Valley voters see red

MAT-SU — Just as he did in the Republican primary, Joe Miller easily carried every single Valley voting district, as did every other Republican party nominee on the ballot.

Though the results were pretty resounding in the other statewide races, Alaskans won’t know for several weeks who they elected to represent them in the U.S. Senate. For now, incumbent U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski — who ran as a write-in candidate — is presumed to be leading Miller.

The Write-in Vote category received the majority of votes statewide — 41 percent with 99 percent of precincts reporting — while Joe Miller had 34 percent and Scott McAdams trailed with 24 percent.

But that wasn’t the case in the Valley, where in some districts Miller took in as much as the write-ins and McAdams combined. For example, District 14, which includes Wasilla and the surrounding areas, cast 3,508 votes for Miller, 988 for McAdams and 2,007 write-ins. The closest margin was in District 16, often called the Chugiak district but which includes the Butte. But even there, Miller grabbed 1,000 more votes than Murkowksi. The tally: Miller — 3,450, Murkowski — 2,437, McAdams — 1,193.

Republicans Sean Parnell and Mead Treadwell won 59 percent of the vote, running against Democrats Ethan Berkowitz and Diane Benson, who received 38 percent of the vote.

In the Valley, margins were wider. Parnell/Treadwell more than doubled the totals for Berkowitz/Benson across the board. The margins were widest in Palmer where Berkowitz took in 2,063 compared to Parnell’s 5,018.

Republican Don Young will serve a 20th term in the U.S. House. With 68 percent of the vote reporting, he was leading Democratic challenger and state legislator Harry Crawford, 69 percent to 31 percent.

Young’s support in the Valley was stronger than in the state as a whole. In each district he tripled, or nearly tripled, Crawford’s total.

All of the Valley’s Republican state lawmakers representing the Mat-Su Valley retained their seats in the Legislature.

Republican Bill Stoltze defeated Bonnie Nelson, winning 78 percent of the vote in the race to represent District 12, Butte/Chugiak. In the incumbent-less race for District 12, representing Chickaloon, Sutton and Valdez, Republican Eric Feige won 58 percent of the vote to defeat Democrat Bert Cottle, who had 42 percent of the vote.

Running unopposed were Wes Keller (R-Wasilla), Mark Neuman (R-Willow) and Carl Gatto (R-Palmer), as well as state Sen. Charlie Huggins (R-Mat-Su), who all retained their seats.

Propositions

Voters also approved Proposition A by 62 percent to authorize the state to sell $600 million in bonds that will be repaid through low-cost mortgages offered to veterans.

This was a tougher sell in the Valley. Though it passed handily in District 12, it squeaked by with only 160 more “yes” votes than “no” votes in Palmer and only 22 more in Wasilla, which means that at least for the Valley the result could flip as absentee and questioned ballots are counted.

Proposition B — a $397 million bond to build education facilities — passed with 59 percent of the vote statewide. Again, this was a tougher sell for the Valley and two districts actually voted it down: District 15, Big Lake/Willow and District 16, Chugiak/Butte.

And 60 percent of Alaskans voted against Ballot Measure No. 1, which would have increased the size of the state Legislature by adding two senators and four representatives.

Valley voters really didn’t like this one. Palmer shot down Measure 1 by almost 2,000 votes, as did Wasilla. The rest of the districts were strongly against it.

Retentions

State Supreme Court Justice Dana Fabe retained her seat with 53 percent of the vote and State Appeals Court Justice David Mannheimer was retained with 62 percent of the vote.

If the Valley had had its way, though, Fabe would be gone.

The justice had been the target of a campaign seeking her ouster based on opinions she’d taken regarding abortion and gay marriage. Not one Valley district voted to retain her and 1,200 more people in both Districts 14 and 15 voted against her. Mannheimer, who was not the target of such a campaign, was nevertheless a tough sell and didn’t pass muster in Wasilla or Big Lake/Willow.

Superior Court judges Kari Kristiansen won 62 percent of the vote; Jack W. Smith won 63 percent; Vanessa White won 64 percent; District Court judge John Wolfe, won 65 percent; and District Court judge William Estelle, 63 percent. Valley votes more-or-less mirrored those results.

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