Alaska has finally secured results for its hard-fought governor’s race, two weeks after the election.
Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy won another term, becoming the first governor in Alaska since 1998 to win back-to-back terms.
The race for governor did not go to that state’s ranked-choice voting since Dunleavy won over 50 percent of the vote after the final ballots were counted late Wednesday evening.
The Republican won the race against Democrat opponent Les Gara.
The Republican Governors Association praised Dunleavy’s leadership that won him another round in the governor’s seat.
“The RGA congratulates Governor Mike Dunleavy on his re-election victory in Alaska,” said RGA Co-Chairs Governors Doug Ducey and Pete Ricketts. “Alaskans reaffirmed their vote for a prosperous future for The Last Frontier that includes an investment in American energy, public safety as a top priority, and real solutions to the affordability crisis made worse by Joe Biden and Washington Democrats. We look forward to another four years of teamwork and success for Alaska and our great nation with Governor Dunleavy at the helm.”
While campaigning, Dunleavy remained a low profile following a shaky start to the election season.
He survived the recall effort after he made unpopular cuts to the state budget that he claimed were necessary to balance the state budget.
His rough start to his term began to turn around when the Covid-19 pandemic hit Alaska.
He was praised by residents that Alaska was able to avoid some of the public health pitfalls other states endured. He was also able to keep the state’s death toll from Covid lower than most states in the U.S.
Although Dunleavy was noticeably absent from the campaign trail, Alaskans still believed it was best to keep their state red and free of Democrat’s radical agenda.