Alaska gubernatorial election, 1990

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Alaska gubernatorial election, 1990

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  1986 November 6, 1990 1994  

  Hickel.gif GovTonyKnowles.jpg Arlissak.jpg
Nominee Walter Hickel Tony Knowles Arliss Sturgulewski
Party Alaskan Independence Democratic Republican
Popular vote75,721 60,201 50,991
Percentage38.9% 30.9% 26.2%

Governor before election

Steve Cowper
Democratic

Elected Governor

Walter Hickel
Alaskan Independence

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. [1]

Steve Cowper Governor of Alaska

Stephen Cambreleng Cowper is an American Democratic politician who was the sixth governor of Alaska from 1986–90. He was governor during the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

Contents

In a rare third-party win in American politics, former Republican Governor Walter Hickel, running on the ticket of the Alaskan Independence Party, defeated Democratic candidate Tony Knowles and Republican candidate Arliss Sturgulewski.

Republican Party (United States) political party in the United States

The Republican Party, also referred to as the GOP, is one of the two major political parties in the United States; the other is its historic rival, the Democratic Party.

Alaskan Independence Party political party seeking independence for the U.S. state of Alaska

The Alaskan Independence Party (AKIP) is a political party and independence movement in the U.S. state of Alaska that advocates an in-state referendum which includes the option of Alaska becoming an independent country. The party also advocates positions similar to those of the Constitution Party, Republican Party and Libertarian Party, supporting gun rights, privatization, home schooling, and limited government.

Democratic Party (United States) political party in the United States

The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. Tracing its heritage back to Thomas Jefferson and James Madison's Democratic-Republican Party, the modern-day Democratic Party was founded around 1828 by supporters of Andrew Jackson, making it the world's oldest active political party. The Democrats' dominant worldview was once social conservatism and economic liberalism while populism was its leading characteristic in the rural South. In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt ran as a third-party candidate in the Progressive Party, beginning a switch of political platforms between the Democratic and Republican Party over the coming decades, and leading to Woodrow Wilson being elected as the first fiscally progressive Democrat. Since Franklin D. Roosevelt and his New Deal coalition in the 1930s, the Democratic Party has also promoted a social liberal platform, supporting social justice.

Candidates

Democratic Party

The major Democratic candidates were Tony Knowles, former mayor of Anchorage (from 1981 to 1987) and future governor (from 1994 to 2002), and incumbent Lieutenant Governor Stephen McAlpine, who had served since 1982. Knowles defeated McAlpine in the Democratic primary.

Anchorage, Alaska Consolidated city-borough in Alaska, United States

Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the U.S. state of Alaska. With an estimated 298,192 residents in 2016, it is Alaska's most populous city and contains more than 40 percent of the state's total population; among the 50 states, only New York has a higher percentage of residents who live in its most populous city. All together, the Anchorage metropolitan area, which combines Anchorage with the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 401,635 in 2016, which accounts for more than half of the state's population. At 1,706 square miles of land area, the city is the fourth largest city by land in the United States and larger than the smallest state, Rhode Island, at 1,212 square miles.

Alaska gubernatorial election, 1990 (Democratic primary) [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Tony Knowles 36,01956.05
Democratic Stephen McAlpine 27,656 43.07
Democratic Ryal White 586 0.91
Majority 8,363 12.98%
Total votes64,261100.00

Republican Party

In the Republican primary, state senator Arliss Sturgulewski, who was also the Republican nominee in 1986, defeated Jim Campbell, Rick Halford, and Don Wright.

Alaska Senate

The Alaska Senate is the upper house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. It convenes in the Alaska State Capitol in Juneau, Alaska and is responsible for making laws and confirming or rejecting gubernatorial appointments to the state cabinet, commissions and boards.

Arliss Sturgulewski American politician

Jane Arliss Sturgulewski is a retired businesswoman and Republican politician from the U.S. state of Alaska. In a political career in which she started appearing in the spotlight in 1975, she represented Anchorage in the Alaska Senate from 1979 to 1993. Twice during off-years in re-election to her four-year Senate term, she won the Republican nomination for governor of Alaska against mostly conservative opposition in blanket primaries. The second time, in 1990, she came out in third place behind Walter Hickel and runner up Tony Knowles, which was the second of three times in Alaska's history a major-party nominee placed third. She won a 2000 Anchorage Athena award.

Donald Rose Wright was an American politician from Alaska.

Alaska gubernatorial election, 1990 (Republican primary) [2]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Arliss Sturgulewski 26,90636.44
Republican Jim Campbell 23,442 31.75
Republican Rick Halford 22,466 30.43
Republican Don Wright 1,025 1.39
Majority 3,464 4.69%
Total votes73,839100.00

Alaskan Independence Party

The initial Alaskan Independence Party candidate was John Lindauer, who won the primary. However, many conservative Republicans, dissatisfied with Sturgulewski's positions on social issues such as abortion, persuaded former Republican Governor Walter Hickel to run on the Alaskan Independence ticket. The party pushed Lindauer aside to make way for Hickel and lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Jack Coghill.

Jack Coghill American politician

John Bruce Coghill was a politician and businessman who was the lieutenant governor of Alaska from 1990 to 1994 under Governor Walter Hickel. Both were members of the Alaskan Independence Party.

Results

Former Governor Walter Hickel defeated Knowles, Sturgulewski, and other minor candidates to return to the governor's office.

1990 gubernatorial election, Alaska [3]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Alaskan Independence Walter Hickel 75,721 38.88 +33.3
Democratic Tony Knowles 60,201 30.91 -16.4
Republican Arliss Sturgulewski 50,991 26.18 -16.4
Green Jim Sykes 6,563 3.37 N/A
The Political Party Michael O'Callaghan 942 0.48 N/A
Write-in votes 332 0.17 -3.8
Majority 15,520 7.97 +3.3
Turnout 194,750
Alaskan Independence gain from Democratic Swing -49.70

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References

  1. Hanlon, Tegan (2015-10-27). "Former Alaska first lady Michael Margaret Stewart, ex-wife of Steve Cowper, dead at 62". Alaska Dispatch News . Retrieved 2015-11-21.
  2. 1 2 "1990 Gubernatorial Primary Election Results – Alaska" (PDF). Alaska Division of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 September 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
  3. "1990 Gubernatorial General Election Results – Alaska" (PDF). Alaska Division of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 September 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-31.