Letters to the Editor

Letter: Alaska politics

Margo Russ, in her Sept. 12 letter, didn’t have a reasonable handle on Alaska’s politics. She claimed that the 2020 Republican primary only allowed a fraction of voters in Alaska to vote. No — in addition to registered Republicans, those registered as undeclared and nonpartisan could also vote in these primaries. This meant, according to the Alaska Division of Elections, that, in 2020, 71% of all registered voters could participate in the Republican primary.

As for how Alaskans voted prior to the ranked choice change (which prevailed in 2020 by 50.5% to 49.5%), they typically could chose between Democrats, Republicans, independents, Libertarians and other parties.  And if “the major parties do not represent the political views of the majority of Alaskans,” as Russ claimed, how come the majority of Alaskans voted Republican in the past three presidential elections: 55% for Romney in 2012, 51% for Trump in 2016, and 53% for Trump in 2020? Know that the majority of undeclared Alaskan registrants lean to the right.

— Jim Lieb

Palmer

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Jim Lieb

Jim Lieb is a retired Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game wildlife biologist who now writes both popular and scientific articles. He lives in Palmer.

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