Alaska Democratic Party | |
---|---|
Chairperson | Mike Wenstrup |
House Leader | Calvin Schrage (Independent, Minority Caucus) |
Senate Leader | N/A (Bipartisan Coalition) |
Headquarters | 2602 Fairbanks St., Anchorage, Alaska 99503-2428 |
Membership (2024) | 73,963 [1] |
Ideology | Modern liberalism |
National affiliation | Democratic Party |
Colors | Blue |
Seats in the U.S. Senate | 0 / 2 |
Seats in the U.S. House of Representatives | 1 / 1 |
Statewide Executive Offices | 0 / 2 |
Seats in the State Senate | 9 / 20 [lower-alpha 1] |
Seats in the State House of Representatives | 13 / 40 [lower-alpha 2] |
Website | |
www.alaskademocrats.org | |
The Alaska Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in Alaska, headquartered in Anchorage.
It is one of two major parties in Alaska, alongside the Alaska Republican Party. The Democratic Party holds Alaska's at-large congressional seat, as well as the Alaska Senate in a coalition government. [lower-alpha 1] [2] As of 2020, there are over 75,000 registered members of the Alaska Democratic Party. [3]
In 1949, the Young Democrats of Alaska was established as a group. [4] Except in U.S. presidential elections, the Alaska Democratic Party was very successful in the early days of statehood and the late territory days (pre-1959), featuring such characters as territorial governor and later national senator Ernest Gruening. Gruening was one of only two senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which authorized an expansion of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Bob Bartlett, also a Democrat, and erstwhile secretary of the territory, was the first senator from Alaska, and remained a senator until his death in 1968. William A. Egan, also of the Alaska Democratic Party, was elected the first governor of the State of Alaska. Until the election of governor Bill Walker, he was the only governor of Alaska of either party to have been born in Alaska. In the U.S. House meanwhile, Democrat Ralph J. Rivers was the state's first representative from statehood until 1967.
In the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Ted Kennedy, representing Senator Robert Kennedy (of New York), in the presence of Senator Gruening, gave a historic speech on the island-community of Sitka, Alaska. [5] [6] Democrat Mike Gravel was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968 and served for two terms until his defeat in the Democratic primary in 1980 (Republicans ultimately picked up the seat in the general). By the end of 1973, Gravel was the only Alaska Democrat remaining in federal office, as the state's House seat and other Senate seat had switched hands to Republicans. After Gravel left office, Democrats would not hold any seats in Alaska's congressional delegation again for almost three decades.
On October 16, 1972, Alaska's incumbent Democratic congressman Nick Begich went missing in a plane crash along with House Majority Leader Hale Boggs en route to Juneau from Anchorage. In spite of this, three weeks later, Begich won re-election to his seat. However, he was later declared dead on December 29 of that year after an intensive search effort. [7] Neither Begich's body nor the plane he flew on were ever found.
In a special election held shortly thereafter in 1973, Republican Don Young (who had previously lost to the late Begich) won election to the seat and held it until his death while in office in 2022. In the special election held after Young's death, Democrat Mary Peltola won Alaska's at-large congressional seat, flipping the seat to Democrats for the first time in almost 50 years. [8] Peltola would be elected a full term in November of that year.
The most recent Democrat to serve as Governor of Alaska was Tony Knowles, who served from 1994 to 2002, while the most recent Democrat to hold statewide executive office in Alaska was Byron Mallott, who served as Lieutenant Governor under independent governor Bill Walker from 2014 until his resignation in 2018 after a scandal. [9]
Democrat Barack Obama won the 2008 Democratic caucuses in Alaska by a margin of more than three to one over Hillary Clinton, a higher percentage than any state except Idaho. He then received 37.89 percent of the total statewide vote in the general election, losing the state to Republican John McCain, who had selected then-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his vice-presidential running mate. In the same election year, Democrat Mark Begich narrowly won election to the U.S. Senate over longtime Republican incumbent Ted Stevens. Begich lost re-election in 2014, [10] the same year that Democratic-endorsed independent Bill Walker defeated incumbent Republican Sean Parnell for Governor. [11]
In 2012, President Obama lost the state to Republican Mitt Romney but increased his percentage of the statewide vote to 40.81%. This was later used as evidence in a high-profile New York Times article detailing the complexity of Alaska politics and the difficulty in predicting the electability of Democrats in the state. [12] In 2016, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump carried the state by around fifteen percentage points over Hillary Clinton. No Democrat has carried Alaska in presidential elections since 1964 when Lyndon B. Johnson had his landslide victory over Barry Goldwater.
