By SUZANNE DOWNING
Aug. 23, 2026 – Alaska’s gubernatorial primary delivered a warning that Republicans would be foolish to ignore.
The two leading Democrats for governor, Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and Tom Begich, together captured 41.7% of the vote. Meanwhile, Republicans and no-party candidates divided the remainder among a crowded field.
Now, almost on cue, some influential Republicans are reviving the familiar slogan: “Rank the Red.”
Cue the eye roll.
We have heard this before. It did not work in 2022 when the Alaska Republican Party pushed it hard on right-leaning voters. It was certainly not the strategy that defeated Mary Peltola in 2024. And there is little reason to believe Republican voters, most of whom fundamentally oppose ranked-choice voting, will suddenly embrace it in November.
Republicans do not like to rank. They want regular elections. They don’t want to “settle for seconds.” They want a primary in which each party membership chooses its nominee, followed by a general election in which voters select one candidate. That is one reason many will vote “yes” on Ballot Measure 2 this November to repeal Alaska’s open-primary, ranked-choice voting system.
Yet those same voters are now being told by prominent Republicans that, while voting to abolish ranked-choice voting, they must also become highly disciplined ranked-choice voters. This is something repugnant to them and is a serious case of political cognitive dissonance.
Look at what the Democrats are doing: Have you heard leading Democrats pleading with voters to “rank the blue” between JKT and Tom Begich?
Has the Bartlett Club (Democrat club in Anchorage) launched a campaign telling Democrats to rank every Democrat?
Has the Alaska Democratic Party begun warning its members that they must carefully fill in two ovals and rank both candidates?
No. Not even close. Democrats are not publicly training their voters to make ranked-choice voting work. They are engaged in discussions about consolidating their candidates into a single gubernatorial ticket, with either Kreiss-Tomkins or Begich at the top and the other possibly joining as the lieutenant governor candidate.
That is because Democrats understand the system. They know their best chance of electing a governor is not to have two Democrats competing against each other through multiple rounds of tabulation. Their ideal scenario is one Democrat facing three Republicans.
Democrats also understand something about Republican voters: Many Republicans will not rank a second Republican whom they strongly opposed in the primary. It does not matter how much you lecture them, most Republican will vote for their preferred candidate and stop. Others may rank one or two names but refuse to support a Republican they consider unacceptable.
We saw it happen in 2022. Republicans were told to “rank the red” then, too. But many voters did not. Some Sarah Palin voters would not rank Nick Begich. Some Nick Begich voters would not rank Palin. Ballots became exhausted, votes stopped transferring, and Mary Peltola benefited from the Republican division.
The slogan was catchy: Rank the red was easy to remember. The strategy failed when Republicans faced their ballots.
Republicans learned a different lesson in 2024. After the primary, Nancy Dahlstrom withdrew from the race for Congress and cleared the way for Nick Begich. Republicans consolidated behind one serious candidate, and Begich defeated Peltola.
That was not “rank the red.” That was consolidation.
It worked because voters were given a clear choice. Republicans did not have to solve a political logic puzzle inside the voting booth. They did not have to rank candidates who had spent the preceding year attacking one another. They simply had to vote for the Republican nominee.
Democrats watched and learned. Now they appear to be preparing to use the same strategy in the governor’s race, perhaps waiting until the latest practical moment to determine which Democrat should continue. The deadline for a general-election candidate to withdraw is Aug. 31, the same target date on which the Division of Elections expects to certify the primary results. The Alaska Division of Elections confirms that deadline here.
The clock is running.
The current count puts Kreiss-Tomkins first with 21.6% and Begich second with just over 20%. Bernadette Wilson and Dave Bronson are positioned to claim the other two places in the final four. These results are unofficial until outstanding ballots are counted.
If one of the Democrats withdraws and the next candidate moves onto the ballot, the result could be exactly what Democratic strategists want: one unified Democrat and three candidates drawing from the Republican or center-right electorate.
That is the path to a Democrat governor, as they consolidate their 41.7% while Republicans remain divided.
While Democrats are playing four-dimensional chess, too many Republican campaign strategists are still playing checkers. They are promoting a flawed slogan that assumes Republican voters will behave in November in a way they have repeatedly demonstrated they will not behave.
“Rank the red” is not a strategy. It is a request for Republican voters to overcome years of bitter primary divisions, ignore their objections to certain candidates and give into a voting system they are simultaneously trying to repeal.
