North Pole is a small city in the Fairbanks North Star Borough,Alaska,United States. Incorporated in 1953,it is part of the Fairbanks metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 census,the city had a population of 2,243,up from 2,117 in 2010. Despite its name,the city is about 1,700 miles south of Earth's geographic North Pole and 125 miles south of the Arctic Circle.
The Alaskan Independence Party (AIP) is an Alaskan nationalist political party in the United States that advocates for an in-state referendum which would include 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,anti-abortion policies,privatization,homeschooling,and limited government.
Mark Peter Begich is an American politician who served as a United States senator from Alaska from 2009 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party,he previously served as mayor of Anchorage from 2003 to 2009.
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician,commentator,author,and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee alongside U.S. Senator John McCain.
The Gravina Island Bridge,commonly referred to as the "Bridge to Nowhere",was a proposed bridge to replace the ferry that currently connects the town of Ketchikan,Alaska,United States,with Gravina Island,an island that contains the Ketchikan International Airport as well as 50 residents. The bridge was projected to cost $398 million. Members of the Alaskan congressional delegation,particularly Representative Don Young and Senator Ted Stevens,were the bridge's biggest advocates in Congress,and helped push for federal funding. The project encountered fierce opposition outside Alaska as a symbol of pork barrel spending and is labeled as one of the more prominent "bridges to nowhere". As a result,Congress removed the federal earmark for the bridge in 2005. Funding for the "Bridge to Nowhere" was continued as of March 2,2011,in the passing of H.R. 662:Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2011 by the House of Representatives,and finally cancelled in 2015.
Andrew Halcro is an American politician from Anchorage,Alaska. Formerly a Republican member of the Alaska House of Representatives,he ran for Governor of Alaska as an independent candidate in the 2006 election,placing third with 9.46 percent of the vote.
Ethan Avram Berkowitz is an American attorney,businessman,and politician from Alaska. From 1997 to 2007 he was the Alaska State Representative for District 26,serving as the Democratic Party Minority Leader from 1999 to 2007. He was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2006,for Alaska's at-large congressional district in 2008,and for governor in 2010. He was elected mayor of Anchorage in 2015,and reelected in 2018. Berkowitz resigned as mayor of Anchorage in October 2020 after admitting to being in a "consensual,inappropriate messaging relationship" with a reporter.
Sean Randall Parnell is an American attorney and politician who was the tenth governor of Alaska from 2009 to 2014. He succeeded Sarah Palin in July 2009,and was elected governor in his own right in 2010 with 59.06% of the vote,as the largest percentage margin of any Alaska governor since statehood. In 2014,he narrowly lost his bid for re-election and returned to work in the private sector. He is a member of the Republican Party.
Terrence B. "Terry" Miller was an American businessman and politician. Miller served as the fourth lieutenant governor of Alaska from 1978 to 1982. His political career,which began while he was in his early 20s,lasted over two decades and was cut short by his death from lung cancer at age 46.
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.
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.
In 2006,Sarah Palin was elected governor of Alaska. Running on a clean-government platform,Palin defeated incumbent Governor Frank Murkowski in the Republican gubernatorial primary election in August. She then went on to win the general election in November,defeating former Governor Tony Knowles 48.3% to 40.9%. Her running mate was State Senator Sean Parnell.
Sarah Palin was a member of the City Council of Wasilla,Alaska from 1992 to 1996 and the city's mayor from 1996 to 2002. Wasilla is located 29 miles (47 km) north-east of the port of Anchorage,and is the largest population center in the Mat-Su Valley. At the conclusion of Palin's tenure as mayor in 2002,the city had about 6,300 residents,and is now the fifth largest city in the state. Term limits prevented Palin from running for a third term as mayor.
The 2010 United States Senate election in Alaska took place on November 2,2010,to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Alaska,alongside 33 U.S. Senate elections in other states,elections in all states for the U.S. House of Representatives,as well as various state and local elections. The general election was preceded by primary elections which were held on August 24,2010. Scott McAdams,the Mayor of Sitka,became the Democratic nominee;Joe Miller,an attorney and former federal magistrate,became the Republican nominee after defeating incumbent U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski. Miller was endorsed by the Tea Party movement and former Governor Sarah Palin. Murkowski announced that despite her defeat in the primary,she would run in the general election as a write-in candidate.
The 2022 United States Senate election in Alaska was held on November 8,2022. Incumbent senator Lisa Murkowski won reelection to a fourth full term,defeating fellow Republican Kelly Tshibaka and Democrat Patricia Chesbro.
Alyse Surratt Galvin is an American businesswoman,education advocate,and politician from the state of Alaska. Galvin was an independent candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Alaska's at-large congressional district in 2018 and 2020,running with the endorsement of the Alaska Democratic Party. She lost both times to incumbent Republican Don Young. She represents the 14th district in the Alaska House of Representatives.
The 2022 Alaska gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday November 8,2022,to elect the governor of Alaska. Incumbent Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy won re-election to a second term,becoming the first Republican governor to be re-elected to a second term since Jay Hammond in 1978 and the first governor,regardless of political affiliation,to be re-elected to a second term since Tony Knowles in 1998.
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's at-large congressional district special election was held on August 16,2022. Democrat Mary Peltola won the open seat,thereby becoming the first of her party to win a U.S. House election in Alaska since 1972. Peltola,who is a Yup'ik woman,is the first Alaska Native elected to Congress,and the first woman elected to represent Alaska in the House. She defeated Republican former governor Sarah Palin in the state's first ranked-choice general election.
The 2026 Alaska gubernatorial election is scheduled for 2026. All candidates will run in a nonpartisan blanket top-four primary where the four highest-placing candidates advance to the general election,which will use ranked-choice voting. Incumbent Republican governor Mike Dunleavy is term-limited and cannot seek re-election to a third consecutive term in office.
