By AlaskaWatchman.com

AK Ballot voter pic

All ballots are counted in Alaska’s primary election and the stage is now set for the general in November. This will include strong conservative newcomers vying to reshape the State Senate and House.

It also appears that 24-term winner Rep. Don Young may be in for a battle against Democratic challenger Alyse Gavin. Gavin actually won more votes in her Democratic primary than Young did in the Republican primary. Whether that carries over into the general election will have to be seen. Young is the longest currently serving member of the U.S. House.

Below are some of the highlights from several primary races. Click here to view all results.

STATE SENATE

  • District N: Political newcomer Roger Holland notched an impressive victory over Senate President Cathy Giessel. Holland beat the powerful incumbent 3,686 votes to just 2,055. Holland took 64% of the vote.
  • District P: Incumbent Gary Stevens pulled out a victory over challenger John Cox in a close race. Stevens earned 2,086 votes to Cox’s 1,854. Stevens will now go up against Greg Madden who took 2,263 votes running as member of the Alaska Independence Party.
  • District D: Republican David Wilson took 34% of the vote to win his primary for District D.
  • District F: Republican Shelley Hughes earned an impressive 4,741 votes without facing a primary challenger. She now goes against Democratic primary winner Stephany Jeffers had just 1,986 votes without a challenger.
  • District B: Republican Robert Meyers pulled out a narrow, 16-vote victory over incumbent John Coghill, 1,739 votes to 1,723.
  • District L: Republican incumbent Natasha Von Imhof edge out a victory over challenger Stephen Duplantis  2,162 votes to 1,882.
  • District M: Incumbent Josh Revak easily staved off a couple challengers in earning 2,499 votes, more than 66% of the total.

STATE HOUSE

  • District 7: In a much anticipated and somewhat unexpected result, political newcomer Christopher Kurka easily beat former Alaska legislator Lynn Gattis in the Republican primary. Kurka took more than 69% of the vote.
  • District 8: Long time legislator Mark Neuman suffered a resounding defeat by challenger Kevin McCabe who took 64% of the vote to just 36% for Neuman.
  • District 9: Incumbent Republican George Rauscher easily staved off challenger Lucas Howard – with a 1,689 to 1,082 victory.
  • District 10: Republican Incumbent David Eastman defeated challenger Jesse Sumner in a relatively close primary. Eastman took 52.8% of the vote to Sumner’s 47.2%.
  • District 28: Incumbent Republican Jennifer Johnston was lost by a wide margin to challenger James Kaufman who took roughly twice as many votes as Johnston (66.3% to 33.7%).
  • District 30: Ronald Gillham took 59% of the vote to win a Republican primary race that included the late Gary Knopp who died in a plane crash earlier this month.
  • District 11: Incumbent Republican Delana Johnson easily ran away from challenger Alex Fetta, 1,858 votes to just 550 respectively.
  • District 13: Incumbent Republican Sharon Jackson lost to challenger Ken McCarty. McCarty took 722 votes to Jackson’s 573.
  • District 15: Incumbent Republican Gabrielle LeDoux lost by a landslide to challenger David Nelson. Nelson earned over 67% of the vote.
  • District 6: Mike Cronk handedly trounced his two challengers on the Republican side, taking nearly 65% of the vote.
  • District 24: Incumbent Chuck Kopp was ousted by challenger Thomas McKay who took nearly 61% of the vote.

U.S. SENATE & HOUSE

Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan garnered 65,155 votes in an unchallenged Republican primary. His main challenger in the general election will be Planned Parenthood-endorsed Al Gross, who earned 50,009 votes in easily winning a five-way contest in the Democratic primary.

As expected, Rep. Don Young resoundingly defeated his two challengers in the Republican primary. Young took 51,872 votes, roughly 76% of the total. On the Democratic side, however, Alyse Galvin earned 53,194 votes (86% of the total) to earn the right to challenge Young – the longest-serving member of the U.S. House, having served 24 terms.

Click here to support the Alaska Watchman.

Upsets & surprises: The stage is set for Alaska’s general election

Joel Davidson
Joel is Editor-in-Chief of the Alaska Watchman. Joel is an award winning journalist and has been reporting for over 24 years, He is a proud father of 8 children, and lives in Palmer, Alaska.