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Letter: Republicans shouldn't fear RCV

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Letter: Republicans shouldn't fear RCV


By Tom Baring

Updated: 1 hour ago Published: 1 hour ago

House Bill 4 attempts to replace Alaska’s ranked choice voting system. This is an insult to the majority of Alaska voters who passed the RCV referendum just three years ago.

Worse, this bill would reinstate the old system, which causes so much harm at the national level.

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In his July 31, 2023 column, Cal Thomas asked, “Who is to blame for the corrosive nature of today’s politics?” and offered his opinion. “Some blame the media. Others fault politicians. (…) The real blame lies with voters.” He neglects to mention the election system itself.

Presidential candidates are mainly selected by party activists, often the most extreme.

Then, in the general election, voters get one, and only one, candidate from each party.

Furthermore, the system lacks depth. It provides no mechanism to register your second and third choices. This leads to spoiler situations where your vote for an independent candidate probably helps the major party candidate you most strongly oppose. RCV addresses these shortcomings, invites greater participation and shifts some power from the parties back to the voters.

Republicans need not fear RCV. In the U.S. House race, for example, rank Nick Begich III first and Nancy Dahlstrom second or the other way around. If 51% of the voters do the same, one of them will win.

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Republicans, including Gov. Mike Dunleavy, did just fine in 2022.

Alaska is trying something with tremendous potential to help the whole country. Let’s give it a few more election cycles and learn better how it works in practice.

— Tom Baring

Fairbanks

Have something on your mind? Send to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Letters under 200 words have the best chance of being published. Writers should disclose any personal or professional connections with the subjects of their letters. Letters are edited for accuracy, clarity and length.

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Alaska

Alaska Supreme Court to take up case on Dan J. Sullivan, decision expected by Tuesday

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Alaska Supreme Court to take up case on Dan J. Sullivan, decision expected by Tuesday


JUNEAU, Alaska (KTUU) – The Supreme Court of Alaska will be taking up the case of the State of Alaska, Division of Elections v. Daniel J. Sullivan, Jr.

The oral arguments will be held Monday at 10 a.m. via Zoom, according to an order and opening notice.

The document also specifies that a decision is expected to be made before noon on Tuesday.

According to documents from the Division of Elections, the state must start printing ballots at noon on the same day.

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This comes after an Anchorage Superior Court Judge ordered Dan J. Sullivan on to the ballot Friday.

See a spelling or grammar error? Report it to web@ktuu.com

Copyright 2026 KTUU. All rights reserved.



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Alaska

Mat-Su Initial Attack Responding to Fire in Flat Lake

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Mat-Su Initial Attack Responding to Fire in Flat Lake


An engine and firefighters from the Division of Forestry & Fire Protection’s Mat-Su Area are responding to a fire near Flat Lake.

A caller reported a fire on an island in Flat Lake, with 2 foot flame lengths and structures near by.

The engine crew responding will be shuttled by boat to the fire. The fire is currently reported as .1 acre, creeping and smoldering.

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Additional updates will be shared as they become available.

‹ Pioneer Peak Hotshots, Gannett Glacier Crew Join Fight Against 2 Fires Near Ruby

Categories: Active Wildland Fire

Tags: #FireYear2026 #2026AKFIRESEASON, 2026 Alaska Fire Season



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Opinion: Alaska’s $10,000 question: Leave or stay?

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Opinion: Alaska’s ,000 question: Leave or stay?


A new home under construction in Potter Valley in Anchorage. (Loren Holmes / ADN)

This June, two very different offers reach Alaska families, and both amount to the same thing: $10,000. The difference is everything.

Bill Walker, running for governor, would hand every eligible Alaskan a one-time $10,000 check and then end the Permanent Fund dividend for good. Ask one question: Where does his $10,000 come from?

It comes from the Permanent Fund, the people’s own money and the savings Alaskans built for their children. Walker would spend that endowment once to pay Alaskans to give up the yearly dividend forever.

Think about what that does. It cancels the annual check that gives a family a reason to keep an Alaska address and replaces it with a single payout. You hand people their own savings, call it a gift and cut the tie that held them here in the same motion. It is the oldest mistake in governing money: raid what you have saved to buy a moment’s applause and call the spending generosity.

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A plan that spends the people’s savings to send the people away is not bold. It is foolish.

Now consider the other $10,000. Through Alaska Housing Finance Corp., the state offers families up to $10,000 to build a new, energy-efficient home. AHFC raids nothing. It earns its own way. Over the years, it has returned more than $2 billion to the state treasury, and it spends some of that income the way any good business does: to win a customer.

Here, the customer is an Alaskan who wants to own a home, put down roots and stay.

That is the oldest sound move in business: Invest a little of what you earn to bring in someone who stays. The homeowner remains, the community gains a family and the corporation keeps earning. The money spent comes back. A plan that puts earnings to work to bring people home is not charity. It is clever.

Same amount. Opposite source. Opposite wisdom. One spends savings; the other spends earnings. One pays Alaskans to leave; the other pays them to stay. One empties the state; the other fills it.

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This Homeownership Month, the choice is the size of a single check, and the whole question is where the check comes from and what it asks of you. Ten thousand dollars of your own fund, to wave you goodbye. Or $10,000, earned and reinvested, to help you stay and build.

Evan Swensen is the publisher of Publication Consultants in Anchorage and the author of “What’s the Money For: A Permanent Fund Mortgage Proposal.”

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The Anchorage Daily News welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)adn.com. Send submissions shorter than 200 words to letters@adn.com or click here to submit via any web browser. Read our full guidelines for letters and commentaries here.





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