August 25

Primary results

June 1

Total Number: 7

To Watch:
Constitutional Amendment 2: Same-sex Marriage
Defines marriage as between one man and one woman. It would also say no provision of the Alaska Constitution could be interpreted to require the state to recognize or permit same-sex marriages.

Ballot Measure 5: Billboards/Free Speech
Would bar billboard advertising.

Ballot Measure 6: English Only
Would adopt English as Alaska's official language.

Ballot Measure 7: Term Limits
Would allow candidates for the Alaska state legislature or U.S. Congress to pledge to limit themselves to only three terms in the U.S. House or two in the Senate or to eight out of 16 years in the state legislature.

Ballot Measure 8: Medical Marijuana
Would allow the use of marijuana for certain medical purposes.

Governor: Democrat
U.S. Senate: 2 Republicans
U.S. House of Representatives: 1 Republican
State Senate: 5 Democrats, 15 Republicans
State House of Representatives: 15 Democrats, 25 Republicans
(One officeholder is still officially a Democrat, but has said he will run as a Republican this year and has been tallied as a Republican.)

Senate: 10 seats up
House: All 40 seats up

State Projected Voting Age Population: 425,000 (1996)
Registered Voters: (3/2/98) 441,194

3

Dole won in 1996; Bush in 1992; Bush in 1988; Reagan in 1984; Reagan in 1980; Ford in 1976; Nixon in 1972; Nixon in 1968; Johnson in 1964; Nixon in 1960.

LAST TIME VOTED DEMOCRATIC FOR PRESIDENT: 1964

PRESIDENTIAL VOTE IN 1996:

Dole: 51%
Clinton: 33%
Perot: 11%
Other: 5%

PRESIDENTIAL VOTE IN 1992:

Bush: 39.5%
Clinton: 30.3%
Perot: 28.4%

PRESIDENTIAL VOTE IN 1988:

Bush: 60%
Dukakis: 36%

PRESIDENTIAL VOTE IN 1984:

Reagan: 67%
Mondale: 30%

PRESIDENTIAL VOTE IN 1980:

Carter 26%
Reagan 54%
Anderson 7%

1992:

• President
• Senate

1996:

• President
• Senate

Historical voter turnout as a percentage of the voting age population 1996-1960

Population: 607,000 (1996)
(% of voting age population)

White: 78.6%
African American: 4.1%
Asian: 4.2%
Native American: 13.2%
Other/Undeclared:

Persons of Hispanic origin account for 2.9% of the voting population (from 1990 Census)

State Capital: Juneau
State Nickname: The Last Frontier or Land of the Midnight Sun

With a land mass equal to one-fifth of the continental United States, Alaskans have taken to taming their rugged frontier image and started to become more regulated. Regional differences abound; Anchorage, home to 40 percent of the state's population, is affluent and booming with 70 percent of women in the work force -- the highest in the country. Once dependent on oil, fishing and lumber, Alaska has seen a great surge in tourism, counting 1.2 million visitors in 1996, according to the "Almanac of American Politics." While considered a solidly Republican state -- no Democrat has been elected to Congress from Alaska since 1972 -- Alaskans have not elected a Republican governor since 1978. Party lines tend to blur at election time, and many voters consider themselves independents (AAP98). Federal investment is vital here, but with the government controlling 60 percent of the state's land, it has bred resentment as well. Washington is a long way from the "Last Frontier," and state politicians would like to keep it that way.

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