By UAS Whalesong and COMM 218 students

UPDATED NOV 21

While Alaska is Republican when it comes to the presidential election,  the upcoming state legislature is likely to organize as bi-partisan coalitions, Juneau Sen. Jesse Kiehl recently told UAS students.

“Alaskans are still willing to vote for individuals more than straight party tickets,” Kiehl said on Nov. 13 in the Media and Election 2024 communication course.

The final ballot count was Nov. 20. Some races changed after absentee and overseas ballots were added, but results showed that many Republican and Democratic candidates who worked across party lines won legislative races.

Kiehl describes himself as a “moderate Democrat.” Juneau is also represented in the Alaska Legislature by Rep. Andi Story, House District 3, and Rep. Sarah Hannan, House District 4. All three Democrats ran unopposed in this year’s election.

Kiehl said the willingness to look beyond partisan politics is an effect of having a close-knit community.

“I think it has a lot to do with Alaska’s small population and the ability to connect directly with voters,” he said.

He highlighted voter connection by comparing the size of districts in Alaska and California. Alaska Senate District B includes Juneau, Haines, Skagway, Gustavus, and Klukwan. According to the 2024 Economic and Demographic Factsheet from the Center for Economic Development at the University of Alaska Anchorage, the population of Senate District B is estimated at 36,267. In contrast, the average California state senate district has around a million constituents.

Kiehl said he can connect with voters he might not be able to reach in a larger state.

“It’s much easier to paint someone you’ve never met as a member of that party, that group,” but he said one-on-one interactions and the ability to see past party lines might make Alaskans more willing to vote for a split ticket. 

He cited three state Senate races in which two incumbent candidates faced Republican Party opposition for working across partisan lines. Republican Senators Jesse Bjorkman (Kenai, Soldotna) and Kelly Merrick (Eagle River) were branded as “party sellouts” for joining bipartisan coalitions in previous legislatures. 

In the third race, Fairbanks Senator Scott Kawasaki, a Democrat in a red district, faced opposition from a Republican Party-backed candidate, but he won re-election.

“In all of those districts, Nick Begich the Third won, Donald Trump won,” Kiehl said.

“In each of the three races, the local Republican organization clearly endorsed the further right Republican,” however, voters bucked the Republican Party endorsement.

“I think there’s cause for hope there,” Kiehl said.

A new governor?

State lawmakers and Gov. Mike Dunleavy have often clashed in past legislatures, but the governor has been floated for a cabinet position in the Trump administration. 

“Odds are pretty good we’re not going to have the same governor this session as we had the last six. Can’t say that with certainty,” Kiehl said. “The Governor has been angling very hard for a cabinet post or other high-level position in a Trump administration.”

A Nov. 11 NOTUS article cited three anonymous sources who claimed the president-elect’s transition team had discussed the interior secretary position with Dunleavy. But on Nov. 15, Trump named North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum as Secretary of the Interior. Dunleavy followed the announcement on X, writing, “Doug Burgum is a fantastic pick for Secretary of the Interior.” 

Still, Dunleavy could pursue other high-level positions in the Trump Administration. His term is not set to end until December 2026. If he were to leave office before then, Lt. Governor Nancy Dahlstrom would become Alaska Governor, and Alaska Adjutant General Torrence Saxe would take over as Lieutenant Governor. 

Kiehl expects Dahlstrom, a former Alaska House of Representatives member, would be more willing to work with the state legislature than Dunleavy. Dahlstrom also served as Commissioner of Corrections in Dunleavy’s first term as governor. 

“You could sit down and talk with her. She had reasons. You could have the conversation. Sometimes, you could convince her of a thing,” Kiehl said.

Ranked Choice Voting

Ballot Measure 2 sought to repeal Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), but it remained in effect once absentee and overseas ballots were counted. The final vote indicated 50.10% of voters favored keeping RCV, while 49.90% wanted it gone, a difference of 664 votes. 

The ballot measure called for the return of closed-party primaries and single-choice general elections. Alaska began using RCV in 2022, but the Alaska Republican Party heavily backed its repeal, which would have forced primary voters to pick a single-party ballot rather than all candidates appearing on the same ballot.    

Alaska has four recognized political parties: Democratic, Republican, Libertarian, and  Independence. The state also has several political groups seeking party status. However, over half of registered voters consider themselves non-partisan and do not want to declare a political affiliation. On Nov. 4, the day before this year’s general election, 357,562 voters were registered as undeclared or nonpartisan out of a total of 611,940 registered voters, according to the Alaska Divison of Elections. 

Optimism

Though Sen. Kiehl’s two-hour question-and-answer session with students and community members was optimistic, there was concern in the room about the polarization of the nation at large. He focused on the shift in personal politics. 

“More and more and more, we’re dividing ourselves,” Kiehl said. “We’re not interacting with people who are not already like us. We are choosing various forms and levels of isolation.” 

Kiehl described how Americans have overcome past political differences. His examples included wars with draft policies and major internal migration, neither of which were suitable in his opinion. 

He expressed some uncertainty in the future of American politics, contemplating how citizens could be brought together to limit political strife and work through issues with less conflict. But young people, like those in the room who were full of questions for the senator, may possess the solution. 

“I need to look to you guys because I don’t even have a TikTok, and I don’t know exactly how we reach out, pull Americans together in meaningful ways so that we can connect with each other,” he said. “Not because it homogenizes our political philosophies, but because it gets us through differences without dire conflict and strife.”