Maybe some will do it. Many will not.
Democrats know that.
The Republicans and no-party candidates who did not prevail last Tuesday need to make their intentions clear. Those who have no realistic path to victory should withdraw, endorse the strongest remaining candidate and give their supporters unmistakable direction.
And the Republicans who did advance need to ask themselves whether staying in the race serves Alaska—or simply hands the Governor’s Mansion to the Democrats.
There is very little time for vanity, grudges or wishful thinking. The Aug. 31 deadline is approaching.
Republicans can keep repeating “rank the red” and hope that this time voters behave differently. Or they can remember what actually worked in 2024.
Consolidate, give voters a clear choice, and stop pretending that three Republicans against one Democrat is anything other than the Democrats’ ideal ballot.
Suzanne Downing is founder and editor of The Alaska Story, and is a longtime Alaskan.
Alaska primary count resumes Tuesday as close races await late ballots
Suzanne Downing: Alaska is voting itself blue
86 thoughts on “Suzanne Downing: Republicans are being told to ‘rank the red.’ Democrats know better than to ‘rank the blue.’”
Excellent article.
I have been hammering the republicans since the Iran war began and they deserve it. However, let me cast my eye towards the democrats. Who are you? You seem sanguine with cheating and lying of all kinds: electorally with decoy Dan, to millions in dark money influencing our elections and culture, to flooding our country with illegals, to espousing a multitude of sexual deviance. Your ideology is dangerous, but you seem to lack any self awareness or mindfulness. That pernicious ideology does not lead to human thriving. The costs of it are equal to or greater then the wars the neocons create.
Yet. You will vote against Dan S Sullivan because he supports Trump and you likely will vote against Nicholas Begich because he also supports Trump. We all here know you hate Bernadette so that just leaves Bronson who you haven’t yet criticized.
Alaskans will deserve Exactly what they get in Jan 2027 if they are watching a Democrat being sworned into Governor and Lt Governor office with an inevitable Democrat Controlled legislature. Their stars will be aligned. They’ll show the Ak GOP how to get the job done when they have the Court. executive and legislative branch.
Micah go back to reading your bible (hopefully it’s not a liberal translation version like the idiot Message bible) and less time spent around your Luke warm church congregation crowd. Throw your tv, mobile phone. and wireless in the trashcan so nothing distract you from God’s Word.
I don’t hate Bernadete. I don’t know anything about her. I should know an issue or two she is running on.
Lukewarm congregation? Sometimes Tina you just make up things up whole cloth.
For. You feel the need for reaching down deep and dark to insult an opinion you probably do not understand. So you go for the gusto of personal attack.
The democratic candidates are funded by the likes of the darkest of millionaire monies. JKT or whatever his initials are funded by the Murdoch daughter, the former Ebay owner, and the former Enron fellow. Millions of dollars NOT from Alaska, They are FOR their sanguine, cheating schemes and lies.
As FOR Mary, she is a puppet on the dark money string, and who can be found NOT hard at work in her previous capacity passing nothing.
Well said Micah. It is tragic and mind boggling.
Micah appreciate equal opportunity critiques. A balance we don’t see much of anymore from either political side, nor in general the press. I try to remember not every republican supports every war started by our leaders, and not every democrat supports all the left wing lunacy (although their party collectively does). As a young man paying attention to national politics I remember a war started in Serbia in 1999 by democrat Bill Clinton which the left forgets. Serbia never attacked the US. Republican Bush 2 just a few short years later invaded Iraq in one of the largest blunders of strategic buffoonery yet seen in the 21st century, of which Obama continued until his unilateral withdrawal (another buffoon act) which eventually led to AQI, then ISIS and a terrible cascade of events still unfolding today in the middle east. Neither party has the corner on the market of good or bad ideas, but they should all be held accountable by honestly calling out the bad when it happens, whether its our side or not.
Micah, you are very well informed. Especially as to your point regarding the war with Iran. You are wisely implying we should follow the examples of Obama and Biden. Give Iran $billions and stand back while they develop nuclear weapons. Brilliant.
How about not breaking our governing coalition for an optional war for a foreign country? A central plank of that coalition was no new wars. Words have meaning- just as we say to the leftists.
How much support is there in our country for adventures for a foreign country? Outside of boomer cons very very little. Our country is in serious difficulty and that is where the focus should be. That’s where the focus was until this Iran war. If the left takes some power in November that is on the neocons.
