Alaska Legislative Primaries Wrap | Anchorage News

0:00Alright, so the dust has settled on Alaska's legislative primaries, and the general election ballot is looking a little different. We're talking about State House and Senate seats, and after the votes were counted and certified, a few candidates decided to step aside. The deadline to drop out was Monday evening, and now we know who's officially in the running for November. Now, this whole system in Alaska is a bit unique. It's a non-partisan open primary, meaning everyone votes, and then the top four candidates in each race move on to the general election, regardless of their party. This year, 50 out of 60 legislative seats will be contested, and races with more than four people only the top vote-gitters advance, which naturally trims the field. We saw some interesting moves. In House District 23, Nick Kapazi, who came in fourth, decided to drop out. He mentioned not seeing a clear path forward, and wanting to simplify things for the other candidates. Meanwhile, in House District 37, two candidates, Dennis Robinson and Kimberly Johnson, both

1:02withdrew. This actually bumped another candidate, Cade Woods, onto the general election ballot. There were other dropouts across the state too. Leo Schaefer and Senate District E, Matthew Salisbury in House District 17, and Donna Amphany in House District 26 all decided not to. Continue their campaigns. It's a strategic game for sure, and sometimes the numbers just don't add up for a viable run. And just to wrap it up, one candidate, Jose Toglay, was actually disqualified from appearing on the ballot for House District 22 due to failing, to submit required financial information. This means the incumbent in that race will now run unopposed. So the final lineups are set, and the campaigns for November are officially underway. That's the story for today. Anchorage News Today, driven by AI.