Following the 2022 Alaska Senate elections, nine Democrats joined with eight Republicans to form a majority caucus and split several senate posts between them. [13]
The leadership of the Alaska Democratic Party consists of the following individuals: [14]
The Alaska Democratic Party performs many functions, all with the aim of helping Democrats to win elected office within the state.
These functions include: [3]
District | Member | Photo |
---|---|---|
At-large | Mary Peltola |
From the Alaska Democratic Party Platform, Nome, Alaska 2014: [15]
"Platform Summary Energy, Education, and Alaska Values:
ENERGY:
Resource development:
Alaska's Constitution requires that we obtain the "maximum benefit" from resource development. Alaska Democrats support the bipartisan concept of the Owner State and will work to control our own resources.
Affordable Energy:
Delivering affordable energy to all Alaskans must be a top priority for the legislature.
Short Term:
Restore an oil production tax structure that rewards development and maximizes returns to Alaskans Support energy efficiency investments that pay for themselves; Prioritize energy investments.
Long Term:
Get natural gas to market and maximize the benefit for Alaskans; Expand renewable/alternative energy production.
EDUCATION:
Human capital is our most valuable natural resource. Investing non-renewable resource profits in our children will pay sustained dividends for Alaska.
Short Term:
Finish University of Alaska engineering facilities; Ensure classroom funding keeps pace with inflation.
Long Term:
Establish universal voluntary Pre-K; Reduce class sizes; Ensure vocational and technical training opportunities are available for all Alaska job seekers; Expand research capacity of the University of Alaska;
ALASKA VALUES:
The state legislature should support Alaska values of self-reliance, subsistence, personal privacy, government restraint, and balanced budgets.
Short Term:
Support Medicaid Expansion; Protect the Permanent Fund Dividend; Protect Alaskans' right to self-reliance; Defend Alaskans' Right to Privacy; Protect Alaskans' property from government seizure; Support active duty and veteran service members; Re-establish the Alaska Commission on the Status of Women; Protect Alaska's Constitutional language prohibiting use of public funding for private schools;
Long Term:
Expand Denali Kid Care; Equality of Voting Access for rural and urban areas; Support active duty and veteran service members; Equal pay for equal work; Expand child care assistance for working families; Support local food production; Protect Alaskans' retirement savings."
