The 2022 Alaska Senate elections took place on November 8, 2022, with the primary elections being held on August 16, 2022.
State senators serve four-year terms in the Alaska Senate, with half of the seats normally up for election every two years. However, because most districts were greatly changed in
redistricting
Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census.
The U.S. Constitution in Art ...
, elections were held for 19 of the 20 seats; the only exception is District T, represented by Democrat
Donny Olson, which was mostly unchanged in redistricting and thus did not have an election. Some senators were elected to serve four-year terms, while others would serve shortened two-year terms.
Following
the previous election in 2020,
Republicans
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
had control of the Alaska Senate, with 13 seats to
Democrats' seven seats. One Democrat caucused with the Republicans, giving them a governing majority of 14 seats.
After the 2022 elections, Republicans lost two seats to Democrats, reducing their majority to 11–9. However, a coalition government was formed with eight Republicans and all nine Democrats.
Background
In 2020, Alaskan voters approved Ballot Measure 2, an initiative to implement a
nonpartisan blanket top-four primary with a single, open primary where candidates from all parties are listed on the ballot and the top four vote getters advance to the general election. The general election is then resolved using
instant-runoff voting
Instant-runoff voting (IRV; ranked-choice voting (RCV), preferential voting, alternative vote) is a single-winner ranked voting election system where Sequential loser method, one or more eliminations are used to simulate Runoff (election), ...
, where voters rank the candidates and the candidates receiving the lowest votes are eliminated one by one until one candidate has a majority. The first election using the new system was the 2022 election cycle. As of the close of candidate filing, none of the elections for the Alaska Senate had more than four candidates.
Predictions
Overview
Primary elections
Two Republicans and one Democrat withdrew before the general election.
General election
Summary of results
__NOTOC__
Retiring incumbents
*E District:
Lora Reinbold
Lora H. Reinbold (born April 30, 1964) is an American politician who was a member of the Alaska Senate. She was a member of the Alaska House from 2013 to 2019, representing District 26. In 2018, Reinbold was elected to the Alaska Senate, Alaska S ...
(R)
*F District:
Josh Revak (R) ''(
ran for U.S. House)''
*H District:
Natasha von Imhof (R)
*J District:
Tom Begich (D)
Detailed results
*Source for primary results
*Source for general election results
District A
District B
District C
District D
{, class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
, + colspan=6 , General election
, -
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 , Party
! rowspan=2 , Candidate
! colspan=3 , First choice
! colspan=3 , Round 1
! colspan=3 , Round 2
, -
! Votes
! %
! Transfer
! Votes
! %
! Transfer
! Votes
! %
, -
! style="background-color:" ,
, style="text-align:left" ,
Republican
, style="text-align:left" scope="row" ,
, 6,950
, 45.8
, +122
, 7,072
, 46.6
, +532
, 7,604
, 53.6
, -
! style="background-color:" ,
, style="text-align:left" ,
Republican
, style="text-align:left" scope="row" ,
, 6,311
, 41.6
, +20
, 6,331
, 41.7
, +263
, 6,594
, 46.4
, -
! style="background-color:" ,
, style="text-align:left" ,
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States
* Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...
, style="text-align:left" scope="row" ,
, 1,768
, 11.7
, +19
, 1,787
, 11.8
, -1,787
, colspan="2" style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;", ''Eliminated''
, -
! style="background-color:" ,
, style="text-align:left" colspan=2 ,
Write-in
A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...
, 140
, 0.9
, -140
, colspan="5" style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;", ''Eliminated''
, - class="sortbottom" style="background-color:#F6F6F6"
! colspan=3 scope="row" style="text-align:right;" , Total votes
! colspan=3 , 15,169
! colspan=3 , 15,190
! colspan=3 , 14,198
, - class="sortbottom"
, - class="sortbottom" style="background-color:#F6F6F6"
! colspan=6 scope="row" style="text-align:right;" ,
Blank or inactive ballots
! colspan=2 , 1,046
, +992
! colspan=2 , 2,038
, - class="sortbottom" style="background:#f6f6f6;"
! style="background-color:" ,
, style="text-align:left" colspan=10 ,
Republican hold
District E
{, class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
, + colspan=6 , General election
, -
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 , Party
! rowspan=2 , Candidate
! colspan=3 , First choice
! colspan=3 , Round 1
! colspan=3 , Round 2
, -
! Votes
! %
! Transfer
! Votes
! %
! Transfer
! Votes
! %
, -
! style="background-color:" ,
, style="text-align:left" ,
Republican
, style="text-align:left" scope="row" ,
, 5,611
, 33.6
, +41
, 5,652
, 33.8
, +2,229
, 7,881
, 57.0
, -
! style="background-color:" ,
, style="text-align:left" ,
Republican
, style="text-align:left" scope="row" , (incumbent)
, 5,521
, 33.1
, +11
, 5,532
, 33.1
, +417
, 5,949
, 43.0
, -
! style="background-color:" ,
, style="text-align:left" ,
Democratic
, style="text-align:left" scope="row" ,
, 5,490
, 32.9
, +28
, 5,518
, 33.0
, -5,518
, colspan=2 align=center, ''Eliminated''
, -
! style="background-color:" ,
, style="text-align:left" colspan=2 ,
Write-in
A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...
