With Alaska at an economic crossroads, voters are being asked whether to stick with the man credited with providing steady -- if low-key -- leadership after Sarah Palin's tumultuous tenure or to shake things up at the Capitol again.

Gov. Sean Parnell is hoping to win outright the job he inherited when Palin abruptly quit last summer. To do that, he first has to fend off a field of GOP challengers on Tuesday, including former legislator Ralph Samuels and Anchorage attorney Bill Walker, who poured $300,000 of his own dollars into a campaign almost singularly focused on building an "all Alaska" natural gas pipeline. "I don't know how that pencils out. It's easy to promise that, but I don't think the state belongs in business," said Mark Graber, 51, a real estate investor and Republican who was supporting Parnell because he thought he's done "an OK job."

Oil helps fuel Alaska's economy, and a long-hoped-for natural gas pipeline is seen as a way to not only try to offset some of the lost oil revenues but also to create new jobs and provide a more reliable source of energy to some of Alaska's most populous areas. Not surprisingly, the issue of oil taxes and the best approach to take in building a line have been focal points of the race, both on the Republican and Democratic sides.

Ethan Berkowitz, a former state House minority leader, has set his sights on Parnell despite facing his own primary challenge from state Sen. Hollis French. He favors scrapping the current oil production tax scheme for a field-by-field system, saying a customized "100 percent royalty" scheme recognizes "the unique costs and challenges of developing individual leases." French called that ill-advised, saying the existing system has worked "spectacularly" and helped the state to sock money away and forward-fund K-12 education.

French also said Berkowitz has had his shot at big races before -- lieutenant governor, U.S. House -- and lost. French said he's afraid of the same result in November, for Democrats, if Berkowitz is the nominee.

Mortician Matt Duncan, 35, said he voted for Berkowitz because he's a "fiscally conservative Democrat." Jamie Yager, 31, an Anchorage city worker, backed French because of his positions on education and vision for the state's future.

Critics, like Walker, have accused Parnell of lacking the passion needed to truly power the state forward amid continued declines in oil production and what many see as a growing encroachment on state's rights by the federal government.

Parnell said that's unfair, and that his "quiet respect" for others should not be mistaken for lack of resolve. He said he's proven, time and again during his first year in office, that he acts decisively, in Alaskans' interests.

"When it comes to pushing back for Alaska, I've stepped up time after time, whether it's the federal government, with timber, mining, fish, oil and gas, health care," he said after the final GOP debate Monday. "I've been there, stepping up and fighting Alaskans' fights."