A voter joins a line of voters waiting to cast their ballot on Aug. 15, 2022, at the state Division of Elections office in Anchorage. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
Saturday is the last day for registered candidates to drop out of Alaska’s U.S. House and congressional races, and ahead of the deadline, some would-be politicians say they have decided not to run for office after finding common ground with other candidates.
Jason Avery, the only Democratic candidate in the race to replace Sen. Click Bishop, R-Fairbanks, is dropping out and throwing his support behind candidate Savannah Fletcher, whose affiliation is undisclosed.
“I realized that our platform is very similar. “We both have the same priorities and it’s just an opportunity for me to step aside and help her with her campaign,” she said.
bishop said earlier this year that he would not seek re-election. Avery’s decision means the primary will not narrow the field of candidates for Bishop’s old seat.
Under Alaska law, the top four finishers in the Aug. 20 primary will advance to the general election, and Avery’s withdrawal reduces the number of candidates for the seat from five to four.
If Fletcher wins the election, Avery hopes to join her in Juneau as a member of her staff, he said.
Fletcher and Avery have similar ideas about the need to increase funding for public schools and provide better benefits to public employees, Avery said.
He also believes Fletcher will work to improve mental health treatment, something that is a personal priority for him.
He has been sober for a year and is receiving treatment.
“I want to see more people have the success that I’ve had,” he said.
In Anchorage, undeclared candidate Greg Magee is dropping out of the House District 10 race against Republican incumbent Rep. Craig Johnson.
That leaves former Rep. Chuck Kopp, also a Republican, as Johnson’s only opponent.
Magee said he spoke with Kopp last week and that meeting was a factor in his decision.
Magee registered as a candidate because he thought Johnson would be unopposed.
Magee disagrees with Johnson’s decision to uphold Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of a bipartisan public education bill this year. The Legislature failed to override that veto by a single vote.
He said he also disagrees with Johnson’s opposition to a public pension bill.
Magee said he and Kopp are aligned on those issues.
Magee’s withdrawal creates a head-to-head race between Kopp and Johnson in both the Aug. 20 primary election and the Nov. 5 general election.
How Alaska Votes
In Alaska’s electoral system, all candidates for office, regardless of political party, run in the same primary election. Voters elect a candidate and the four candidates with the most votes advance to the general election.
In general elections, voters are asked to rank candidates in order of preference, one to four, with a fifth option to include them in writing, if they wish.
If a candidate receives more than half of the first preference votes, he or she wins.
If no one receives more than half of the first-choice votes, the lowest-placed candidate is eliminated and the voters who chose that candidate receive their second-choice votes.
The elimination process continues until one candidate obtains more than half of the remaining votes.
Presidential elections do not have a top-four primary. Voters may be asked to rank more than four presidential candidates in November.
Alaska Lighthouse is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alaska Beacon maintains editorial independence. Please contact editor Andrew Kitchenman with questions: info@alaskabeacon.com. Follow Alaska Beacon on Facebook and x.
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