, 58
, 0.4
, -58
, colspan="5" style="background:lightgrey; text-align:center;", ''Eliminated''
, - class="sortbottom" style="background-color:#F6F6F6"
! colspan=3 scope="row" style="text-align:right;" , Total votes
! colspan=3 , 16,680
! colspan=3 , 16,702
! colspan=3 , 13,830
, - class="sortbottom"
, - class="sortbottom" style="background-color:#F6F6F6"
! colspan=6 scope="row" style="text-align:right;" ,
Blank or inactive ballots
! colspan=2 , 735
, +2,872
! colspan=2 , 3,607
, - class="sortbottom" style="background:#f6f6f6;"
! style="background-color:" ,
, style="text-align:left" colspan=10 ,
Republican hold
District F
District G
District H
District I
District J
District K
District L
Republicans Joe Wright and Clayton Trotter withdrew prior to the general election.
District M
District N
{, class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right"
, + colspan=6 , General election
, -
! colspan=2 rowspan=2 , Party
! rowspan=2 , Candidate
! colspan=3 , First choice
! colspan=3 , Round 1
! colspan=3 , Round 2
, -
! Votes
! %
! Transfer
! Votes
! %
! Transfer
! Votes
! %
, -
! style="background-color:" ,
, style="text-align:left" ,
Republican
, style="text-align:left" scope="row" , (incumbent)
, 5,133
, 44.5
, +37
, 5,170
, 44.8
, +954
, 6,124
, 58.7
, -
! style="background-color:" ,
, style="text-align:left" ,
Republican
, style="text-align:left" scope="row" ,
, 3,347
, 29.0
, +38
, 3,385
, 29.4
, +926
, 4,311
, 41.3
, -
! style="background-color:" ,
, style="text-align:left" ,
Republican
, style="text-align:left" scope="row" ,
, 2,923
, 25.3
, +54
, 2,977
, 25.8
, -2,977
, colspan=3 align=center, ''Eliminated''
, -
! style="background-color:" ,
, style="text-align:left" colspan=2 ,
Write-in
A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...
, 141
, 1.2
, -141
, colspan=5 align=center, ''Eliminated''
, - class="sortbottom" style="background-color:#F6F6F6"
! colspan=3 scope="row" style="text-align:right;" , Total votes
! colspan=3 , 11,544
! colspan=3 , 11,532
! colspan=3 , 10,435
, - class="sortbottom"
, - class="sortbottom" style="background-color:#F6F6F6"
! colspan=6 scope="row" style="text-align:right;" ,
Blank or inactive ballots
! colspan=2 , 2,244
, +1,097
! colspan=2 , 3,341
, - class="sortbottom" style="background:#f6f6f6;"
! style="background-color:" ,
, style="text-align:left" colspan=10 ,
Republican hold
District O
District P
District Q
District R
District S
Aftermath
Negotiations for a governing coalition in the state senate occurred after ranked-choice votes in the state were tabulated. The bipartisan coalition was announced two days later on November 25, with eight Republicans and nine Democrats leading the new Senate majority. They stated that their top priorities would be energy costs, education, and the economy. Incoming Senate President
Gary Stevens also remarked that the bipartisan coalition was necessary to pass responsible budgets and respond to calls for "more moderation" by the electorate.
See also
*
2022 United States Senate election in Alaska
The 2022 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 8, 2022. Incumbent Republican senator Lisa Murkowski won reelection to a fourth full term, defeating fellow Republican Kelly Tshibaka and Democrat Patricia Chesbro.
This ...
*
2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Alaska
*
2022 United States gubernatorial elections
United States gubernatorial elections were held on November 8, 2022, in 36 states and three territories. As most governors serve four-year terms, the last regular gubernatorial elections for all but two of the seats took place in 2018 United St ...
*
2022 United States state legislative elections
*
2022 Alaska House of Representatives election
*
2022 Alaska elections
The 2022 Alaska state elections took place on November 8, 2022. The state also held Regional Educational Attendance Area (REAA) elections on the first Tuesday in October.
Federal Elections
United States Senate Seat (Class III)
Incumben ...
*
List of Alaska State Legislatures
Notes
References
{{2022 United States elections
senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
2020
The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
Alaska Senate
The Alaska State Senate is the upper house in the Alaska State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It convenes in the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska and is responsible for making laws and confirming or reje ...