Valley Republicans enjoy big night in House and Senate races

Valley Republicans running in House and Senate seats hold big leads in the 2020 general election.

In the House, Republican incumbents George Rauscher, David Eastman, DeLena Johnson and Cathy Tilton all have at least 70 percent of the vote totals, as of early Wednesday morning.

In District 9, Rauscher leads Democratic Bill Johnson 4,453-1,114, with all 11 precincts reported. Rauscher has 79 percent of the vote.

“I feel very confident. I know the people in my district. I know I’ve worked with them for four years, I feel very confident about what they believe and I think they believe in me and they are very confident in what I do and I appreciate the fact that their votes will reflect that. They have reflected it so far and I believe it’ll follow through all the way with the absentees the early votes and everything else,” said Rauscher.

Eastman leads Democrat Monica Stein-Olson 5,152-1,149 in District 10, with all 11 precincts reported. Eastman received 81 percent of the vote.

“We are feeling very well, very glad for the votes that we have gotten and looking forward to a victory later in the evening,” said Eastman.

Johnson has 5,207 total votes in District 11. Her opponent, Democrat Andrea Hackbarth has 1,377. Johnson has 78 percent of the vote.

Tilton is running unopposed in District 12, and has nearly 98 percent of the vote.

“I’m feeling really great with the turnout right now, especially in the House. It looks like things are looking really positive for us,” said Tilton.

A pair of newcomers also have big leads early. Republican Kevin McCabe has nearly 86 percent of the vote total (5,470 votes) in District 8, with all six precincts reported. Alma Hartley has 886 votes, or about 14 percent.

Republican Christopher Kurka has 78 percent of the vote total in District 7, with all seven precincts reporting. Jamin Burton has 21 percent of the vote. Kurka’s lead is 4,418-1,208.

“The first numbers that came in looked pretty good for us and feeling pretty confident just because the nature of the district is pretty Republican. It’s good to see those numbers are kind of going the way we hoped they would,” said Kurka.

Valley Republican incumbents also have big leads early in a pair of races for Senate districts. David Wilson leads the three-way race in District D, with 8,785 votes or 72 percent of the total. Wilson is followed by Dan Mayfield with 1,653 votes and Thomas Lamb with 1,360. All 13 precincts have reported.

Shelley Hughes has 9,334 votes in District F. Democrat Jim Cooper trails with 2,131 votes. Hughes has 77 percent of the vote, with 15 of 16 precincts reporting.

Mat-Su Borough Assembly, School Board

Ole Larson is the lone member of the Mat-Su Borough School Board up for reelection in 2020. With all seven precincts reported, Larson has solidified his lead.

Larson has 2,100 votes, 58 percent of the vote, and leads Jeanne Troshynski, who has 1,518 total votes and about 42 percent, in the race for District 3. Troshynski is one of a pair of longtime Valley educators running for school board seats. Former Wasilla High School principal Dwight Probasco has 2,159 total votes, about 63 percent, in the race for District 6. His opponent, Lee Baugus has 1,269 votes, about 37 percent. All five precincts have reported.

“I feel good about the results coming in and I’m thankful that I had a good group of people helping me, working with me on this campaign but I’m going to respect the system and what’s in place for honoring absentee ballots and I’ll wait for them to call it,” said Probasco.

In the Mat-Su Borough Assembly, the race has been tight in District 5. With all four precincts reported, Clayton Tew has 1,160 votes, 33 percent. Lisa Behrens trails with 1,093 votes, about 31 percent. Mike Alexander (854 votes) and Ken Koch (395) follow in the race.

In District 4, Robert Yundt holds a big lead with 1,819 votes, 61 percent. Colleen Vague has 595 votes and Amber Sanchez has 564 votes.

“Hard work pays off, I mean it’s in every aspect of life, I put a lot of energy into this. The absentee ballots will I think possibly be similar to this. I contacted everybody in my district and a lot of people were voting via absentee and I don’t blame them so I’m thinking it’ll probably go similar,” said Yundt.

“There are still 2,876 absentee ballots and 428 questioned ballots that were not counted tonight and could affect some races,” Mat-Su Borough spokesman Stefan Hinman said in email update early Wednesday morning.

Sullivan, Young hold leads

Rep. Don Young, who is vying for his 25th term in the U.S. House of Representatives, has 63 percent of the vote with 81 percent of the precincts reported in Alaska. Young has 108,473 total votes, as of early Wednesday morning. Young leads challenger Alyse Galvin, who has 62,385 votes.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, another incumbent, also has the lead in his run for U.S. Senate. Sullivan has almost 63 percent of the vote (108,488 total votes) as of early Wednesday morning. Challenger Al Gross has 54,755 total votes.

President earning Alaska vote

President Donald Trump is leading in the Alaska polls, with 81 percent of the precincts reported, Trump garnered 108,231 votes, about 63 percent of the vote as of early Wednesday morning. Challenger Joe Biden received 56,849 votes, about 32 percent.

Contact the Frontiersman at news@frontiersman.com.