Election: no call yet on governor; 8,000-vote difference for Senate

Alaska state leadership remained somewhat in limbo as Petroleum News went to press Nov. 6, with the gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races not decided.

In the governor-lieutenant governor race, the Bill Walker-Byron Mallott “unity” ticket led by almost 3,200 votes over incumbent Republicans Sean Parnell and Dan Sullivan at the first formal tally, completed in the wee hours of Nov. 5 following the Nov. 4 election, with Walker-Mallott garnering 107,395 votes to 104,230 for Parnell-Sullivan.

All 12 seats in the 20-member Alaska Senate which were on the ballot were determined; in the House, with all 40 seats in play, a few contests remained too close to call.

There was a split of some 8,000 votes in the expensive and contentious U.S. Senate race with incumbent Mark Begich, a Democrat, trailing Republican challenger Dan Sullivan, but unwilling to concede until all votes were counted, citing expected support from rural areas. The initial tally was Sullivan 110,203 and Begich 102,054.

Republicans took over the U.S. Senate, flipping the leadership, and putting sitting Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, in line to chair the U.S. Senate’s Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where she is ranking member.

Alaska’s sole congressman, Don Young, handily won re-election to the U.S. House, with 115,848 votes to challenger Forrest Dunbar’s 90,534.

The Alaska Division of Election’s schedule shows Nov. 6 as the beginning of questioned ballot review; Nov. 11 as the beginning of the count for any remaining early votes and absentee ballots; Nov. 14 as the deadline for receipt of absentee by mail ballots postmarked within the United States; Nov. 19 as the deadline for receipt of absentee by mail ballots postmarked outside the U.S.; and Nov. 28 as the target date for certifying the election.

Inauguration is Dec. 1, and the Walker-Mallott campaign said the candidates would “meet with their campaign advisors and review a possible transition timeline that could begin once all the ballots are counted.”

Meyer to head Senate

There are 15 members in the Senate majority, which named Meyer, R-Anchorage, as Senate president; John Coghill, R-North Pole, as majority leader; Charlie Huggins, R-Wasilla, as Rules chair; Fairclough, R-Anchorage, and Kelly, R-Fairbanks, will be Finance co-chairs.

On the other side of the aisle, the four Democratic senators up for re-election - Dennis Egan, Berta Gardner, Lyman Hoffman and Donny Olson - were all re-elected.

Other committee chair assignments, expected to be formalized in December, include Lesil McGuire, R-Anchorage, Judiciary Committee; Stoltze, State Affairs; Costello, Labor and Commerce; Giessel, Resources; Bishop, Community and Regional Affairs; Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, Health and Social Services; Micciche, Transportation; Dunleavy, Education; and Stevens as chair of the joint Legislative Council.

Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, has joined the Senate majority and, along with Bishop, Dunleavy and Micciche, will hold a seat on the Senate Finance Committee.

The House majority was scheduled to meet Nov. 6 and that body’s leadership decisions were not yet available when Petroleum News went to press.

Most sitting members who ran in the general election won re-election; the House will have eight new members. Three races were too close to call.

Fifteen Democrats were elected to the House, including one new member, and 22 Republicans, including four new members; three races were undecided.

The state had 509,011 voters registered for the election; 228,242 were included in early totals, a 44.84 percent turnout. By comparison, official results for the November 2012 general election, a presidential contest, show 506,432 registered voters, of whom 301,694 voted, a 59.57 percent turnout.

In the last non-presidential general election, November 2010, there were 494,876 registered voters and 258,746 cast ballots, a 52.29 percent turnout.