Alaska Legislature

Unofficial results of Alaska legislative primary voting show 3 incumbent Republicans trailing

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Unofficial results showed three Republican Alaska state legislators - all of whom hold leadership positions - trailing in their primary elections.

Those results could change when questioned and absentee ballots are counted. The Division of Elections on Wednesday said it was processing ballots and did not yet have a number of questioned or absentee ballots.

Unofficial results showed Senate Majority Leader Peter Micciche of Soldotna trailing in his race, as was Rep. Charisse Millett, the Republican minority leader from Anchorage.

Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux also was behind in her race. LeDoux is chair of the House Rules Committee and schedules bills for floor votes.

She is one of three Republicans who joined with Democrats and two independents after the 2016 elections to take control of the House from Republicans in hopes of breaking some of the gridlock that had gripped the Legislature.

LeDoux was labeled a “turncoat” by state GOP Chairman Tuckerman Babcock, as was Kodiak Rep. Louise Stutes, another Republican who joined the majority Democratic caucus.

The third, Rep. Paul Seaton, changed his party registration to nonpartisan ahead of this year's election and won the uncontested Democratic primary in his district Tuesday. The vote tally on the Republican side of that race remained close.

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Early figures suggested low statewide turnout in the primaries.

Messages seeking comment were left Wednesday for Millett and LeDoux.

Millett's challenger, Josh Revak, is a U.S. Army veteran whose bio says he previously worked for U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and U.S. Rep. Don Young.

Revak received help in his bid from an independent expenditure group chaired by Anchorage political blogger Jeff Landfield.

In a Facebook post Wednesday morning, Millett thanked her family and supporters, adding that “it has been such a great honor” to have been given “the privilege of serving for 10 years in the Legislature.” She also congratulated Revak, urging him to “do great work.”

LeDoux ran against Aaron Weaver. The Division of Elections candidate page did not show a link for a bio of Weaver.

Tight Senate race on the Kenai

Micciche's opponent is Ronald "Ron" Gillham, who has described himself as a small-business owner and heavy equipment operator making his first run for political office.

Micciche could not immediately be reached Wednesday evening.

Gillham, a Soldotna grandfather of five with a North Slope oil patch job, said family and friends teared up when he pulled up neck-and-neck with Micciche on Tuesday night.

“From someone who came from nowhere to challenge probably the strongest senator in the state and to be leading him, is pretty humbling,” Gillham said Wednesday, as he held a 12-vote lead.

Gillham, 61, said voters in his Kenai Peninsula district were motivated by Micciche’s vote to use some earnings from the Alaska Permanent Fund to pay for government, leaving less for the dividend.

Gillham supports restoring the dividend to historical levels and more budget cuts. Voters were upset with increased crime, too.

“It was about distrust of government,” said Gillham. He added that he entered the race in October after seeing his grandchildren’s annual dividend payments slashed.

Gillham said he spent around $10,000 on his campaign, roughly half from his own pocket. He met with voters personally and bought yard signs he was already removing Wednesday morning --- there’s no opponent in the general election.

Gillham had no money for radio ads. Micciche took in more than $60,000, spending about $25,000, records show.

“He had a lot of radio,” said Gillham.

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Another challenge was Gillham’s job as a crane operator – work stints kept him away from voters every three weeks. On breaks, he stayed in touch through social media and texting on his cellphone.

“I wasn’t there half the time, but I surrounded myself with fantastic people who kept things going,” he said.

The Associated Press and Anchorage Daily News reporter Alex DeMarban contributed to this report.

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