The number of elections in Alaska ( Iñupiaq: ''Alaaskam naliġagviat'') varies by year, but typically municipal elections occur every year, plus primary and general elections for federal and state offices occur during even-numbered years.

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S ...

has a gubernatorial election every four years. Members of the state's United States congressional

delegation Delegation is the assignment of authority to another person (normally from a manager to a subordinate) to carry out specific activities. It is the process of distributing and entrusting work to another person,Schermerhorn, J., Davidson, P., Poole ...

run for election or re-election at the times set out in the United States Constitution.

Primary election Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the ...

s assist in choosing political parties' nominees for various positions. On a regional basis (see

list of boroughs and census areas in Alaska The U.S. state of Alaska is divided into 19 organized boroughs and one Unorganized Borough. Alaska and the state of Louisiana are the only states that do not call their first-order administrative subdivisions counties (Louisiana uses parishe ...

), elections also cover municipal issues. In addition, a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

can occur at any time. In a 2020 study, Alaska was ranked as the 15th hardest state for citizens to vote in.

Primary elections

registered voters In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise eligible to vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted to vote. The ...

in Alaska were given a choice between three primary ballots reflecting a

semi-closed primary Primary elections, or direct primary are a voting process by which voters can indicate their preference for their party's candidate, or a candidate in general, in an upcoming general election, local election, or by-election. Depending on the c ...

system. Specifically, Democratic, Libertarian, Alaskan Independence and Independent candidates were listed on one ballot available to all registered voters and Republican candidates were listed on a second ballot available to voters registered as Republican, Nonpartisan or Undeclared. In 2020, Alaskan voters approved an initiative to implement a nonpartisan blanket top-four primary with a single, open primary where candidates from all parties are listed on the ballot and the top four vote getters advance to the general election. The first elections using the new system will be the 2022 election cycle.

Alaska elections

2012 Alaska elections The 2012 Alaska general elections were held on November 6, 2012. Primary elections were held on August 28, 2012. U.S. House of Representatives Republican incumbent Don Young, who has represented Alaska's at-large congressional district since ...

Ballot measures

Presidential elections

Alaskans have voted in

United States presidential election The election of the president and the vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which Citizenship of the United States, citizens of the United States who are Voter registration in the United States, registered to vote in o ...

s since 1960. With the exception of the candidacy of

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the United States Republican Party, Republ ...

in 1964, the

Republican Party Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party. Republican Party may also refer to: Africa *Republican Party (Liberia) * Republican Part ...

has carried Alaska in every presidential election.

United States congressional delegation elections

United States Senate elections

Alaska has a Class II Senator (currently Dan Sullivan) and a Class III Senator (currently Lisa Murkowski). Alaska first elected Senators in 1956 under the "Alaska–Tennessee Plan." They had no vote in the Senate, but were sent to represent Alaska as if they were, to lobby for statehood, and to assume the office of senator should the situation arise. Alaska's first voting senators were elected in the 1958 election; it was a special election due to the former territory's pending admission as a state.

Class II Senate elections

1960 United States Senate election in Alaska The 1960 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 8, 1960. Despite Republican Presidential candidate Richard Nixon defeating John F. Kennedy in the state by a close margin, popular incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Bartle ...

1966 United States Senate election in Alaska The 1966 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 8, 1966. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Bob Bartlett was re-elected to a third term in office in a landslide, defeating Republican dentist Lee McKinley in a rematch of the ...

1972 United States Senate election in Alaska The 1972 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 7, 1972. Republican U.S. Senator Ted Stevens, who was first appointed & elected to complete the unexpired term of Bob Bartlett was re-elected to his second term (a full term) i ...

* 1978 United States Senate election in Alaska * 1984 United States Senate election in Alaska * 1990 United States Senate election in Alaska *

1996 United States Senate election in Alaska The 1996 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 5, 1996. Incumbent Republican United States Senator Ted Stevens ran for re-election to a sixth term (a fifth full term) in the United States Senate. Stevens faced off against ...

