Alaska’s 2024 primary election will be held Tuesday, Aug. 20.
Polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., when Alaskans will vote in the race for U.S. representative and for seats in the Alaska Legislature. Unofficial results will be posted to the State Division of Elections website Tuesday evening. Sept. 1 is the target date for certification of the results.
In the primary, voters will select one candidate in each race. The top four vote-getters will advance to the general election in November.
In the local races for state Legislature, no race has more than four candidates running.
Incumbent Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, has represented Senate District D since 2023, and will have three opponents in the election. The seat covers the northern Kenai Peninsula, including Kenai, Soldotna and Nikiski.
Rep. Ben Carpenter, R-Nikiski, who has served in the House of Representatives since 2019, is not running for reelection to his seat but is instead challenging Bjorkman. Also running for the seat are Soldotna’s Andy Cizek, of the Alaska Independence Party, and Tina Wegener, a Democrat from Sterling.
House District 8, previously held by Carpenter, covers Nikiski, Sterling and Cooper Landing. Bill Elam and John Hillyer have both filed to run. Elam currently serves on the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly, while Hillyer is a retired Air Force pilot.
Incumbent Rep. Justin Ruffridge, R-Soldotna, will face Ron Gillham, also a Soldotna Republican, for House District 7, which covers Kenai and Soldotna. The race is a rematch of a 2022 race where Ruffridge unseated Gillham, who had previously held the seat since 2020, when his opponent Gary Knopp died in a plane crash.
House District 6, which covers the southern Kenai Peninsula including Homer, Anchor Point and Kasilof, has three challengers facing incumbent Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer. They are Dawson Slaughter, an Anchor Point Republican and president of the Anchor Point Chamber of Commerce; Alana Greear, an elementary teacher at Kachemak-Selo School; and Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly President Brent Johnson.
Seward resident Leighton Radner, a registered member of the Libertarian party, has filed to run against incumbent Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, for House District 5, which includes Seward as well as other communities not on the Kenai Peninsula like Kodiak and Cordova.
Senate District C, which covers the southern Kenai Peninsula — including Homer and Seward — as well as other parts of Southcentral Alaska like Kodiak and Cordova, is not up for election until 2026 and is held by Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak.
The race for U.S. Representative has 12 candidates all seeking the seat held by incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola. Only four will advance beyond Tuesday’s election.
More information about the primary election, including polling place locations, can be found at elections.alaska.gov.
Reach reporter Jake Dye at jacob.dye@peninsulaclarion.com.