The US has been at war with Iran since 1979 when they stormed our Embassy in Tehran and kidnapped Americans. Iran has been financing terrorism against the US since the murder of our Marines in Beirut in the 80’s, 9/11 in NYC, Iraq and Afghanistan, etc. etc. Iran is our mortal enemy. President Trump is the first person to stand up to these bastards. And now we have American traitors enjoying the good free life here, siding with Iran. American communists. A civil war in America is not yet out of the question. There may be blood.
Oh please. Few believe that propaganda.
It is this foolishness that is going to cause us to cede ground to the marxists in November, as few Americans want this optional war
Actually, Micah, we want the f*ckers in Iran to feel the wrath of a 40-megaton thermo-nuclear device with a mushroom cloud that can be seen all the way from Mt. Sinai. Blow the insane rag-head mullahs and Shariah idiots to their 72 virgin paradise. They can have all of their women enslaved and shackled in their new World. It’s what they believe in.
Hey Kemosabee. Go take your generational blood guilt and hatred and stick it where the sun don’t shine. America is not about hating you because of what your father did or his father. Anyone who thinks so can leave- I don’t care what religion you follow.
Few Americans care about some nasty arid land many thousands of miles away and who is drinking from which skull. They care about this country and their children’s future- which doesn’t look great atm.
You and those like you are now the equivalent to a marxist to many on the right. An enemy of this country and its people. We see you.
Yep.
Thanks Suzanne. My questions are answered. Hope you keep pounding this message.
This is excellent advice, Suzanne. Republicans have always been independent thinkers. Democrats are flock thinkers …….of herd mentality.
Under your scenario, what…..then?
Bernie and Bronson coalesce into a unified ticket? If that happens, and JKT/Begich are unified as one, then the next two Republicans enter under a Final Four scenario. That means Treg Taylor and Click Bishop enter into the general election. And there enlies more Republican division. What then?
RCV has ALWAYS been the Democrat’s vehicle and pathway for election advantage. That’s why we need to get rid of it this year.
State statute AS 15.25.100
A qualifying vacancy 64+ days before the General Election triggers the statutory replacement process. August 31st is the last day to withdrawal.
Through August 31: A qualifying withdrawal/vacancy can trigger the statutory replacement process.
After August 31: That particular AS 15.25.100(c) replacement mechanism no longer applies, because the vacancy would occur fewer than 64 days before the general election. And candidates themselves cannot simply choose to withdraw from the general-election ballot after the withdrawal deadline.
So that being said, the Dems WiLL consolidate!!! They will force it to happen.
If the republicans have the balls they will force it too! But too many people are busy gaslighting.
So then, get all of the Republicans to drop out and unify behind Bern and
Bronson. Problem solved.
There are two twists here, and the first is Click Bishop. He is a RINO, and if there was an attempt at a hypothetical mass drop-out of the eliminated Republicans, he would NEVER do it. Would he siphon votes from R’s or D’s? Probably equally, but who really knows? Best bet is to stick with Bronson & Wilson, and whomever is your top pick, rank the other one as 2nd choice. But with all that being said, the 2nd twist is: can we really trust Dominion voting machines? Of course not. That is the true wild card, and is an inscrutable and impossible system that cannot be kept honest by poll watchers or neutral/bi-partisan observers. Who can trust a machine that can easily be manipulated?
This is pretty sound advice, Mr. Bird. We already know that Click Bishop is a mentally disturbed man who will be hell bent to harm the Republican ticket. He will never be governor, thank God for that. But he will give his best efforts to thwart the goal of putting a Republican Into the governor’s mansion . Click is a Democrat. His days of electability are over. But he wants to, and will do, as much damage as he can to conservatives. He will probably end up backing Tom Begich and JKT.
All of which makes Bernadette’s call for the Republican candidates to drop if they’re not number 1 look like the empty headline it was. More of the same if she ends up walking into the mansion…
So are Republicans too. Other states with Harder Right and Harder Red, The Republican members vote unified and as a flock. Look to the South. Alaskans as a whole are illiterate of not only God’s Word but also academics. Of all the states K12 education, we rank bottom last in education proficiency.
The Republican members of Alaska need to practice the same as other State GoP members do. Vote Red despite a candidates shortcomings.
RCV is in play. So Republicans MUST play by its rules but because we outnumber Democrats. If The Right Unified behind their party’s candidates and other R candidates didn’t split the votes of one another, there is the window to victory IF Republicans unified. Let’s say ranking in this order 1 Wilson. 2 Bronson. No one else.
