Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage, waves a sign on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026 in Midtown Anchorage. (Photo by Loren Holmes/Alaska Beacon)
The “blue wave” that marked national results during Election Day appears to have washed into the Alaska House of Representatives as well.
According to preliminary election results updated early Wednesday morning, independent and Democratic lawmakers are leading in 23 of the House’s 40 seats. Independents and Democrats won 19 seats in the 2024 elections.
Many votes remain uncounted, including thousands of early and absentee ballots that could change the results in districts where all precincts have reported Election Day results.
Since 2024, the House has been controlled by a 21-person coalition that includes 16 Democrats, 3 independents and 2 Republicans, and Election Day results indicate that coalition is likely to grow, even if no Republicans choose to join.
The 20-person state Senate has been controlled by a 14-member coalition for the past two years, and preliminary election results indicate that coalition is likely to continue as well, with coalition-minded senators either being elected or re-elected.
Former Democratic state Rep. Cliff Groh will return to the Alaska House after defeating Republican Dan Sager in the House district covering Anchorage’s Government Hill and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson.
Republican Rep. David Nelson did not seek re-election, leaving the seat open. Groh previously represented the district but was defeated by Nelson in 2024. The district’s large military population does not usually vote in midterm elections, which causes its state House representation to regularly flip between Republican and Democratic control.
Elsewhere in Anchorage, Democratic candidate Denny Wells has defeated Republican incumbent Rep. Mia Costello after unsuccessfully challenging her in 2022 and 2024. With all six precincts reporting results, Wells has 52.4% of the vote for House District 15, which covers the Campbell Lake and Jewel Lake area of Anchorage.
Democratic-backed independent candidate Joy Beth Cottle leads Republican candidate Harmony Tomaszewski by 43 votes out of 6,601 counted so far in House District 34, which covers northern Fairbanks.
Some absentee and early votes remain uncounted.
House District 34 voted strongly for Republican President Donald Trump in 2024 and re-elected state Republican Rep. Frank Tomaszewski by a wide margin over Cottle in that year, but Tomaszewski declined to run for re-election and instead ran for the state Senate seat being vacated by Sen. Robb Myers, R-North Pole.
Myers announced his retirement close to the election filing deadline, which deterred other candidates from running for the office. It also deterred candidates from running against his wife Harmony, who had inside knowledge of the upcoming state House vacancy and filed to replace her husband.
With Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, vacating his state House seat to run for Senate, House District 37 had four candidates vying to replace him.
As of Wednesday morning, that race remained unresolved. With 22 of 35 precincts reporting results, Democratic candidate Evelynn Trefon had 36.4% of the vote, followed by Republican Brenda Wilson with 33.7%, independent Mark Smith with 22.6% and independent Cade Woods with 6.8%.
The district went for Trump in 2024, and the winner of the state House race will be decided by a ranked-choice runoff.
If Wilson wins, it likely will be the only district to flip to Republican control in this election.
Both of Eagle River’s state House seats were undecided early Wednesday morning. In House District 24, where Republican Rep. Dan Saddler retired after a long tenure, Republican Ken McCarty leads fellow Republican Gina Wall by just 16 votes out of 6,729 cast. The margin could change as more absentee and early votes are counted.
The race for House District 23 is headed to a ranked choice runoff, as incumbent Republican Rep. Jamie Allard has 38.1% of the vote. Behind her are Democratic challenger Jim Arlington with 28.5%, Republican candidate Ruby Jones with 26.4%, and Democratic candidate Lee Hammermeister with 6.8%.
Sen. Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla, was one of the longest-serving Republican members of the state House when Gov. Mike Dunleavy appointed her to fill a Senate vacancy last year.
But late in her first senatorial election campaign, several local residents accused her of having a predatory relationship with a teenager in the 1990s, and an anonymous website accused her of grooming the teenager for sex. After the Anchorage Daily News covered the allegations, Tilton denied any criminal conduct.
With all precincts in Senate District M reporting results Tuesday night, Tilton had 33.4% of the vote, followed by Republican challenger Ryan Berry with 32.5%. Democratic candidate Pat Chesbro was third with 28.3% and Republican Zane Vrvilo was fourth with 5.5%.
The race is almost certain to be decided by a ranked choice runoff.
The Matanuska-Susitna Borough had several legislative races stocked with candidates, and preliminary Election Day results showed most will be headed to ranked-choice runoffs.
In Senate District O, where Sen. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, is running for election after being appointed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy to fill a vacant seat, Rauscher has 43% of the vote compared to 30.7% for Republican challenger Ryan Sheldon and 26% for Democratic candidate Peter Bauer.
