Haines and Klukwan residents voted with the rest of Alaska on three ballot measures in Tuesday’s general election, but diverged on who should assume the state’s top leadership positions.
Measures to legalize marijuana, raise the minimum wage and protect the Bristol Bay fishery passed by landslides in Haines.
Residents in town, up the Haines Highway and in Klukwan supported U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, over Republican challenger Dan Sullivan, but Sullivan led the statewide vote count on Wednesday. In town, 51.4 percent of voters supported Begich, as did 51.5 percent of highway voters and 73.8 percent of Klukwan voters.
Statewide, Sullivan led Begich by more than 8,000 votes.
Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai said Wednesday more than 23,500 ballots had yet to be counted and a potential 13,800 additional absentee ballots could still be coming in.
Questioned ballots also haven’t been counted, though Fenumiai said she wouldn’t have numbers for those until after press time. In 2010, there were about 13,000 questioned ballots. “There are still a lot of ballots out there,” she said.
Final unofficial numbers should be available by Nov. 19 and the election should be certified by around Nov. 28, Fenumiai said.
Begich’s campaign manager Susanne Fleek-Green released a statement Wednesday regarding the tens of thousands of uncounted ballots. “Inspired by stories of village elders being lifted onto four wheelers to go vote and Alaskans traveling up and down river to cast their ballots, ‘Alaskans for Begich’ is anxious for a final count of all of Alaskans’ ballots,” Fleek-Green said.
Supporter Sue Libenson said while she was disappointed in Begich’s performance statewide, his support in Haines was commendable. “I’m glad to see Sen. Begich did so well in Haines, because he supports fish and Haines depends on fish,” she said.
The governor’s race was also too close to call. As of Wednesday, Independent Bill Walker led Republican Gov. Sean Parnell by only 3,165 votes.
Haines favored Walker. In town, 48.2 percent of voters liked Walker, as opposed to 42.1 percent for Parnell. Fifty-two percent of voters out the highway and 70.7 percent of voters in Klukwan liked Walker, as well.
Haines social worker and gubernatorial candidate J.R. Myers secured a total of 45 votes in Haines, up the highway and in Klukwan. Representing the Constitution Party, Myers garnered more than 5,500 votes, or 2.47 percent of the statewide vote.
Myers’ goal is to get at least 3 percent of the vote, which would get the party on the ballot automatically in future years, instead of by petition. It would also ensure the party appears on the presidential ballot in 2016.
“It’s possible we could still reach 3 percent. It’s probably about 1,500 more votes (that) we need,” Myers said.
Myers said he was glad to see gubernatorial candidate Walker squeaking ahead of Parnell. “I think we affected the governor’s race. I’d say our 2.5 percent came out of Parnell mostly. I think we cost Parnell the election if anything, and that’s OK by me,” he said.
“Being elected is not the only measure of success,” Myers said. “I think we raised our visibility and people know we are here now.”
Republican U.S. Representative Don Young secured his 22nd term in Congress, beating Democratic challenger Forrest Dunbar by more than 11 percent (Young received 51.7 percent of votes statewide; Dunbar got 40.4 percent).
Dunbar won in the town precinct but lost out the highway and in Klukwan. In town, 50.8 percent of voters liked Dunbar, but 76.2 percent of Klukwan voters and 48 percent of highway voters chose Young.
Resident Deborah Vogt, a self-described “politically-engaged” Democrat, said she took solace in Walker and lieutenant governor candidate Byron Mallott inching ahead of Parnell. “I’m glad to see Walker and Mallott appear to have won. Other than that, there’s not much joy in Mudville,” Vogt said.
“Haines got everything right,” she added. “We were not the harbinger of the whole state, that’s for sure.”
House District 33 Rep. Sam Kito, D-Juneau, pummeled Republican challenger Peter Dukowitz, taking 75.6 percent of the vote.
State Sen. Dennis Egan, D-Juneau, also kept his seat, fending off Republican challenger Tom Williams and taking 71.5 percent of the vote.
In the town precinct, 62.1 percent of voters supported legalizing and commercializing marijuana. More than 67 percent of highway voters supported it, as did 61.9 percent of Klukwan voters.
The measure passed by a much narrower margin statewide, with 52.15 percent in support.
Passage of the measure legalizes the use and sale of marijuana to people 21 and older. Personal possession is limited to up to one ounce or six plants.
The law won’t go into effect until 90 days after the election has been certified.
Haines Borough Assembly member Dave Berry, who championed a resolution opposing the marijuana measure, said he wasn’t surprised by the result.
“I knew it was going to pass. I still had to fight against it, though,” Berry said. “I’m afraid it’s going to open up a Pandora’s Box.”
Berry said now he is most concerned about how municipalities will be allowed to regulate dispensaries within their own borders.
Oregon and Washington, D.C., also passed measures to legalize marijuana this week.
Haines, and the state, also supported raising the minimum wage from $7.75 to $8.75 beginning Jan. 1, and from $8.75 to $9.75 on Jan. 1, 2016. The minimum wage will be adjusted for inflation every year after passage.
In town and out the highway, more than 75 percent of voters supported raising the minimum wage. In Klukwan, more than 90 percent supported it.
A measure to give the Alaska Legislature power to prohibit mining projects in Bristol Bay if legislators determined the activity would be harmful to wild salmon in the fishery also passed statewide with more than 65 percent in favor.