And Dan S Sullivan 1 and no one else. Nicholas Begich 1 and no one else.
And RCV will likely be Again narrowly passed keeping it in play
Same thing with the campaign contribution limits
The hand is against the AKGOP up here much to their own poor group leaders choices over the past 26 years.
But the difficulty doesn’t mean the Republican voters should give up. After all there is more of us than Democrats and we can win if we unified despite a candidate’s shortcomings like not being more conservative, being too conservative, not being prolife enough, or being prochoice, or being too evangelical or being too gay, instead of Judging is the Republican candidate for the Party’s, principles, platform, and values and the continuance of the AKGOP on Alaska for the next 50 years?
Please remember what happened in 1990.
Arliss Sturgewlewski won the Republican Primary and was pitted against Democrat Tony Knowles in that governor’s race. Republican Jack Coghill won the Lt. Governor’s race, but informed the Republican Party it “would be a cold day in hell before he served a term under Arliss Sturgewlewski.”
So, Coghill went to Joe Vogler, who was the leader of the Alaska Independence Party, and convinced Vogler to put Wally Hickel and Coghill as that party’s choice for Governor/Lt. Governor. In order to do that, they got John Lindauer to step aside as AIP nominee. And Lindauer did that. In the 1990 General Election, Hickel and Coghill were elected. That election retired a very bitter Arliss Sturgewlewski for good (she was the Republican nominee). The lesson: a very strong unified ticket, regardless of party, can win an Alaska election.
Hickel and Coghill.
A Unity Ticket to remember, certainly. The more recent unity ticket with Bill Walker and Byron Mallott is one to forget. A child molesting pervert and an enabler. From the results of last week’s election, history forgot about both of them.
First off, it’s the ALASKAN Independence Party. This is important. During Hickel’s governorship, the (s)nooz marginalized the party by deliberately and consistently referring to it as the “Alaska Independent Party”. You should also remember 1986, the year Sturgulewski first won the Republican primary. I keep pointing out the parallels to this election. Large overall field of candidates? Check. Too many Republicans competing? Check. Primary not restricted by party rules? Check. The main difference was that the weak incumbent led an administration drowning in controversy and lost renomination, as opposed to the current weak incumbent who is termed out. On to my main point, there were 16 candidates on the primary ballot, including nine Republicans. Of those nine, five ran active/competitive campaigns. Therein lies the key. Sturgulewski won as a non-conservative running against numerous conservatives. Once the primary was over, she made it clear that she didn’t want to know anyone who supported one of her primary opponents. I remember attending an event at her campaign headquarters. There were numerous “mean women” running the show behind the scenes. Sturgulewski was polite but insistent that this was the way things were going to be. Terry Miller was also there and was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. To make a long story short, conservatives were disenfranchised by her primary victory. Joe Vogler’s vote total in the general election was a nearly 12-fold increase over his primary total, in the process legitimizing the AIP. Pretty much the same scenario repeated itself four years later. I didn’t personally witness any of the face-to-face interactions with Coghill and Sturgulewski between primary day and the day he defected, but I knew quite a few people who did witness them. Coghill’s defection was perhaps for the best, as Jim Campbell was the perfect patsy. The downside was making it an Anchorage establishment ticket, which doomed them in Fairbanks.
Good points both, by Sean and Marla. The 1986 Republican Primary had Arliss Sturgewlewski, Walter J. Hickel, Dick Randolph, House Speaker Joe Hayes, Ron Summerville ……finishing in that order. The Democrats voted out their own incumbent, Bill Sheffield, largely over the Fairbanks 5th Avenue building debacle. Steve Cowper and Arliss fought it out in the general election. Joe Vogler ran as an AIP candidate and captured over 10,000 votes, enough to spoil Arliss’ chances. Cowper had enough after 4 years and declined to run again. Arliss tried once more in 1990, but the AIP’s Hickel/Coghill team bounced her again. Mostly a bunch of angry women were running Arliss’ campaign.
As a side note, Arliss’ son is married to Lisa Murkowski’s older sister.
Suzanne, it’s almost like you suggest that these Republican voter’s don’t possess higher reasoning skills? That group with the shredded “don’t tread on me flags” on their F250’s, ridiculous red hats, and scrotum trailer hitches? That bunch? Say it isn’t so….
