Alaska gubernatorial election, 1994

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Alaska gubernatorial election, 1994
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←  1990 November 8, 1994 1998  →

  GovTonyKnowles.jpg No image.svg JackCoghillatGovernorsPicnic2009.jpg
Nominee Tony Knowles Jim Campbell Jack Coghill
Party Democratic Republican Alaskan Independence
Running mate Fran Ulmer Mike W. Miller Margaret Ward
Popular vote87,69387,15739,331
Percentage41.1%40.8%13.0%
Governor before election

Walter Hickel
Republican

Elected Governor

Tony Knowles
Democratic

The 1994 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 8, 1994, for the post of Governor of Alaska, United States. Democratic candidate Tony Knowles narrowly defeated Republican candidate Jim Campbell and Lieutenant Governor Jack Coghill of the Alaskan Independence Party. In the Republican Revolution year of the 1994 elections, Alaska's was the only governor's seat in the country to switch from Republican to Democratic.

Alaska State of the United States of America

Alaska is a U.S. state in the northwest extremity of North America, just across the Bering Strait from Asia. The Canadian province of British Columbia and territory of Yukon border the state to the east, its most extreme western part is Attu Island, and it has a maritime border with Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort seas—southern parts of the Arctic Ocean. The Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest. It is the largest state in the United States by area and the seventh largest subnational division in the world. In addition, it is the 3rd least populous and the most sparsely populated of the 50 United States; nevertheless, it is by far the most populous territory located mostly north of the 60th parallel in North America: its population—estimated at 738,432 by the United States Census Bureau in 2015— is more than quadruple the combined populations of Northern Canada and Greenland. Approximately half of Alaska's residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska's economy is dominated by the fishing, natural gas, and oil industries, resources which it has in abundance. Military bases and tourism are also a significant part of the economy.

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.

Tony Knowles (politician) American politician and restaurateur

Anthony Carroll Knowles is an American politician and businessman who served as the seventh governor of Alaska from December 1994 to December 2002. Barred from seeking a third consecutive term as governor in 2002, he ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 2004 and again for governor in 2006. In September 2008, Knowles became president of the National Energy Policy Institute, a non-profit energy policy organization funded by billionaire George Kaiser's family foundation, and located at the University of Tulsa.

Contents

Candidates

Incumbent Governor Walter Joseph Hickel had been elected as the candidate of the Alaskan Independence Party in the 1990 gubernatorial election. In April 1994 he rejoined the Republican Party and announced in August that he would not stand for re-election. [1]

The incumbent is the current holder of an office. This term is usually used in reference to elections, in which races can often be defined as being between an incumbent and non-incumbent(s). For example, in the Hungarian presidential election, 2017, János Áder was the incumbent, because he had been the president in the term before the term for which the election sought to determine the president. A race without an incumbent is referred to as an open seat.

In the Democratic primary, the Democratic candidate from 1990 and former mayor of Anchorage, Tony Knowles, won with 43% of the vote. He defeated former Lieutenant Governor Stephen McAlpine with 31% and former Speaker of the Alaskan House of Representatives Sam Cotten with 25%. [1]

A primary election is the process by which voters, either the general public or members of a political party, can indicate their preference for a candidate in an upcoming general election or by-election, thus narrowing the field of candidates.

Alaska House of Representatives lower house in the Alaska Legislature

The Alaska House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of approximately 17,756 people per 2010 Census figures. Members serve two-year terms without term limits. With 40 representatives, the Alaska House is the smallest state legislative lower house in the United States.

For the Republican nomination, businessman Jim Campbell narrowly defeated another former mayor of Anchorage, Tom Fink. Lieutenant Governor Jack Coghill was easily selected as the candidate for the Alaskan Independence Party while Jim Sykes ran for the Green Party of Alaska. [1]

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.

Tom Fink American politician

Thomas A. "Tom" Fink is an American Republican politician from Alaska. He was Mayor of Anchorage from 1987 to 1994 and Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives from 1973-1975. He is also a former member of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board after being appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the United States Senate.

James L. Sykes is a producer and elected official in the state of Alaska notable for being one of the founders of the Green Party of Alaska.