* 2002 United States Senate election in Alaska *

2008 United States Senate election in Alaska The 2008 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 4, 2008. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator and former President pro tempore Ted Stevens ran for re-election to a eighth term in the United States Senate. It was one of the ten ...

2014 United States Senate election in Alaska The 2014 United States Senate election in Alaska took place on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Alaska, concurrently with the election of the governor of Alaska, as well as other elections ...

* 2020 United States Senate election in Alaska

Class III Senate elections

* 1962 United States Senate election in Alaska *

1968 United States Senate election in Alaska The 1968 United States Senate election in Alaska took place on November 5, 1968. Incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Ernest Gruening ran for a second full term in office but finished behind Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives Mike Gravel ...

* 1974 United States Senate election in Alaska *

1980 United States Senate election in Alaska The 1980 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 4, 1980. Incumbent Democratic United States Senator Mike Gravel ran for a third term in the United States Senate, but lost in the Democratic primary to Clark Gruening, a form ...

1986 United States Senate election in Alaska The 1986 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 4, 1986. Incumbent Republican United States Senator Frank Murkowski ran for a second term in the United States Senate and was primarily opposed by Alaska Pacific University Pr ...

1992 United States Senate election in Alaska The 1992 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 3, 1992. Incumbent Republican United States Senator Frank Murkowski sought re-election to a third term in the United States Senate. Tony Smith, the Democratic nominee and a fo ...

* 1998 United States Senate election in Alaska *

2004 United States Senate election in Alaska The 2004 United States Senate election in Alaska took place on November 2, 2004, alongside other elections to the United States Senate in other states as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives, various state and local ele ...

* 2010 United States Senate election in Alaska *

2016 United States Senate election in Alaska The 2016 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Alaska, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to ...

*'' 2022 United States Senate election in Alaska''

United States House of Representatives elections

Alaska has had a single congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since statehood was granted in 1959. *

1958 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska The 1958 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1958 which occurred in the middle of Dwight Eisenhower's second term. The economy was suffering the Recession of 1958, wh ...

* 1960 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska * 1962 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska * 1964 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska *

1966 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska The 1966 United States House of Representatives elections was an election for the United States House of Representatives in 1966 which occurred in the middle of President Lyndon B. Johnson's second term. As the Vietnam War continued to escalate an ...

1968 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska The Alaska congressional election of 1968 was held on Tuesday, November 5, 1968. The term of the state's sole Representative to the United States House of Representatives expired on January 3, 1969. The winning candidate would serve a two-year t ...

1970 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska The Alaska congressional election of 1970 was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1970. The term of the state's sole Representative to the United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as th ...

1972 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska The 1972 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska was held on November 7, 1972, to elect the United States representative from Alaska's at-large congressional district. Incumbent Democratic Representative Nick Begich went miss ...

2006 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska The 2006 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska was held on Tuesday, November 7, 2006. The term of the state's sole Representative to the United States House of Representatives expired on January 3, 2007. The winning candidate ...

2008 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska The 2008 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska was held on November 4, 2008, to determine who will represent the state of Alaska in the United States House of Representatives. Alaska has one seat in the House, apportioned acc ...

2010 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska An election was held on November 2, 2010, to determine the U.S. representative for Alaska's at-large congressional district, which includes the entire state of Alaska. Don Young, the incumbent and a member of the Republican Party, was re-electe ...

* 2012 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska * 2014 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska * 2016 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska *

2018 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska The 2018 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska were held on November 6, 2018, to elect the U.S. representative from Alaska's at-large congressional district, who will represent the state of Alaska in the 116th United States C ...

