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Sixty-three years ago, Hawaii and Alaska were admitted as states. The deal that admitted them was more complicated than Republicans supporting Hawaii and Democrats supporting Alaska, but that was a factor. Alaska’s first two Senators were Democrats as was Alaska’s first Governor. So were several subsequent governors. One of Hawaii’s first two Senators was a Republican as was Hawaii’s first Governor.
By now, Hawaii has settled in as a Democratic state, the reverse of what was expected. Hawaii’s Governor and Lt. Governor are Democrats as are both US Senators and both Members of Congress. The Democratic Lt. Governor is the favorite to replace the Term limited Democratic Governor unless one of the Members of Congress runs. The US Senator up for election, Brian Schatz, is not threated by anyone.
Alaska is more confusing, but it is a Republican state, the reverse of what was expected. Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy, who had been subject to an impeachment attempt, is attempting to be the first Governor to be reelected since the 1970s. A Republican mayor and a Republican state rep are running. The former Republican Governor Bill Walker is running as a Non-Partisan candidate. Les Garza, a former state rep is the only Democrat running. The election will be held under Alaska’s new election rules described below.
The US Senate race will also be conducted under Alaska’s new rules. Republican Lisa Murkowski is up for election. Her principal opposition is Trump supported former Alaska Cabinet officer Kelly Tshibaka. No Democrat is in the race at this time.
Don Young, the Republican long-time Member of Congress died in office. Forty-eight candidates have been drawn to the special election to replace him. Today’s Note urges you to support Non-Partisan candidate Al Gross who was endorsed by the Democrats when he ran for the US Senate in 2020 and whose main opponent appears to be Republican Sarah Palin.
April 20th, 2022 Political Note #462 Al Gross Alaska At Large
2022 General Election
Alaska’s Congressman Don Young died on March 18, 2022. As a result, Alaskans have two elections for the House of Representatives coming up instead of one – a special election and then the general election.
April 1. Special election filing deadline
June 1 General election filing deadline
June 11 Special election primary
August 16 Special election run-off
August 16 General election primary
November 8 General election run-off
The primaries are multi-party. Voters choose one candidate. The run-off includes the top four vote getters, regardless of party. The winner is chosen by ranked voting.
On June 11, voters choose one candidate from the 48 candidates who are running. On August 16, for the special election run-off, voters will get a ballot with the four highest vote getters from June 11. Each voter ranks the four. If a candidate gets more than 50% of the first-choice votes, he or she is elected. If no one is elected, it is on to Round 2.
In Round 2, the last place candidate is eliminated and that candidate’s 2nd choice selection is allocated to the three remaining candidates. The redistribution process continues until one candidate gets more than 50% of the vote The winner of the Special Election will be Alaska’s Member of Congress until January 2023.
Alaskan voters do this again. Knowing who the candidates in the four-person special election run-off are, but not knowing who the winner is, Alaskans will vote in a multi-party primary on August 16 for the general election. As before, voters choose a single candidate. The top four vote getters from August 16 will go through the ranked voting process on November 8. The winner of that process will represent Alaska for two years beginning in January 2023.
One nationally known figure has entered the race – Sarah Palin, the former Governor of Alaska and John McCain’s Vice-President running mate in the 2008 Presidential election. In the first announced poll for this position, Sarah Palin led Al Gross 42-40 when matched against each other. There will not be, however, a head-to-head contest. Using the process prescribed by the election rules, the same poll found Sarah Palin and Al Gross tied for first in Round 1.
In 2020, Al Gross ran for the US Senate. He ran as a Non-Partisan candidate (Alaska-speak for Independent). The Democrats did not field a candidate. Instead, the Alaska Democrats endorsed Al Gross. The incumbent won 54-41, but Al Gross earned a reputation. He annoyed some. As a consequence, he recently lost an election to a local hospital board. He gained name recognition and enough regard state-wide so that every poll shows him running first or second.
Al Gross comes from a family of politicians and activists. His father, Avrum, was once Alaska’s Attorney General. His mother, Shari, was the first Executive Director of the United Fishermen of Alaska. Al Grosswent away to college, to Amherst College in Western Massachusetts. He returned to the northwest for medical school and graduated from the University of Washington.
Medicine wasn’t his first love. Fishing was. A year after his Bar Mitzvah, with the help of a bank loan and family support, he bought his first commercial fishing boat. Commercial fishing was his summer job. His fishing helped pay tuition for Amherst College and for medical school.
Returning home, Al Gross settled into a medical practice as an orthopedic surgeon, eventually founding the Juneau Bone and Joint Center. He continued to fish and volunteered each year in Cambodia. He and his wife, a pediatrician, retired in 2013. Concerned about the cost of health care, they left to study health care economics at UCLA. They returned to advocate for health care reform.
Al Gross is running for Congress, as he did for the Senate, as a Non-Partisan candidate. His signature areas are health care and the climate. He would add a public option to Medicare and supports the development of renewable energy, for the benefit of the world’s climate and Alaska’s economy. He argued for strengthening the American military position in the Arctic to offset the interests of both Russia and China. He supports labor issues – both a $15 minimum wage and steps to strengthen labor’s capacity to bargain collectively. He opposes any weakening of the Second Amendment and says he would vote against any bans on guns, though he does support expanding background checks for purchasing assault weapons.
Alaska’s ranked choice system is entirely new, making prediction impossible. It is valuable to be a second choice. Candidates with a base of support, but are viewed negatively by everyone else could be ranked fourth out of four by many voters. Help Al Gross. With that help he could be Alaska’s next Member of Congress – for the short term and the long term.
Democrats to support in Republican Tilting or Leaning Districts
INCUMBENTS
MI 08 R+1 Dan Kildee See Political Note #459
IA 03 R+2 Cindy Axne. See Political Note #428
NJ 07 R+3 Tom Malinowski. See Political Note #363
KS 03 R+3 Sharice Davids See Political Note #412
PA 07 R+4 Susan Wild. See Political Note #394
MI 07 R+4 Elissa Slotkin. See Political Note #378
OH 09 R+8 Marcy Kaptur See Political Note #430
PA 08 R+8 Matt Cartwright. See Political Note #70
WI 03 R+9 State Senator Brad Pfaff See Political Note #418
ME 02 R+10 Jared Golden. See Political Note #406
AZ 02 R+15 Tom O’Halleran See Political Note #389
CHALLENGERS
AK AL EVEN Non-Partisan Physician and Fisherman Al Gross See Political Note #245
OH 13 R+2 State Rep Emilia Sykes See Political Note #460
CO 08 R+3 State Rep Yadera Caraveo See Political Note See Political Note #461
OH 01 R+3 City Councilor Greg Landsman. See Political Note #452
NE 02 R+3 State Senator Tony Vargas See Political Note #453
CA 40 R+4 Physician Asif Mahmood. See Political Note #456
IA 01 R+4 State Rep and Law Professor Christina Bohannan. See Political Note #411
IA 02 R+6 State Sen Liz Mathis. See Political Note #445
MI 10 R+6 County Judge Carl Marlinga
CA 41 R+7 Prosecutor Will Rollins
CA 03 R+8 Physician Kermit Jones See Political Note #439
TX 23 R+13 Marine Vet and Small Business Expert John Lira. See Political Note #424
NC 11 R+14 Pastor and County Commissioner Jasmine Beach Ferrara
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Help create a larger Democratic majority in the Senate that does not rely on the agreement of one or two Senators.
