Just three legislative races will feature competitive primaries, but the final slate sets up a number of key contests in November.
After Saturday’s deadline to enter, filings in races for the Alaska Legislature are setting up some competitive races in the August primary and November general elections.
Three other Republican House members are looking to jump from the House to the Senate: Rep. Tom McKay, R-Anchorage, is challenging Democratic Sen. Matt Claman; conservative Rep. Ben Carpenter, R-Nikiski, is challenging the more moderate Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski; Rep. Mike Cronk, R-Tok, is running in a five-person race for the open Senate seat vacated by Bishop. The latter will be one of just three competitive primary races in August.
The third and final competitive primary race will be for the Senate seat representing Chugiak and Eagle River outside of Anchorage. One Democrat and four Republicans, including Sen. Kelly Merrick, R-Eagle River, are running in that contest for a deep-red seat.For one thing, it looks pretty unlikely that the Senate’s 17-member moderate, bipartisan supermajority will splinter. In the House, though, reading the tea leaves is a lot harder.
The House race in the Arctic could be a pickup opportunity going the other way — two Democrats are challenging Kotzebue Rep. Thomas Ikaaq Baker, who recently switched his registration from Republican to independent. And Baker’s opponents could prove formidable: Saima Ikrik Chase, the mayor of Kotzebue, and Robyn Niayuq Burke, the president of the North Slope Borough’s school board. The district supported Joe Biden for president in 2020 and Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s reelection bid in 2022.
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