Teea Winger of Kenai waves signs reminding passing drivers to vote in the primary election on the side of the Kenai Spur Highway on Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Teea Winger of Kenai waves signs reminding passing drivers to vote in the primary election on the side of the Kenai Spur Highway on Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2018 in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Elizabeth Earl/Peninsula Clarion)

Dunleavy, Begich, Walker move on to general

Editor’s note: This story has been updated on Wednesday morning with 98 percent of precincts reporting.

Primary election results Wednesday showed Republican gubernatorial candidate Mike Dunleavy in the lead.

Dunleavy, of Wasilla, was leading the race with 61.8 percent of the vote Wednesday morning with 98.64 percent of precincts reporting. He is leading five other Republican hopefuls for the nomination. Republican Mead Treadwell has the next highest number of votes, with 31.9 percent.

Democrat Mark Begich was leading libertarian candidate William Toien in the Democratic primary Wednesday morning with 84.9 percent of the vote to Toien’s 15.13 percent. Begich will move forward to the general election in November and face Dunleavy and incumbent Gov. Bill Walker — who is running as an independent — in the general election Nov. 6.

In the lieutenant governor’s race, Kevin Meyer was leading the field for the Republican nomination over five contenders with 36.2 percent of the vote, according to the preliminary results. Democratic candidate Debra Call, the sole candidate in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor, will move forward to the general.

For U.S. Congress, Rep. Don Young held a handy lead over two challengers for the Republican nomination. On the Democratic side, nonpartisan candidate Alyse Galvin is leading the race for the Democratic nomination in the general against Young. Galvin was leading the Democratic field with 54.2 percent, followed by Dimitri Shein with 23.1 percent, Carol Hafner with 14.7 percent and Christophe Cumings with 7.4 percent.

On the Kenai Peninsula, voters selected candidates for House of Representatives districts 29, 30 and 31 and Senate District O.

In District 29, Republican nominee Wayne Ogle and Democratic nominee Shawn Butler will move forward to the general election. The winner will replace outgoing representative Mike Chenault and represent a broad swath of the Kenai Peninsula from Nikiski to Sterling to Seward. Butler was the sole candidate in the Democratic primary race for the district, while Carpenter is leading candidate Ben Carpenter with 50.1 percent to Carpenter’s 49.9 percent with all precincts reporting Wednesday morning.

In District 30, incumbent Republican candidate Gary Knopp ran unchallenged and will move on to the general.

In District 31, incumbent Paul Seaton — who ran unopposed as a nonpartisan candidate in the Democratic primary — will face off against Republican nominee Sarah Vance in the general election in November. The District 31 Republican primary race was a three-way contest, with Vance taking 43.2 percent and beating out Anchor Point’s John Cox with 41.95 percent and Kasilof’s Henry Kroll 14.85 percent.

In District O, challenger Ron Gillham was leading incumbent Peter Micciche by a narrow margin — Gillham had 50.1 percent of the vote to Micciche’s 49.9 percent, a difference of 12 votes — by Wednesday morning, with all precincts reporting. No candidates filed for the Democratic primary, so the winner will move on to the general unchallenged.

Among peninsula voters, two main issues dominated the conversation: crime and the Permanent Fund Dividend. Many voters said they specifically wanted to vote for candidates who would reverse Walker and the Legislature’s moves to cap or reduce the amount of the dividend to help pay for government.

Soldotna resident Jim Walters, who turned out to vote at the Soldotna Sports Complex, identified crime and financial solvency as his top priorities. He said he supports cuts to the government budget in lieu of diminished returns from the permanent dividend fund.

“I think the government’s got to cut back instead of keep growing. The politicians keep thinking they don’t have to run a balanced budget. I don’t know of a home that doesn’t. If you don’t have a budget, next thing you do you’re homeless,” Walters said.

He also hoped to see the end of Senate Bill 91 — a massive crime reform package passed in 2016 and amended in the last Legislature.