Campaign

Both main candidates in the election were regarded as moderates and favored oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as well as cuts in the state budget. [2] Polls near the election showed Knowles with a strong lead over Campbell. [3]

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a national wildlife refuge in northeastern Alaska, United States. It consists of 19,286,722 acres (78,050.59 km2) in the Alaska North Slope region. It is the largest national wildlife refuge in the country, slightly larger than the Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is administered from offices in Fairbanks. The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is the biggest and the wildest land publicly owned by the United States. ANWR includes a large variety of species of plants and animals, such as polar bears, caribou, wolves, eagles, and migratory birds, that rely on the refuge.

Opinion poll type of survey

An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a poll or a survey, is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence intervals.

During the election the Campbell campaign ran an advertisement comparing Knowles's hair with President Bill Clinton's. The advert was criticised by supporters of Knowles who felt it implied that he was a womanizer. [3]

Bill Clinton 42nd president of the United States

William Jefferson Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Prior to the presidency, he was the governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981, and again from 1983 to 1992, and the attorney general of Arkansas from 1977 to 1979. A member of the Democratic Party, Clinton was ideologically a New Democrat and many of his policies reflected a centrist "Third Way" political philosophy.

Polling

SourceDateKnowles (D)Campbell (R)
Dittman Research Nov. 3, 199444%33%

Recount

As the results were counted state officials said that the contest between Knowles and Campbell was too close to call, with Knowles having a small lead. [4] Knowles declared victory on the November 18 after the official count showed that he was ahead of 528 votes with only 217 votes remaining to be counted. [5] He described the victory as the "largest margin I think I've ever won by" as his Anchorage mayoralty election wins had always been by very narrow margins. [5]

Campbell contested the results and called for a recount, which was paid for by the state as the candidates were within half a percent of each other. [6] Campbell also wanted to look into some voter incentives that had taken place including raffles and free gasoline for voters. These were defended as attempts to increase turnout and had been authorised by election officials. [7]

The initial count showed Knowles with 87,701 votes and Campbell with 87,118 votes. The results of the recount slightly narrowed the gap between them with Knowles ending on 87,693 and Campbell on 87,157. [8] Knowles's victory margin was the smallest in any Alaska gubernatorial election. [7] [9]

Election results

1994 gubernatorial election, Alaska [10]
PartyCandidateVotes%±
Democratic Tony Knowles 87,693 41.08 +10.2
Republican Jim Campbell 87,15740.84+14.7
Alaskan Independence Jack Coghill 27,83813.04-25.8
Green Jim Sykes 8,7274.09+0.7
PatriotRalph Winterrowd1,7430.82+0.3
Write-ins 2770.13-0.0
Majority5360.24-7.7
Turnout 213,43563.5-1.3
Democratic gain from Republican Swing -36.01

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Two in the House Advance In Drive for Senator's Seat". The New York Times . 1994-08-25. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
  2. ↑ "Alaska Democratic Candidate Has Been Having Bad Hair Days". The Seattle Times . 1994-10-23. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  3. 1 2 "THE 1994 ELECTIONS: STATE BT STATE; West". The New York Times . 1994-11-09. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  4. ↑ Janofsky, Michael (1994-11-16). "Democrat Gets Nearer Top Job In Maryland". The New York Times . Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  5. 1 2 "Democrat Declares Victory in Alaska". The New York Times . 1994-11-20. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  6. ↑ "Democrat Takes Alaska Governorship". The Seattle Times . 1994-11-22. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  7. 1 2 "`Voter Incentives' Raise Questions -- Apparent Loser In Alaska Governor's Race Cries Foul". The Seattle Times . 1994-12-04. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  8. ↑ "1994 GENERAL ELECTION OFFICIAL RESULTS STATEWIDE SUMMARY". Alaska Division of Elections. Archived from the original on 2008-07-16. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  9. ↑ "Democrat Wins In Alaska Recount -- Republican Won't Pursue `Voter Incentive' Complaints". The Seattle Times . 1994-12-04. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  10. ↑ "1994 Gubernatorial General Election Results – Alaska". Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Retrieved 2008-07-23.
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