Just over 19% ofAlaskan voters went to the polls last week for the state’s primary elections, according to state data.
Those numbers fairly consistent with state turnout numbers for past primary elections.
Official results and statistics aren’t finalized yet, but according to the Division of Election’s unofficial results, 19.08%, or 112,224 of Alaska’s 588,341 registered voters cast ballots last week. Statewide, 60,859 votes, or 10% of Alaskan voters, in the state’s Republican primary and 51,385 or 8.73% in the Democratic vote which allows independents to secure that party’s nomination.
In the Senate race, 40,241 or 79.4% of votes in the Democratic primary went to Dr. Al Gross, an independent hoping to secure the state’s Democratic nomination. Sullivan ran unopposed in the Republican primary.
Twenty percent of Alaskan voters turned out for 2018’s primary election, state data show, up from the 17.22% turnout in 2016. In 2014, when Sullivan was first elected, voter turnout in the August primary was 39.02%
Rep. Don Young, who’s held Alaska’s only U.S. House of Representatives seat since 1973 won 76.64% of the Republican primary vote. Alyse Galvin, another independent looking to secure the Democratic nomination, won 85.08% of the Democrat’s more than 51,000 ballots cast.
According to state data, Juneau has 31,890 register voters combined in Alaska House District 34 covering Auke Bay and the Mendenhall Valley and District 33 which covers not only Lemon Creek, downtown Juneau and Douglas Island but surrounding communities including Gustavus, Haines and Skagway.
Between the two Districts, 2,132 votes were cast for Sullivan, 1,754 for Young. On the Democratic side, Gross won 5,269 votes and Galvin 5,318.
All results are unofficial until the State Review Board has completed a review of the election and certified the results according to DOE. The department did not immediately respond to requests seeking comment.
• Contact reporter Peter Segall at psegall@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @SegallJnoEmpire.
