Ballot Measures, August 28, 2012
Alaska voters decided 2 statewide ballot measures on August 28, 2012.
Ballot measures
| Measure | Description | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Ballot Measure 1 | Act increasing the maximum residential property exemption. | Passed (50.13% yes) |
| Ballot Measure 2 | To establish a new coastal management program. | Failed (37.91% yes) |
General Election, November 6, 2012
Alaska held its general election on November 6, 2012, deciding 59 legislative seats. Control shifted: the Senate moved from organization by a bipartisan coalition to a 13-7 Republican majority.
Highlights
- The Senate result completed a Republican trifecta, and every Senate Republican plus two Democrats then formed a new Senate majority.
- Oil industry supporters backed Republican candidates to dismantle the coalition, which they saw as a roadblock to cutting oil taxes, and in April 2013 the new majority passed the oil tax cut Gov. Sean Parnell had sought. The new maps also put nearly every seat on the ballot and placed several sitting legislators in the same districts. Four Democratic senators lost:
- John Coghill Jr. (R) beat fellow Sen. Joe Thomas (D) by about 21 points in Senate District A.
- Bert Stedman (R) beat another incumbent, Albert Kookesh (D), by about 29 points in Senate District Q.
- Rep. Anna Fairclough (R) unseated Bettye Davis (D) by about 25 points in Senate District M.
- Pete Kelly (R) ousted Joe Paskvan (D) by about 9 points in Senate District B.
- Republicans added one House seat for a 25-15 majority, and Rep. Lindsey Holmes (D) switched to the Republican Party in January, giving the party a House supermajority. The closest race unseated a four-term Republican: Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (D), then 23, beat former House Finance co-chair Bill Thomas (R) by fewer than 40 votes in House District 34. A recount Thomas requested upheld the result.
- Of the 9 incumbents who lost in November, six were Democrats. Several races pitted two sitting House members against each other on the new maps:
- Tammie Wilson (R) beat Bob Miller (D) by about 5 points in House District 2.
- Lance Pruitt (R) beat Pete Petersen (D) by about 220 votes in House District 25.
- David Guttenberg (D) beat Alan Dick (R) by about 310 votes in House District 38.
- Peggy Wilson (R) beat Kyle Johansen, who ran as an independent, in House District 33.
- Voters rejected the constitutional convention question by about two to one and approved Bonding Proposition A, a transportation bond package.
Legislature
- House (40 seats): 16 D, 24 R before the election, 15 D, 25 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
- Senate (20 seats): 10 D, 10 R before the election, 7 D, 13 R after; control moved from a bipartisan coalition to Republicans.
Legislative races
Ballot measures
| Measure | Description | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Ballot Measure 1 | Would create a convention to revise, alter or amend the state constitution. | Failed (33.41% yes) |
| Bonding Proposition A | General obligation bonds for the purpose of transportation projects. | Passed (58.13% yes) |