Absentee and early voting started Monday for Alaska’s Aug. 20 primary election.
Voters can now cast ballots at a handful of in-person voting centers and by-mail absentee ballots. A list of early voting centers is available here.
The importance of primary elections has diminished since Alaska voters adopted open primaries in 2020 as part of a slate of election reforms that included ranked-choice voting. Still, it serves as a useful benchmark on the state of key races and voter mobilization.
Under Alaska’s open primary system, the top four candidates in the races will advance to the general election. To avoid the spoiler effect of having two candidates from the same political party split the vote, general elections are then conducted with ranked-choice voting. Those rankings only come into play if no candidate wins an outright majority and effectively allows the state to conduct an instant runoff election.
Only a handful of races will be narrowed on primary day: The race for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat and two legislative seats.
Alaska’s Democratic U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola has 11 primary challengers, the most prominent of whom are Republican Nick Begich, who ran against Peltola in 2022, and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom. In April, Begich pledged to drop out if he finishes behind Dahlstrom in the primary election. Dahlstrom, who Trump has endorsed, hasn’t made a similar pledge if she finishes behind Begich.
In Eagle River, moderate labor-friendly Republican Sen. Kelly Merrick faces four challengers: Republicans Sharon Jackson and Ken McCarty (both former legislators), Republican Jared Goecker and Democrat Lee Hammermeister. According to recent financial reports, Goecker led the field in fundraising.
Tok Republican Rep. Mike Cronk’s decision to seek an open state Senate seat has attracted a crowded field for the massive House District 36, which ranges from Fairbanks through the Interior, down the Richardson Highway and out to the Canada border. That race has drawn four Republicans — Pamela Goode, Dana Mock, Rebecca Schwanke and Cole Snodgrass — along with Democrat Brandon Putuuqti Kowalski and Libertarian James Fields. Two candidates will be eliminated in that race.
Alaska’s primary election is Aug. 20 and the general election will be held on Nov. 5.
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Twitter.