You seem nice.
……or the Democrats in their Subarus and Hondas with “anti this and that” bumper stickers, and the long trail of marijuana leaking from their windows ……THAT bunch? Damon is once again the idiot of the day here at Alaska Story.
They need all those stickers to hold their cars together. 🙂
LOL…..😂
You get the award for stupidest generalization of the day.
One STRONG candidate would be best and a likely winner.
Unfortunately, I don’t see Wilson or Bronson dropping, especially if that puts the likes of clicker on the ballot.
That said, shuffling and swapping teammates right before the general election should not be legal. It’s BS.
At some level, I agree. If all four stay in, then it’s easy. Bronson then Wilson or Wilson then Bronson. I don’t care which one wins; both are better than commies on the other side. If Click gets in there, it’s over for the Rs and every conservative in the state.
Click is like a criminal. The stories about him are legion. And will grow.
Hear hear!! 👂👂🦻
The logic is different here since you’d end up with Click on the ballot and he won’t drop. Him being an R will pull votes and sink any candidate.
Bishop is nothing but POS. He hates Republicans. An angry old man nearing a dementia deadline.
If one of the D’s drops out before the August 31 deadline as you suggest (and I agree that’s likely), we now have three R’s. Bronson and Taylor would have to agree to suspend their campaigns (not withdraw) and campaign for and urge their voters to vote for Wilson/ Shower. Invariably, some of their voters will not play along and still vote for one of the two other candidates. Who knows if they’ll rank or which candidate they’ll rank. Hopefully there will be enough to get over 50%. I am assuming that the R candidates are discussing all of this and developing a strategy before the 31st.
That’s one scenario. How about Bernie and Bronson unity ticket? Showers, Church, Crum, and Heilala all get Commissioners work. Forget Bishop because the dirt on him that didn’t come out in the Primary, will really come out in the general election. Art Hackney will run fast and far.
Julia, a reasonable thought but looking at personalities, I do not see any scenario where Bronson would lower himself to be a LtGov under a woman who beat him in the primary. Alternatively, Wilson won the primary so why would she agree to be the LtGov under Bronson who came in second place? I don’t believe your scenario is a possibility unfortunately. Egos reign supreme among people who start reaching for the higher offices of the land.
Good thought. Wally Hickel and Dick Randolph a temporary scheme to unite in 1986 as a write-in, or affiliate with another party in order to beat Arliss Sturgewlewski who was a lefty Republican supported by angry, bitter women. But Wally and Dick couldn’t agree as to who would be the top of the ticket. Hickel had more primary votes than Randolph, but it turned out that their personalities were at odds. Bronson would have to eat crow in this case and his ego probably won’t bow for sake of party survival. Unless Bronson decides to man-up and unite with Bernie for a victory, the Democrats have a really good shot at things this fall.
Julia, you say, “…they all get commissioner’s work…” Could you mean “…commissioner’s free lunch…?”
Excellent strategy.
Whatever it takes to keep a D out of the Governor job.
Consolidation would be better, yes, but I will rank the red if it comes to that.
You must!!
Wilson and Bronson in that order.
FYI Bruce, it has “come to that.” Its how the system is designed to be used by voters, if they can accept it.
It really doesn’t matter if they accept it or not, it is the current system. And yes we should repeal it, but it is the system we are currently voting under…that’s just reality.
How many of the many Republicans on the ballot were actually sponsored by Democrats?
Are we have to do is Rank two Governor choices. Bernadette and Dave Bronson.
But for the US Senate and US House there are only the 1. Dan S S S S S S Sullivan and Nicholas Begich before Exhausting the ballots so that no others non Republican get our votes. Because when Peltola was running for US House I ranked her third in the primary. She got my vote. So in the general election I only ranked Nicholas 1 and Palin 2 and exhausted the ballot.
We know that either TB or JKT will step aside and that proves the big lie of RCV giving voters more choices. TDS RINOs and democrats are not able to function with or process truth, so they will pretend RCV is good. The Alaska republican party must stop allowing two facers, of which there are many, to remain within itself or continue to self destruct. A future republican Governor must be willing to call them out.
I don’t think they’ll step aside, but they and Democrats will be working together toward getting one of them elected. They will help Republican voters will be too disunlfied, too prejudice, too bitter, too disorganized to split their votes between all gubnatorial candidates or than they do not rank the red by only voting 1 before exhaustion.