Longtime Republican Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, is in a close three-way race. She has 36.7% of the vote, while independent challenger Steve Merritt has 32.6% and Republican Michael Bowles has 30.4%.
Incumbent House District 28 Rep. Elexie Moore, R-Wasilla, is trailing a more conservative Republican, Stephen Wright. Moore has 35.2% of the vote to Wright’s 37.4%. Democratic candidate Kit Kennedy has 26.9%, meaning Democratic votes will decide the district when the ranked choice runoff takes place.
Rep. Garret Nelson, R-Sutton, was appointed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy and is running in his first election campaign. He has 35.7% of the vote, ahead of fellow Republican Steve Menard with 33.7%, Democrat Kimberly Slone with 18.8% and independent Jessica Kusner-Kalarchik with 11.7%. The ranked choice runoff will decide the race.
And in House District 30, incumbent Rep. Kevin McCabe has 38.4% of the vote while Republican challenger Doug Massie has 35.8%. Democratic candidate Sandra Loomis has 25.4%, meaning that Democrats’ second-choice votes are likely to decide the ranked choice runoff.
The race to replace Sen. Lyman Hoffman, D-Bethel, the longest-serving member of the Alaska Legislature, remained uncertain early Wednesday morning, with only 37 of 57 precincts reporting results from Senate District S in southwest Alaska.
Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, led a four-candidate race with 30.4% of the vote, followed by Republican Darren Deacon with 28%. Democrat Wassilie Guy was fourth with 25.2% and independent Rick Robb of Bethel had 16.1%.
The race is almost certain to be decided by a ranked-choice runoff.
The race for House District 38, covering Bethel and parts of the Yukon delta region, remained undecided early Wednesday morning but likely to remain in Democratic control.
With 15 of 22 precincts reporting results, incumbent Democratic Rep. Nellie Unangiq Jimmie led former Democratic Rep. CJ McCormick, whom Jimmie defeated in 2024. Jimmie had 35.5% of the vote, and McCormick had 32.1%.
Republican candidate Willy Keppel was third with 22.5%, and independent Joseph Amik was fourth with 9.7%.
A ranked choice runoff likely will decide the result.
In Senate District C, which covers Kodiak, the southern Kenai Peninsula and Prince William Sound, incumbent Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak, retired after serving as Senate President.
With all precincts reporting results, Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, leads the race to replace him. She has 48.1% of the vote, followed by Republican Heath Smith with 39.4% and Republican Carrie Harris with 11.6%.
Stutes has been a member of the House’s coalition majority for several years and is expected to join the Senate’s coalition if elected. Smith said he would not join the Senate coalition.
If no candidate has at least 50% of the first-choice votes, a winner will be chosen through the ranked choice runoff.
Stutes is vacating the House District 5 seat, where independent candidate Kathy Simpler is leading Republican Sheldon Prout. Simpler, who is expected to replace Stutes in the House coalition, has 55.9% of the vote, with 11 of 12 precincts reporting results.
Senate District C’s other half is House District 6, where Republican incumbent Rep. Sarah Vance has 51.3% of the vote against independent challenger Brent Johnson.
Johnson had more votes than Vance in the primary, but Vance reversed the result in the general election.
All four incumbent Anchorage senators on the ballot won re-election by healthy margins Tuesday night. Republican Sen. Cathy Giessel and Democrats Elvi Gray-Jackson, Löki Tobin and Bill Wielechowski will each return to the Capitol in January.
Tobin and Wielechowski ran unopposed.
Election Day wrought no changes in Southeast Alaska’s legislative contingent. Republican Sen. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka, was unopposed for re-election, as was Rep. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau. Sen. Jesse Kiehl, D-Juneau, was not up for election this year.
In Ketchikan, Republican Rep. Jeremy Bynum won re-election against independent challenger Grant EchoHawk, and in Sitka, independent Rep. Rebecca Himschoot defeated Republican Kenny Skaflestad and undeclared candidate Alston Evans.
In Juneau, Democratic Rep. Andi Story beat Republican challenger Annette Kreitzer of Haines.
Similarly, there were no changes on the Kenai Peninsula either. Republican Rep. Justin Ruffridge defeated Democrat Kate Veh in House District 7, and Republican Rep. Bill Elam earned 76% of the vote against two independent candidates in House District 9. Republican Sen. Jesse Bjorkman was not up for election this year.
SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Courtesy of Alaska Beacon
