Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump won America, he won Alaska, but he did not win Juneau.
Alaska’s capital city maintained its reputation as a Democratic stronghold by voting overwhelmingly in favor of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Even in the Mendenhall Valley, Clinton outpaced her Republican rival.
In House District 34, which covers the Valley, Auke Bay and Out the Road, 45.1 percent of voters picked Clinton; 41.9 percent picked Trump. In House District 33, which includes Haines, Skagway, Gustavus and downtown Juneau, 61.1 percent of voters were in favor of Clinton and just 27 percent favored Trump.
According to precinct-level figures released early Wednesday morning by the Alaska Division of Elections, turnout through Election Day was up when compared with presidential turnout in 2012 and even the midterm elections of 2014 (which in Alaska coincided with several significant ballot measures and a heated gubernatorial race).
In House District 33, turnout in 2014 was 44.4 percent if absentee and questioned ballots are excluded. In 2012, it was 45.5 percent. This year, it was 49 percent.
In House District 34, turnout was 51.9 percent in 2014 and 51.7 percent in 2012. This year, it was 52.5 percent.
That higher turnout appears to buck national trends: Fewer Americans voted in this presidential election than in 2012, according to preliminary figures available Wednesday.
Juneau’s political demographics tend to favor Democrats over Republicans, bucking the case in the rest of Alaska.
Of House District 33’s registered voters, 25.3 percent are Democrats and 14.6 percent are Republicans. In House District 34, Republicans have a small advantage. In both districts, however, nonpartisan and undeclared voters make up the majority of the electorate — but they have shown favor for Democratic candidates.
In 2012, House District 34 (then known as District 31) voted 49.9 percent for Obama and 45 percent for Romney despite the Mendenhall Valley’s conservative reputation. House District 33 (then known as District 32 and including Petersburg but not Haines) favored Obama even more — 62 percent to the Democratic incumbent and only 32.4 percent for his Republican challenger.
Those figures include absentee and questioned ballots — not all of those have been counted yet this year.
In the downballot races this year, both Juneau districts favored Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (45.1 percent in District 34, 37.4 percent in District 33). In District 33, independent Margaret Stock was the No. 2 choice, while in District 34, Libertarian Joe Miller was. Democrat Ray Metcalfe was the No. 3 pick in both districts.
For U.S. House, both District 33 and District 34 favored Democrat Steve Lindbeck over Republican incumbent Don Young. In the Mendenhall Valley, Lindbeck received 44.3 percent of the vote to Young’s 43.4 percent. In downtown Juneau, Lindbeck had 59.4 percent of the vote.
Both districts voted in favor of Ballot Measure 1 and Ballot Measure 2, though the latter failed at a statewide level. Both districts supported the retention of every judge on the ballot.
State Rep. Sam Kito III, D-Juneau, was re-elected unopposed in House District 33, while Democratic challenger Justin Parish unseated Republican incumbent Rep. Cathy Muñoz in House District 34.
Parish, who won by a 3,914-3,730 margin in results available through Wednesday morning, held a 320-vote lead in early voting, and that appears to be the key to his victory.
Muñoz beat Parish in five of the seven precincts within the district and in all votes cast on Election Day, but Parish won the Lynn Canal and Mendenhall Valley No. 1 precincts by such large margins that he was able to preserve much of his early-voting advantage.
In the Lynn Canal precinct, which includes Tee Harbor, Lena Cove and Out the Road, Parish beat Muñoz by 72 votes. In the Mendenhall Valley No. 4 precinct, which includes the Montana Creek area and most homes north of Mendenhall Loop Road, Muñoz beat Parish by 67 votes. Both figures were the candidates’ largest precinct wins.
Across all of Juneau, the Lynn Canal precinct had the highest Election Day turnout, with 41.75 percent of its registered voters participating on Election Day. The Douglas precinct was No. 2 with 41.32 percent turnout.
In House District 33, however, the voting champions aren’t in Juneau at all: the village of Klukwan, northwest of Haines, had 42 of 83 registered voters participate on Election Day, a turnout of 50.6 percent.