Same comment to Julia but on the D’s. It’s hard to imagine that Tom Begich of the left wing Begich political dynasty (excluding Nick Begich who is clearly not a leftist), would allow himself to be lowered to the level of LtGov under the banner of JKT. JKT’s even too far left for Tom Begich even though Begich is a full on progressive trying to pass himself off as moderate. I think JKT being younger and knowing he’s got time would likely agree to be a LtGov for a time under Begich, I don’t see the reverse being true.
John, isn’t it time we stop using the terms progressive, liberal, leftist, Democrat or socialist? Let’s cut to the chase and refer to all them with the most accurate term: communists.
Appears Democrats, who invented it, just use RCV to manipulate the voting system to win, not provide more choices (like it’s a game). Which is why it should be repealed in Nov. These are the same people who are taking the PFD for their agenda and want to make you pay more and more taxes-like an income tax.
Democrats are evil.
Republicans are stupid.
Non-partisan are sick and tired.
Thank you for this Ms Downing. Alaska watchman is also encouraging their readers to rank the red 1 and 2.
I’m one Republican I did rank Nicholas 1 and Palin 2. Even though Palin I think wouldn’t been much different than Peltola. They are both kind of the same. While Peltola partied on the left. Palin would been the party girl on the Right. Still. Despite the short comings of two republican candidates shortcomings . If Republican voters want to work toward getting ahead and moving forward they need to unite.
The consolation is AKRepublicans still have Republican voters who did not vote in the primary, but they will in the general election. But! They too need to unite behind Wilson (1) and Bronson (2). And you don’t have to rank a third or fourth. I’m not ranking a third and fourth. My ballot will be exhausted after Wilson and Bronson. Because I do not want Nick Begich senior not JKT to profit from any vote from me.
Tina, Nick Begich Sr has been dead for 50 years. This is his son TOM. In contrast to his son, Nick Jr. NB3 is the third in the line.
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As for not ranking a D, do some homework before deciding that is good idea. My thinking now is that JKT is the LAST person I want to see in the governors mansion. Should both R’s get rolled out, then you ought to consider which of those to evils is the lesser. Yes, I have more homework to do on that notion, but for now it’s R1, R2, TB, ‘Snoopy’ as a write-in.
That’s because they have particular interest in their chosen candidate winning. They don’t want the top vote getter to actually win so they poo poo consolidation. It’s all over Phil’s page who he wants to win.
A JKT/Tom Begich unity ticket. Now there’s a doozy. Alaska’s first LGBTQ/60’s hippy ticket. Question is…. who’s on top and who gets the bottom.😅??
I think Begich’s knees are giving out.
Make sure you vote for the repeal of rank voting and don’t fall for the same lies that so many have fallen for in previous election cycles. But the fact remains that we currently have rank voting for this cycle. If you want a Democrat Governor then rank that Democrat or only rank one Republican, if and when there are multiple Republicans to rank. If you let Democrats decide for you that is your choice and you are a tool of the Democrats, full stop.
Suzanne, I have respected your thoughts for some time. I have a question for you on this bit of logic however. No need to publish this – I would just be interested to have this thrown into your thinking pile. You could email me your thoughts if you had time,
What if the reason that blue never harps to blue to rank the blue is that they simply do not need to. The meek little blue lemmings automatically do the rank thing as a matter of their instilled leftist slave mindset.
There is an argument for ranking over on the Watchman that has some cogent thought, but the experience of our last election sort of speaks against the cry for ranking lest we “exhaust” ballots. I, and literally all of my known circles of voters in the Mat Su valley, voted for one candidate, and only one, in the last big election cycle. We re-elected a Republican president and fired Peltola. Some PhD statistician may be able to prove from state voter data that such an outcome was incidental and ranking really did determine that outcome – but that hasn’t happened to my knowledge. Are you up for the task?
If you’re set on Wilson or Bronson and your choice is nixed along the way, would you not rather have the other person (Bronson or Wilson) capture your second choice. If you DO rank the red, at least the RED will have a fighting chance. If you do not, I guarantee a deep blue Wednesday. Well, whatever day it takes for this process to finish out.
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We may not like the rules of the game, but if we don’t follow them, we’ll not prevail. It’s like taking a knee with 4th and goal on the one yard line, when you’re trailing by 4 and the clock is running out….
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Choose Bronson then Wilson; or Wilson then Bronson. Leave the rest blank.
Sophie’s Choice, no?