Election | Presidential Ticket | Votes | Vote % | Electoral votes | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1960 | John F. Kennedy/Lyndon B. Johnson | 29,809 | 49.06% | 0 / 3 | Won |
1964 | Lyndon B. Johnson/Hubert Humphrey | 44,329 | 65.91% | 3 / 3 | Won |
1968 | Hubert Humphrey/Edmund Muskie | 35,411 | 42.65% | 0 / 3 | Lost |
1972 | George McGovern/Sargent Shriver | 32,967 | 34.61% | 0 / 3 | Lost |
1976 | Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale | 44,058 | 35.65% | 0 / 3 | Won |
1980 | Jimmy Carter/Walter Mondale | 41,842 | 26.41% | 0 / 3 | Lost |
1984 | Walter Mondale/Geraldine Ferraro | 62,007 | 29.87% | 0 / 3 | Lost |
1988 | Michael Dukakis/Lloyd Bentsen | 72,584 | 36.27% | 0 / 3 | Lost |
1992 | Bill Clinton/Al Gore | 78,294 | 30.29% | 0 / 3 | Won |
1996 | Bill Clinton/Al Gore | 80,380 | 33.27% | 0 / 3 | Won |
2000 | Al Gore/Joe Lieberman | 69 | 27.67% | 0 / 3 | Lost |
2004 | John Kerry/John Edwards | 111,025 | 35.52% | 0 / 3 | Lost |
2008 | Barack Obama/Joe Biden | 123,594 | 37.89% | 0 / 3 | Won |
2012 | Barack Obama/Joe Biden | 122,640 | 40.81% | 0 / 3 | Won |
2016 | Hillary Clinton/Tim Kaine | 116,454 | 36.55% | 0 / 3 | Lost |
2020 | Joe Biden/Kamala Harris | 153,778 | 42.77% | 0 / 3 | Won |
Election | Gubernatorial candidate | Votes | Vote % | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1958 | William A. Egan | 29,189 | 59.61% | Won |
1962 | William A. Egan | 29,627 | 52.27% | Won |
1966 | William A. Egan | 32,065 | 48.37% | Lost |
1970 | William A. Egan | 42,309 | 52.38% | Won |
1974 | William A. Egan | 45,553 | 47.37% | Lost |
1978 | Chancy Croft | 25,656 | 20.22% | Lost |
1982 | Bill Sheffield | 89,918 | 46.12% | Won |
1986 | Steve Cowper | 84,943 | 47.31% | Won |
1990 | Tony Knowles | 60,201 | 30.91% | Lost |
1994 | Tony Knowles | 87,693 | 41.08% | Won |
1998 | Tony Knowles | 112,879 | 51.27% | Won |
2002 | Fran Ulmer | 94,216 | 40.70% | Lost |
2006 | Tony Knowles | 97,238 | 40.97% | Lost |
2010 | Ethan Berkowitz | 96,519 | 37.67% | Lost |
2014 | Endorsed Bill Walker (Independent) | N/A | N/A | Did not run |
2018 | Mark Begich | 125,739 | 44.41% | Lost |
2022 | Les Gara | 63,755 | 24.21% | Lost |
Edward Lewis "Bob" Bartlett, was an American politician and a member of the Democratic Party. He served as a U.S. Senator. A key fighter for Alaska statehood, Bartlett served as the Secretary of Alaska Territory from 1939 to 1945, in Congress from 1945 to 1959 as a Delegate, and from 1959 until his death in 1968 as a U.S. senator. He was opposed to U.S. involvement in Vietnam, along with his fellow Senator Ernest Gruening, and also worked to warn people about the dangers of radiation. Many acts bear his name, including a major law known as the Bartlett Act, mandating handicap access in all federally-funded buildings.
The 1980 United States Senate elections were held on November 4, coinciding with Ronald Reagan's victory in the presidential election. The 34 Senate seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections. Reagan's large margin of victory over incumbent Jimmy Carter gave a huge boost to Republican Senate candidates, allowing them to flip 12 Democratic seats and win control of the chamber for the first time since the end of the 83rd Congress in January 1955.
The 1968 United States Senate elections were elections for the United States Senate. Held on November 5, the 34 seats of Class 3 were contested in regular elections. They coincided with the presidential election of the same year. The Republicans picked up five net seats in the Senate. This saw Republicans win a Senate seat in Florida for the first time since Reconstruction.
The 1958 United States Senate elections were elections for the United States Senate which occurred in the middle of President Dwight D. Eisenhower's second term. Thirty-two seats of Class 1 were contested in regular elections, the new state of Alaska held its first Senate elections for its Class 2 and 3 seats, and two special elections were held to fill vacancies.
Mark Peter Begich is an American politician and lobbyist who served as a United States senator from Alaska from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as mayor of Anchorage from 2003 to 2009.
The Vermont Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Vermont.