* 2020 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska * 2022 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska

Gubernatorial elections

* 1958 Alaska gubernatorial election * 1962 Alaska gubernatorial election * 1966 Alaska gubernatorial election *

1970 Alaska gubernatorial election The 1970 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 3, 1970, for the post of Governor of Alaska. Former governor and Democratic candidate Bill Egan was able to defeat incumbent Republican governor Keith H. Miller after having lost hi ...

* 1974 Alaska gubernatorial election *

1978 Alaska gubernatorial election The 1978 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 7, 1978, for the post of governor of Alaska. Republican incumbent Jay Hammond defeated four opponents: former Governor of Alaska and write-in candidate Wally Hickel, Alaska Senator a ...

1982 Alaska gubernatorial election __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab u ...

* 1986 Alaska gubernatorial election *

1990 Alaska gubernatorial election The 1990 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 1990, for the open seat of Governor of Alaska. In 1989, incumbent Governor Steve Cowper, a Democrat, had announced that he would not seek re-election for a second term. In a rare ...

1994 Alaska gubernatorial election File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which sank in the Baltic Sea; Nelson ...

1998 Alaska gubernatorial election The 1998 Alaska gubernatorial general election took place on November 3, 1998. The election resulted in a landslide for the Democratic incumbent, Tony Knowles, who had won the 1994 gubernatorial election by only 536 votes. Knowles was the firs ...

2002 Alaska gubernatorial election The 2002 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 5, 2002, for the post of Governor of Alaska. Republican U.S. Senator Frank Murkowski defeated Democratic Lieutenant Governor Fran Ulmer. Murkowski became the first Republican elect ...

2006 Alaska gubernatorial election The 2006 Alaska gubernatorial general election took place on November 7, 2006. The former mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin, defeated incumbent governor Frank Murkowski in the Republican primary, and then went on to defeat former governor Tony Know ...

* 2010 Alaska gubernatorial election *

2014 Alaska gubernatorial election The 2014 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Alaska, concurrently with the election of Alaska's Class II U.S. Senate seat, as well as other elections to the United St ...

2018 Alaska gubernatorial election The 2018 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the governor and lieutenant governor of Alaska. In the primaries for recognized political parties, candidates for governor and lieutenant governor run separately. Th ...

* 2022 Alaska gubernatorial election

Alaska Legislature elections

Alaska Senators have terms of four years; half of them are elected every two years. Alaska Representatives have terms of two years; all of them are elected every two years. The state's redistricting process allows the power to shorten the terms of state senators should a redistricting action substantially alter their district. * 1994 Alaska state elections * 1996 Alaska state elections * 1998 Alaska state elections * 2000 Alaska state elections * 2002 Alaska state elections * 2004 Alaska state elections *

2006 Alaska state elections On November 7, 2006, the state of Alaska held its general elections. On the ballot were races for U.S Representative, Governor and Lieutenant Governor, 10 of 20 seats in the Alaska Senate, all 40 seats in the Alaska House of Representatives, ...

* 2008 Alaska state elections * 2010 Alaska state elections * 2012 Alaska state elections * 2014 Alaska state elections * 2016 Alaska state elections

Municipal elections

Virtually all of the state's municipalities hold their general elections in early October, with the notable exception of

Anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring ...

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...

for many years held their elections in November, in the process holding them on the same day as state elections on even-numbered years, but eventually abandoned that in favor of October elections. Anchorage switched from an early October election day to one in early April around 1992.

Political parties

There are four qualified political parties. *

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

(see also Alaska Democratic Party) * Libertarian Party *

(see also Alaska Republican Party) * Alaskan Independence Party Lawsuits launched by Joe Vogler and Jim Sykes, among other lawsuits, led the Alaska Legislature to eventually revamp and relax laws pertaining to party status and ballot access. The first instance of a minor party gaining recognition came in 1982, when the gubernatorial candidacy of Dick Randolph under the Libertarian Party was successful enough to meet the existing party recognition threshold.

References

External links

Alaska Division of Elections
''official website'' * * * * (State affiliate of the U.S. League of Women Voters) * {{Alaska Government of Alaska