Few changes, fewer surprises, in Mat-Su races

Widespread anti-incumbent sentiment that national pundits identified in Tuesday's election apparently didn't extend to the Valley. At least not as far as the local races for the Legislature were concerned.

All over the map, when voters were given the option of sticking with an incumbent they did.

Even in the race for Senate District F, representing Butte, Fairview and Chugiak, voters picked the closest thing they had to an incumbent — Bill Stoltze, who drew nearly three quarters of the votes in his apparently successful bid to win promotion from the House of Representatives. With all precincts in Wednesday morning, Stoltze had garnered 74 percent of the vote to Democrat and retired educator Pat Chebro's 26 percent.

The results were a little better for independent candidate and former Mat-Su Borough Assemblyman Warren Keogh in the Mat-Su's other Senate race — that for Seat E, representing everywhere from the outskirts of Palmer to Valdez to Talkeetna to Delta Junction. Incumbent Republican Mike Dunleavy had 64 percent of the vote with all but one precinct reporting. Keogh had just 36 percent.

House of Representatives

In the House races, the strongest finish for a challenger went to undeclared candidate Verne Rupright, an attorney who was until very recently the mayor of Wasilla, who nevertheless went down hard to incumbent Republican Lynn Gattis 35 percent to 64 percent with all precincts reporting.

In the Big Lake/Knik race, incumbent Republican Mark Neuman once again defeated Democrat and housewife Pam Rahn — who has run against him before at least once. This time Neuman won with a margin of 79 percent to 20 percent.

Mat-Su Borough Assemblyman Jim Colver, the Republican candidate running in a three-way race, was victorious in the House district representing Chickaloon, Valdez and Delta Junction. His tally stood at 57 percent, well outpacing the 29 percent received by his closest rival, Alaska Constitution Party candidate and Delta Junction resident Pam Goode. The Democrat in the race, Mabel Wimmer, had 13 percent.

Another three-way race, this one to represent Houston, Meadow Lakes and Talkeetna, saw the Democrat outpacing the undeclared candidate. Former Houston Mayor Roger Purcell was bringing up the rear with 15 percent of the vote. Democrat Neal Lacy had 20 percent and incumbent Republican Wes Keller raked in 65.

In the Greater Palmer district, Republican incumbent Shelley Hughes had 70 percent of the vote to Democrat Pete LaFrance's 29 with all precincts in.

And, last but not least, the Butte/Fairview district, the other race of the night lacking an incumbent, went to legislative staffer and small business owner Cathy Tilton, who took in 73 percent of votes to Democrat Gretchen Wehmhoff's 27 percent.

Statewide races

Results won't be official for weeks with thousands of ballots still to count even after all the poll votes are tallied.

But, judging by the election day results, Alaskans in general were much less charitable where incumbents were concerned: both the incumbent U.S. Senator, Democrat Mark Begich, and the incumbent governor, Republican Sean Parnell, trailed their opponents, though by relatively tight margins.

Begich was behind to Republican former Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan 45.13 percent to 48.74 percent. Reports indicate Begich was declining to concede and this was not the first election night on which he went to bed behind in the polls. Last time he pulled out a squeaker of a victory against the late U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, winning by just a point and a half. Still, the margins here seemed tighter than in 2008.

As for Parnell and his fellow Republican running mate, Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan, the governor trailed the “Unity Ticket” of independent Bill Walker and Democrat Byron Mallott by an much tighter margin — 46.42 percent to 47.83 percent.

The governor’s race as the qualifying race for third party candidates this year, who needed to pull in three percent to become registered parties. The Libertarians appeared to have managed to get re-certified but the Alaska Constitution Party — a lot like the Libertarians in their fiscal conservatism but with more of a Bible-based governing philosophy — failed in this it’s first attempt to get certified. Haines mental health professional and Constitution Party gubernatorial candidate J.R. Myers pulled in just 2.47 percent.

Republican U.S. Rep. Don Young won, as usual, but the surprising thing in that race was his margin of victory. Young, who has consistently doubled the vote tallies of his opponents in previous years, drew in 52 percent to Democrat Forrest Dunbar’s 40 percent. The last time Young’s margins were that slim was in 2008, at the height of the Veco corruption scandal when his longtime Washington colleague Ted Stevens had been convicted of federal crimes. Back then, Young, drew in 50 percent and Democratic challenger Ethan Berkowitz — now a talk radio host — drew in 45 percent. In his two subsequent re-elections Young pulled in 69 percent in 2010 and 64 percent in 2012. The U.S. House race had one of its most dramatic moments in the Valley when remarks Young made before Wasilla High School students on the topic of suicide angered first the students and then the community and then the state. Young later apologized.

Ballot initiatives

Alaskans favored the initiatives on the ballot, seemingly passing all three to legalize marijuana, raise the minimum wage and require legislative approval of mines in the Bristol Bay area. The closest margin was the marijuana initiative, which was up 52 percent to 48 percent.

"Just like Rocky Balboa, you get hit and you keep moving forward. I am very proud of our volunteers and our grassroots campaign," one of the main players in the No on 2 campaign, Palmer’s Erick Cordero, said in a text at 11:10 p.m. from Election Central in Anchorage after it was clear his side was losing.

The other side was predictably ebullient.

“We made history, Alaska!” read a post on the Yes on 2 campaign’s Facebook page after the votes were in.

The minimum wage and mining initiatives stood at 68 percent to 31 percent and 65 percent to 34 percent respectively.

Judicial retention

Normally the least interesting part of the ballot, at least in Mat-Su the votes on whether to keep judges on the bench got heated this year.

Of the 10 judges that appeared on Valley ballots, only Palmer’s Bill Estelle got a do-not-retain recommendation from the Alaska Judicial Council. The council cited as its reasons inaccurate pay affidavits the judge turned in. In response, Estelle’s supporters organized a Facebook campaign and barraged news outlets with opinion pieces calling the recommendation unfair, questioning the council’s motives and singing Estelle’s praises.

Voters apparently decided not to heed the council’s advice, voting 54 percent to 46 percent to keep Estelle on the District Court bench.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.