“Something needs to be done,” he said. “I think it needs to be repealed entirely and gone at it from a different angle. What they’ve done so far — they’ve just made it so that serious criminals are getting to walk and it’s just not right.”

Walters said he was primarily interested in the outcome of the governor’s race and said he supported “anybody but Walker.”

Soldotna resident Abraham Anasogak also expressed a desire to see a change in the current administration and said he was voting to preserve permanent dividend fund returns.

“I would like to get the full PFD instead of half of it,” he said.

He said he would prefer to see the government reduce spending rather than cut the dividend.

“They should make cuts where cuts need to be made,” he said.

Abe Ishmael, who turned out to vote at Kenai’s Challenger Learning Center on Tuesday afternoon, expressed apathy about the current election.

“(I’m) not too impressed,” Abe Ishmael said. “It’s always the same story, you know?”

Alternatively, Shea Barnes, who also voted at the Challenger Center in Kenai, emphasized the importance of participating in the electoral process and said that even a small number of people can be the deciding factor in a race.

“I think everybody should get out and vote because it makes a difference,” Barnes said.

While Tuesday’s ballots only had the names of Alaska candidates, Kenai voter Vickie Herrmann saw her vote as a contribution to making change on a national scale.

“I want to do everything I can to get Trump out,” Herrmann said. “I want to see how people vote — if they vote anti-Trump or not.”

Kenai voter Rebecca Anderson said she was primarily interested in the outcome of the governor’s race.

“I think the governor’s election is pretty important and I am interested in voting for Dunleavy this year,” Anderson said. “I think it’s important to always vote your conscience and to make good choices.”

Reach the Peninsula Clarion newsroom at news@peninsulaclarion.com.

More in News

A towering Lutz spruce, center, in the Chugach National Forest is about to be hoisted by a crane Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2015, for transport to the West Lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., to be the 2015 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. (Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service)
Tongass National Forest selected to provide 2024 U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree

Eight to 10 candidate trees will be evaluated, with winner taking “whistlestop tour” to D.C.

A slash pile containing non-organic construction debris is seen at the Snug Harbor Slash Disposal site on Sept. 22, 2020, in Cooper Landing, Alaska. (Photo courtesy Kenai Peninsula Borough Land Management)
Assembly OKs concrete lease in Cooper Landing

The vote came amid widespread community opposition to the agreement

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Children hunt for Easter eggs during the Easter Eggstravaganza at Nikiski Community Recreation Center on Saturday.
Easter eggs, bunnies arrive on the Kenai Peninsula

There are plenty of opportunities to grab a photo with the Easter bunny or seek out some eggs

Flier for Bear Awareness and Electric Fencing Workshops. (Provided by Defenders of Wildlife)
Local workshops to focus on managing bear attractants, electric fencing

The series will run Monday through Friday, April 1-5, in Hope, Seward, Kenai, Soldotna and Homer

A person walks up the steps of the Alaska Capitol, Jan. 16, 2023, in Juneau, Alaska. (AP Photo/Becky Bohrer, File)
Some KPBSD schools could benefit from internet bill passed by House

If House Bill 193 becomes law, an additional six KPBSD schools would be eligible for the state’s grant program

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
A veterinarian with Greater Good Charities escorts dog Maggie into a free spay/neuter clinic at the Moose Pass Fire Station on Thursday.
Moose Pass rallies behind free spay and neuter clinic

The clinic was put on by Greater Good Charities Good Fix program

Signage marks the entrance to Nikiski Middle/High School on Monday, May 16, 2022, in Nikiski, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Nikiski student arrested after school shooting threats

The juvenile student faces charges of terroristic threatening

Armageddon waits to be shown at the Kenai Peninsula District 4-H Agriculture Expo on Friday, Aug. 4, 2023, at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Bjorkman farm tax relief bill clears Senate

The bill is now up for consideration in the House

Most Read