Politics

We want your help.

Kim Kovol will serve as the first commissioner of the new Department of Family and Community Services, created this year through a split from the state’s health department.

The former state senator and broadcaster died Tuesday at age 75.

Nick Begich, Mary Peltola and Sarah Palin are turning their focus to the upcoming general election in August.

Former President Donald Trump will lead a rally at the Alaska Airlines Center at UAA on July 9.

The governor has approved a $14.4 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins in July, vetoing $400 million from the spending plan advanced by the Legislature.

Alaska Senate Democrats in a statement announced that Egan died Tuesday morning. Egan was the son of the late former Gov. Bill Egan.

At candidate forums this week, candidates in Alaska’s U.S. House special election stood apart not just in what they said but in how they said it.

The court did not elaborate on its reasoning but said a full opinion will follow at a later date.

Gov. Dunleavy called for a vote on a constitutional amendment that could remove protections for abortion in Alaska as other political figures weighed in on the court’s decision.

A state court judge ruled Friday that Alaska elections officials do not need to put the fifth-place finisher in this month’s U.S. House special primary on the upcoming special election ballot in place of a candidate who withdrew.

Both abortion opponents and groups that support abortion access have said they see a constitutional convention as the likeliest path toward an abortion ban in the state.

A Superior Court judge said he was tentatively inclined to agree with the state elections office that the fifth-place finisher in the special primary could not replace Al Gross, who abruptly dropped out.

Sen. Dan Sullivan voted no on the bill, which would toughen background checks for the youngest gun buyers and keep firearms from more domestic violence offenders.

Final preliminary results posted by the Division of Elections show 161,614 people, or 27.5% of registered voters, voted in the special primary election for U.S. House.

The Division of Elections received more than 20 challenges to Rep. David Eastman’s candidacy.

The Republican’s campaign manager said Sweeney does not plan to sue over a finding by elections officials that she cannot advance to the special election for U.S. House following the withdrawal of Al Gross.

A top Alaska elections official said the fifth-place finisher in the special primary for Alaska’s U.S. House seat, Tara Sweeney, will not advance to an August special election following the withdrawal of independent Al Gross, who was in third place. She invited anyone who disagrees to “file suit immediately.”

Independent Al Gross withdrew Monday from both the special and general elections and urged supporters to consider voting for Democrat Mary Peltola or Republican Tara Sweeney.

Observers say they’re concerned that voters are being disenfranchised and that the problem could grow

Sarah Palin, Nick Begich III, Al Gross and Mary Peltola were the top vote-getters among 48 candidates in last week’s special primary. The election was the first under a system approved by voters that ends party primaries and institutes ranked choice voting in general elections.

Tuck, who’s not seeking reelection, showed that he’d previously disclosed the donation that the Alaska Public Offices Commission alleged that he’d reported late.

Friday marked a third day of ballot counting. Peltola rounds out the field of four candidates whose names will appear on the ballot in August’s special general election.