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 for an eighth term in the United States Senate. It was one of the ten Senate races that U.S. Senator John Ensign of Nevada, the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, predicted as being most competitive. The primaries were held on August 26, 2008. Stevens was challenged by Democratic candidate Mark Begich, the mayor of Anchorage and son of former U.S. Representative Nick Begich.
Although in its early years of statehood, Alaska was a Democratic state, since the early 1970s it has been characterized as Republican-leaning. Local political communities have often worked on issues related to land use development, fishing, tourism, and individual rights. Alaska Natives, while organized in and around their communities, have been active within the Native corporations. These have been given ownership over large tracts of land, which require stewardship. The state has an independence movement favoring a vote on secession from the United States, with the Alaskan Independence Party, but its membership has shrunk in recent decades.
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 former state representative who was the grandson of Ernest Gruening, whom Gravel had defeated twelve years prior in an election for the same seat. Gruening later went on to lose the general election to Republican nominee Frank Murkowski, a banker.
Mary Sattler Peltola is an American politician and former tribal judge serving as the U.S. representative from Alaska's at-large congressional district since September 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as a judge on the Orutsararmiut Native Council's tribal court, executive director of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, Bethel city councilor, and member of the Alaska House of Representatives.
The following table indicates the parties of elected officials in the U.S. state of Alaska:
The 2008 United States presidential election in Alaska took place on November 4, 2008, as part of the nationwide presidential election held throughout all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Voters chose 3 electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
Catherine Andrea Giessel is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, she has served as Majority Leader of the Alaska Senate since 2023. From 2013 to 2021, Giessel represented District N in the Alaska Senate, including Northeast Anchorage, Anchorage Hillside and the Turnagain Arm communities of Bird, Girdwood, Indian, and Anchorage, all within the Municipality of Anchorage. First elected in 2010 while identifying with Tea Party values, she has also served as the vice-chair of the state Republican Party and had a career in nursing. Following redistricting, she was elected to a different senate seat in 2012. Giessel serves as chair of the Resources Committee and is a member of the Senate Majority Caucus. After Senate President Pete Kelly was unseated in 2018, Giessel was elected president of the Alaska Senate, a post she held until 2021. Giessel returned to the Alaska Senate in 2023, representing the newly configured District E after defeating incumbent Republican Roger Holland. She serves as Senate majority leader in the 33rd Legislature, overseeing a coalition caucus of eight Republicans and nine Democrats.
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 States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
William Martin Walker is an American attorney and politician who served as the 11th governor of Alaska, from 2014 to 2018. He was the second Alaska-born governor, after William A. Egan.
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. The winners of each respective primary for governor and lieutenant governor then become a joint ticket in the general election for their political party. Incumbent Independent governor Bill Walker was seeking re-election in what was originally a three-way race between Walker, Republican former Alaska state senator Mike Dunleavy, and Democratic former Alaska U.S. Senator Mark Begich. Despite Walker dropping out on October 19, 2018, and endorsing Begich, Dunleavy won in what was the only gubernatorial gain by a Republican candidate in 2018. As of 2024, this was the last time the Governor's office in Alaska changed partisan control. Walker later unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Alaska in 2022.
The November 2022 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska was held on Tuesday, November 8, to elect a member of the United States House of Representatives to represent the state of Alaska. Democratic incumbent Mary Peltola won reelection to a full term in office, defeating Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich III and Libertarian Chris Bye in the runoff count.
The 2022 Alaska at-large congressional district special election was held on August 16 to fill the seat left vacant after the death of Republican incumbent Don Young. Mary Peltola defeated former governor Sarah Palin in the election, becoming the first Alaska Native or woman to represent Alaska in the House.
The 2022 Alaska state elections took place on November 8, 2022. The state also held Regional Educational Attendance Area (REAA) elections on the first Tuesday in October.
The 2024 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska will be held on November 5, 2024, to elect a member of the United States House of Representatives to represent the state of Alaska from its at-large congressional district. The election will coincide with the 2024 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the U.S. House, elections to the United States Senate, and various other state and local elections.