Unofficial election night results showed precincts in Senate District P favoring Democrat Scott Kawasaki and Republican Mike Cronk leading in Senate District R.
In Senate District P, incumbent Democrat Scott Kawasaki led with 50.29% of the vote, or 4,729 votes, and Republican Leslie Hajdukovich followed with 49.47% of the vote, or 4,652 votes. All precincts in Senate District P reported results as of 9:55 p.m. Tuesday.
Kawasaki has served in the Alaska Legislature for 18 years in the House of Representatives and the Senate. Hajdukovich, a small business owner, has served on the Fairbanks school board, co-chaired the “Vote No on 1” campaign in 2014, and worked as U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan’s Fairbanks regional director for five years.
Kawasaki and Hajdukovich did not respond to the News-Miner’s request for comment by deadline.
In the contested Senate District R race, initial results showed Republican incumbent Mike Cronk in the lead with 51.45% of the vote, or 6,825 votes. He was followed by nonpartisan Savannah Fletcher with 42.40%, or 5,624 votes, and Alaska Independence Robert “Bert” Williams with 5.88%, or 780 votes. 21 of 48 precincts in Senate District R reported results as of 9:55 p.m.
Fletcher, a civil rights attorney, said that she hoped for better results Tuesday night.
“With these initial numbers, it’s not what I was hoping to see. There’s still a long way to go and I want to respect every person’s vote,” she said. She added that she was proud that her campaign valued every person in her district, whether they lived in Fairbanks or a village.
Williams, an apprentice machinist, said Tuesday night, “I’m mostly just glad it’s over, whichever way it goes.”
Williams is not sure if he would run for office again. “It’s good for everybody for remember that politicians aren’t going to solve all their problems and they have to work on solving their problems as well,” he said.
Cronk, a retired teacher who represents House District 36, did not respond to the News-Miner’s request for comment by deadline.
According to the Alaska Division of Elections, early vote ballots through Oct. 31 were counted election night and early vote ballots from Nov. 1 through Tuesday will be counted Nov. 12. Absentee ballots must be counted no later than Nov. 20.
Ranked Choice Voting results will not be available until Nov. 20, according to the Alaska Division of Elections.
Contact Haley Lehman at 907-459-7575 or by email at hlehman@newsminer.com.