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Vote only for the one candidate you want, risk ballot exhaustion.
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Vote for the one candidate you want plus a mob you wouldn’t be caught dead with on a good day, much less vote for, risk one of them slithering into office …with your vote.
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In other words, vote for candidates who suck, or risk the government tossing your ballot.
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Then you find out
(a) ballot audit trail is lost in the ranking process.
(b) only 5% of electronically-counted ballots are cross-matched with a hand-counted sample
(c) vote-tabulating machinery runs on proprietary firmware and software which means we don’t know how it’s actually programmed to count, but we do know it can be accessed with thumb drives while it’s counting.
(d) guys whose AI product hacked into ultra-seciure NSA computers contributed generously to Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins’ campaign.
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Good thing Department of Elections vote-counting machinery is ultra-ultra-secure, right?
So we think we know how RCV’s supposed to work, but actually we don’t how any part of it did, or will, work.
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If that’s not election tampering and voter suppression, what is?
Morrigan,
Very interesting comment above, thank you!
As for JKT’s money masters and their hacking abilities, can you please shed more light? I find is ridiculous that our Statewide press hasn’t delved into this subject already…
I mean to ask, who are these people and want do they want?
Morrigan just gave us the principle reason for voting “Yes on 2.”
Do not Trust, and Always Verify.
Robert, thanks for your note.
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Receipts are here:
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https://securityaffairs.com/194016/ai/anthropics-mythos-ai-broke-into-almost-all-nsa-classified-systems-in-hours.html
https://thealaskastory.com/the-san-francisco-treat-six-anthropic-employees-pour-historic-money-into-one-alaska-candidates-race-for-governor/
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In context with Anthropic’s buy-in and hacking ability, recall Alaska’s a member of ERIC. Imagine what happens to free, fair, and honest elections when JKT’s handlers train Claude to sneak into ERIC’s files, state voter files, and ERIC’s non-disclosure agreements. Can’t happen here? Who’ll notice, much less stop it …or say anything about it?
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https://ericstates.org/who-we-are/
https://thefederalist.com/2022/11/21/alabama-withdraws-from-democrat-operative-controlled-voter-registration-database/
https://support.claude.com/en/articles/13345190-get-started-with-claude-cowork
https://mustreadalaska.com/art-chance-election-fraud-is-a-piece-of-cake-in-alaska/
https://www.ktoo.org/2026/07/23/state-removes-3500-alaskans-from-voter-rolls-based-in-part-on-old-data/ (Think what Claude could do, unnoticed.)
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Seems reasonable to expect Statewide press aren’t investigating this because “dark money” coming into Alaska forms the bulk of their advertising revenue which if lost, means they’re out of business. What’s “bulk”? The “Alaska Influence Pipeline” data shows far more “dark money” comes in than could arguably be generated by exclusively Alaskan advertisers.
(https://www.alaskainfluencepipeline.com/)
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So, one wouldn’t expect Statewide press to investigate things that might annoy advertisers whose approval and money keeps them on air, on line, in print, and in business.
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As to who these people are and what they want, the “Alaska Influence Pipeline” reports names and perhaps says best what they want: “Creating division amongst Alaskans on topics like oil & gas, mining, and fishing is just a means to an end. The people funding these efforts aren’t trying to save the environment. Rather, they are creating local political causes to help elect candidates who will advance their agendas in Washington, DC and at the state and local level.”
Wow.
I don’t
Know you but your response was one of the best I have heard in a long time! You should be writing articles to be printed. I know all about ERIC as a retired educator. It use to be way behind the times.
Thank you.
Robert, when you say, “our Statewide press” I guess you mean a collective media institution whose majority would more appropriately be labeled as “our statewide ministry of communist propaganda.”
Refusing to rank is like boycotting a runoff election because your favorite lost the first round of voting.
It’s funny how everyone seems to have forgotten that the Alaska Republican Party was among RCV’s earliest champions. In 2002 the party urged Alaskans to vote YES on a ballot measure to adopt “instant runoff voting” (as RCV was more commonly known) and even enlisted John McCain for robocall messages making the pitch. A resolution adopted that same year at the state GOP convention sings the praises of this innovative voting method, declaring that “Alaskan voters should be able to vote their conscience without fear of wasting their vote or helping elect candidates they least prefer.”
What happened over the last two decades to make Republicans change their tune so dramatically?
