional.