As Counting Nears Its End, Alaska's First Democratic Governor in 28 Years and the Voter Math Behind a 256-Seat House
Nearly two weeks after the November 3 midterm elections, the counting is nearing its end. The most watched call of the weekend landed in Alaska: the Associated Press and NBC News projected that Democratic candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins has been elected governor, the first Democrat to win the office in the state since 1998. Kreiss-Tomkins, 37, a former state lawmaker, campaigned on lowering the cost of living, full funding for public schools and rules for data center construction.
Alaska's Senate race is just as tight. The latest tally shows Democratic candidate Mary Peltola with 140,637 votes, or 50.1 percent, ahead of Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan; the state uses ranked-choice voting, with the final tabulation set for November 18. In the state's single House district, Republican Nick Begich leads Democrat Bill Hill by 47.8 percent to 41.7 percent, a margin of 16,833 votes.
Nationally, undecided House seats have narrowed to nine, with Democrats ahead by 256 seats to the Republicans' 170; the Alaska result gives Democrats 30 governorships next year. A deep-red state flipping after 28 years, in a state known for independent voters that is simultaneously contested in both its Senate and House races, is the sample most worth studying from this midterm cycle.
GSM's reading is that the dividing line in this election was not slogans but voters' household ledgers. Kreiss-Tomkins won in Alaska on local issues such as living costs and school funding, and the national seat distribution likewise shows voters rewarding concrete plans on prices, housing and public services. For Chinese American readers, the direction of new state governments on education funding, housing and small-business policy will land directly on community life.
In the week ahead, three points bear watching: Alaska's ranked-choice tabulation on November 18, the final nine undecided House seats, and state certification procedures. The counting is not finished and the map is not final, but the direction is already written in the numbers: this was an election decided by local ledgers.
Source: The Star
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于朱诺的阿拉斯加州议会大厦。来源：Matt Howry，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY 2.0。 / Photo: The Alaska State Capitol in Juneau. Source: Matt Howry, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.