I seem to remember that the rank the red quote came from the mouth 👄 and brain 🧠of Mike porcarro! Remember him and his involvement when RCV was first introduced? He was instrumental in bringing us this fraud! Murkowski bribed him and his advertising company to promote RCV!!! “ get rid of dark money “!!! A conservative republican screwing his own party for money!!! Imagine that!!! It’s on that basis I’m calling you all out for being stupid!!! Rank the red!
Good Food For Thought. Republicans better get a clue and then get together, or, Alaska is going to be run by a bunch of fags, lesbians, trannies, misfits, Marxists, gray-haired pony-tailed hippies, non-producers, snow-flakes, climate action extremists, and violently angry leftists.
@Dave Maxwell,
Art Hackney is just as bad. A so-called Republican promoter, Hackney ran Click Bishop’s campaign through the primary. It was all for money, not political philosophy. Now with chameleon Click Bishop out of the way (except to spoil a Republican ticket), Hackney will try and get onboard another campaign. Do NOT trust Art Hackney.
Art’s dad, Glenn Hackney, was a pretty conservative Republican in the Alaska Legislature. But that was back in the 1980’s. Art is only interested in making money for himself, not about the good for Alaska’s future. His backng Click Bishop is Exhibit A.
Late to the conversation but….Primary goal should be getting rid of RCV. If we don’t, all elections for eons will tighten the yoke around our throats.
You can argue, plan, or just scream into the wind. The power brokers don’t care about you or me, our country or actually the world.
One niggling thought … so, we get rid of RCV, but end up with a D./d. in the governor’s seats. It may be a long 6 years, BUT the next election would not be tainted by RCV.
Governor term is 4 years, not 6.
Yep, RCV is and always has been a mess! We didn’t get the “NO” votes for Ballot Measure 1, will we get “YES” votes for Ballot Measure 2? Who knows. Some J have talked to started with “I am just tired of hearing about it.” Most by the end of the conversation were going to vote yes, but not all. So we’ll see. There are three priorities out there! Are you saying we, as Republicans, can’t do three? We need a conservative Governor AND we need RCV gone AND we need a conservative legislature(which is more difficult because Anchorage Republicans don’t come out and vote). Pray for our state and get out and do the work. Neither one by itself will gain success!
The only realistic path to victory Republicans have is for Wilson and Bronson to consolidate, and for the remaining five “heavies” (Taylor, Bishop, Crum, Hughes, and Heilala) to drop. JKT being a relative newcomer, I could easily see him agreeing to be Tom’s lieutenant. As many have mentioned on here, the most important vote, by far is Yes on 2. RCV is working as intended, turning our elections into a convoluted “up-in-the air” mess. We badly need our primaries back.
Using the Begich/Palin election as a sample needs deeper analysis. The lesson I took away was that the Republicans need to run against the democrat. Peltola’s election was bizarre. Nobody ran against her. Palin and Begich ran against each other. Palin even spoke warmly towards her as did Murkowski as though they had to stand for girl power or something. Petola got to just be that nice little Native grandma who is all for family, fish and some other f thing.
I think it would be great for both Bronson and Wilson to aim their fire at Peltola and encourage anyone that votes for them to vote for the other Republican as number two. It’s not like either of them has shown themselves to be a strong candidate.
A fairly amazing set of comments and history, some of it a jumble. I will admit that I refused to rank reality-star ex-Governor Palin on my ballot in the congressional race. She was a poor governor and worse candidate for Congress. Conservatives must set some standards for their candidates; electing embarrassing “conservatives” is a bad idea. As for candidates Wilson and Bronson, neither has ever given me the time of day, nor can I cite their positions on any issue. That is going to make it difficult for me to rank or get excited about either of them. Lots of work ahead.
JMark, you say, “As for candidates Wilson and Bronson, neither has ever given me the time of day, nor can I cite their positions on any issue.” It’s as if you expect the candidates to seek you out to brief you as to their platforms. That’s not the way it works. I’ve found many opportunities to hear their platforms in person. They are both conservative and communicative. I would give Wilson higher marks for being more articulate and engaging; key qualities to being an effective governor.
In 2022 we lost the seat in Congress because Sarah Palin stubbornly insisted that Nick Begich bow out. Nancy Dahlstrom took the high road, and Begich won in 2024 (and has done an exemplary job). Somebody needs to swallow his (or her) pride and let the other win the governor’s race. Ignore the guy from Petersburg, who is a fake Republican.
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