By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
Sitka voters favored Democratic candidate Mary Peltola in Tuesday’s ranked-choice special general election for the U.S. House, and also in the choose-one blanket primary that will determine the candidates for the two-year term as Alaska’s U.S. Representative.
In the other statewide primary races, independent candidate for governor Bill Walker was the most popular choice of Sitka voters, and incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski led in local results for U.S. Senate.
District Results
Voters had only two choices in the primary for both House and Senate races representing Sitka, so all candidates will appear on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.
But the election night primary results showed the District A Senate incumbent, Republican Bert Stedman, with 2,047 votes (70.5 percent) to 857 (29.5 percent) for challenger Mike Sheldon, from the District 2 communities, including Sitka and Petersburg. In District 1 communities, including Ketchikan and Wrangell, Stedman received 1,941 (65 percent) and Sheldon, 1,041 (35 percent).
For all of House District 2, independent candidate Rebecca Himschoot of Sitka had 1,629 (54 percent) of the votes in the District, and Republican Kenny Skaflestad of Hoonah had 1,380 (46 percent).
“I’m pretty satisfied with the outcome but there’s still a lot of work to do,” Himschoot said. “The campaign is just getting started. I’m excited to get out in the district and spend more time meeting with Sitkans, meeting with voters. People should expect a knock on their door.”
Himschoot said she’s working to appeal across party lines.
“I think people like the message of pragmatic problem solving and that I’m committed to the idea of a bipartisan coalition and good ideas wherever they come from,” she said. “I have a strong sense that people are tired of political infighting and hungry for more stability, civility and discourse.”
Absentee and questioned ballots will be counted and the results will be updated August 23 and August 26, said Tiffany Montemayor of the Division of Elections.
Stedman spoke to the Sentinel today as he headed for Wrangell on the Alaska Marine Highway. He was pleased with his results, and said he was surprised by some of the results from up north in races for state Senate and House.
“I expect a much stronger turnout in the general, and it’s really nice to see I prevailed in all the precincts across the district, except Yakutat,” he said.
Officials said 1,726 Sitkans cast ballots in Sitka’s two precincts out of the 7,414 registered to vote. In all of House District 2 the turnout was 3,352 out of the 16,014 registered.
Special Election
In the ranked-choice special general election race to fill the U.S. House seat until January, Sitka voters cast 940 votes for Democrat Peltola, 438 for former Republican governor Sarah Palin, and 303 for Republican Nick Begich III.
Ballots postmarked by August 15 will be accepted for the next 15 days, when the State Division of Elections will determine which U.S. House candidate placed third in the statewide results. The ballots for that candidate will be reallocated to voters’ second choice, and that figure will determine the winner of the race to fill the remaining days of the late Rep. Don Young’s term in the House.
Sitka Choices in the Primary
In the primary race for U.S. Senate, Sitka voters cast 962 votes for Murkowski; 414 for Kelly Tshibaka, and 179 for Patricia Chesbro. The 16 other candidates received fewer than 100 apiece in Sitka.
In the U.S. House race, Sitkans gave 868 votes to Mary Peltola, 419 to Sarah Palin, and 329 for Nick Begich. Others in the 22-candidate field received fewer than 100 votes in Sitka.
For governor, Independent Bill Walker was first among the 10 candidates, with 685 Sitka votes. Democrat Les Gara was next with 429; and incumbent Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, had 428. The next highest was 68 for Republican Chris Kurka.
In the Senate District A race, Stedman received 1,171 votes from Sitka precincts, to Sheldon’s 353. For House District 2, Himschoot captured 1,059 from local voters, and Skaflestad 551.
