Alaska Democratic Party | |
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Chairperson | Mike Wenstrup |
House Leader | Calvin Schrage (Independent, Minority Caucus) |
Senate Leader | N/A (Bipartisan Coalition) |
Headquarters | PO Box 240207, Anchorage, Alaska 99524 |
Membership (2024) | ![]() |
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 | 0 / 1 |
Statewide Executive Offices | 0 / 2 |
Seats in the State Senate | 9 / 20 [a] |
Seats in the State House of Representatives | 13 / 40 [b] |
Election symbol | |
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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 the Alaska Senate in a coalition government. [a] [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]
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 |
2024 | Kamala Harris/Tim Walz | 140,026 | 41.41% | 0 / 3 | Lost |
Election | Gubernatorial ticket | Votes | Vote % | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1958 | William A. Egan/Hugh Wade | 29,189 | 59.61% | Won![]() |
1962 | William A. Egan/Hugh Wade | 29,627 | 52.27% | Won![]() |
1966 | William A. Egan/Hugh Wade | 32,065 | 48.37% | Lost![]() |
1970 | William A. Egan/Red Boucher | 42,309 | 52.38% | Won![]() |
1974 | William A. Egan/Red Boucher | 45,553 | 47.37% | Lost![]() |
1978 | Chancy Croft/Katie Hurley | 25,656 | 20.22% | Lost![]() |
1982 | Bill Sheffield/Steve McAlpine | 89,918 | 46.12% | Won![]() |
1986 | Steve Cowper/Steve McAlpine | 84,943 | 47.31% | Won![]() |
1990 | Tony Knowles/Willie Hensley | 60,201 | 30.91% | Lost![]() |
1994 | Tony Knowles/Fran Ulmer | 87,693 | 41.08% | Won![]() |
1998 | Tony Knowles/Fran Ulmer | 112,879 | 51.27% | Won![]() |
2002 | Fran Ulmer/Ernie Hall | 94,216 | 40.70% | Lost![]() |
2006 | Tony Knowles/Ethan Berkowitz | 97,238 | 40.97% | Lost![]() |
2010 | Ethan Berkowitz/Diane E. Benson | 96,519 | 37.67% | Lost![]() |
2014 | Endorsed Bill Walker/Byron Mallott (Independents) | N/A | N/A | Did not run |
2018 | Mark Begich/Debra Call | 125,739 | 44.41% | Lost![]() |
2022 | Les Gara/Jessica Cook | 63,851 | 24.21% | Lost![]() |
Frank Hughes Murkowski is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a United States Senator representing Alaska from 1981 to 2002 and as the eighth governor of Alaska from 2002 to 2006.
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. This was the first time since 1966 that any party successfully defended all their own seats.
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.
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.
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 who served as the U.S. representative from Alaska's at-large congressional district from 2022 to 2025. 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 three electors, or representatives to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 2014 United States Senate elections were held on November 4, 2014. A total of 36 seats in the 100-member U.S. Senate were contested. 33 Class 2 seats were contested for regular 6-year terms to be served from January 3, 2015, to January 3, 2021, and 3 Class 3 seats were contested in special elections due to Senate vacancies. The elections marked 100 years of direct elections of U.S. senators. Going into the elections, 21 of the contested seats were held by the Democratic Party, while 15 were held by the Republican Party.
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 Sr. went missing shortly before the general election, but still defeated Republican nominee Don Young.
The 2012 Washington State Senate elections took place on November 6, 2012. Twenty-five of Washington's forty-nine state senators were elected. Each state legislative district has one senator elected to a four-year term, but state senate elections alternate so that about half of the senators are elected in presidential election years and the other half are elected in non-presidential even numbered election years. A top two primary election on August 7, 2012 determined which candidates appear on the November ballot. Candidates were allowed to self-declare a party preference.
The 2014 Washington State Senate elections is one of the biennial legislative elections in Washington took place on November 4, 2014. In this election, about half of the 49 legislative districts in Washington chose a state senator for a four-year term to the Washington State Senate. The other half of state senators were chosen in the next biennial election, so that about half of the senators are elected at a time: one group in presidential election years and the other in other even-numbered election years. All the members of the Washington State House of Representatives are elected concurrently with half of the senators every two years.
The 2016 United States elections were held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. Republican nominee Donald Trump defeated Democratic former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the presidential election, while Republicans retained control of Congress. This marked the first time Republicans won or held unified control of the presidency and Congress since 2004, and would not do so again until 2024.
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 in the Democratic primary. Gruening launched a write-in bid for the seat in the general election, but finished third to Gravel and Republican former Anchorage mayor Elmer Rasmuson.
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 re-election 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 was elected in a 3-way race against former governor Sarah Palin and Nick Begich III in the election, becoming the first Alaska Native and 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 was 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 coincided 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.
Nicholas Joseph Begich III is an American businessman and politician who is the U.S. Representative for Alaska's at-large congressional district. He won the seat in the 2024 election, in which he defeated Democratic incumbent Mary Peltola. Begich had previously run unsuccessfully for the seat in the 2022 special and regular elections, both of which Peltola won.