Alaska

Alaska Democrats stand by their man, bail on presidential preference poll, go with voice vote conducted mostly by Zoom

Published

2 years ago

April 14, 2024

Alaska Democrats stand by their man, bail on presidential preference poll, go with voice vote conducted mostly by Zoom

On Saturday, the Alaska Democratic Party held a voice vote, abandoning their party’s experiment with a paper-ballot “presidential preference poll” style caucus.

There was only one person on the ballot for president — Joe Biden, and a lackluster turnout would have been embarrassing and, regardless of turnout, a presidential preference poll is expensive to manage in a sparsely populated state the size of Alaska.

A voice vote makes it impossible for non-party officials to know how many actually participated. Biden won the party’s majority voice vote, but the vote was not announced by 7 p.m. Alaska time on Saturday. Two Democrats from Fairbanks — Sen. Scott Kawasaki and Rep. Maxine Dibert — were on a plane to Seattle early Saturday morning and it was unclear if they intended to participate in the party vote.

Alaska delegates to the Democratic National Convention will be picked at the Democrat Party’s state convention in Juneau on May 18. All Alaska Democrat delegates will be awarded to Biden.

In 2020, the Republican Party of Alaska also did not hold a caucus-by-ballot because it only had Trump on the ballot, and officers decided it was a waste of time and money.

However, at the 2024 Alaska Republican Presidential Preference Poll, held by ballots cast in person, over 10,000 Alaskans participated: Donald Trump received 9,243 Alaska votes, Nikki Haley received 1,266 votes and Vivek Ramaswamy received 45. Since then, Ramaswamy has dropped out and endorsed Trump and Haley, also no longer a candidate, has refused to endorse the presumed nominee, going back on the promise she had made to the Republican National Committee that she would support the nominee.

Fully one in seven Alaska Republicans took part in the March 5 Presidential Preference poll, which is a party function, rather than a state-run primary.

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Alaska

Delta Junction resident pinned beneath vehicle in crash dies, troopers say

Published

14 hours ago

November 22, 2025

Press Room

Delta Junction resident pinned beneath vehicle in crash dies, troopers say

A Delta Junction resident died Friday after being pinned by a vehicle in a crash along the Richardson Highway, Alaska State Troopers said.

Troopers were notified of a crash with one person pinned just after 8 a.m. Friday, the agency said in an online update. The crash involved a semi and a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado pickup, troopers spokeswoman Tess Williams said, and it occurred around Mile 267 of the Richardson Highway just north of Delta Junction.

First responders extricated Murphy Mackenzie, age 32, and tried administering life-saving measures, but Mackenzie — who had sustained significant injuries — was pronounced dead at the scene, troopers said. Mackenzie’s next of kin was at the scene, according to troopers.

The crash closed the highway for hours Friday “due to the investigation and complexity to remove the crashed (semi) tractor,” troopers said.

Troopers said they found no indication of impairment or foul play. The agency believes road conditions may have been a contributing factor in the crash, Williams said.

The investigation is ongoing, according to Williams.

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Alaska

Relief teams pull out of Western Alaska as storm response shifts to recovery

Published

1 day ago

November 22, 2025

Press Room

Relief teams pull out of Western Alaska as storm response shifts to recovery

Bethel, Alaska (KTUU) – The State of Alaska announced Friday that its West Coast Storm Operations will now transition from response to recovery efforts.

Several organizations, including Team Rubicon, will begin winding down their efforts.

Team Rubicon’s remaining volunteers will leave on Sunday after the organization spent four weeks in the region.

The veteran-led volunteer group spent several weeks coordinating donations and working on infrastructure repair and cleanup.

“There’s obviously a huge need left, and so there’s a lot of local contractors and groups that are going to be able to continue work throughout. Unfortunately Team Rubicon just is not able to do that. And so what our goal is, was two parts. One, do as much good work as we could during the four weeks that we were here. And the second part is, make sure we’re establishing a really good network,” said Jason Taylor, Team Rubicon Incident Commander.

He said he hopes the their group is invited to come back to Western Alaska in the spring to continue doing recovery work.

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Alaska

Alaska oil production poised to jump 13% next year, EIA says

Published

2 days ago

November 21, 2025

Press Room

Alaska oil production poised to jump 13% next year, EIA says

Alaska could see a boom in oil production next year, a sharp reversal for a state that has seen decades of declining production, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

EIA estimates in a forecast released this week that Alaska could see a 13 percent rise in production compared to 2025 — the largest annual increase for the state since the 1980s — thanks to two new projects on the North Slope.

ConocoPhillips’ Nuna project came online in December 2024 and is expected to produce 20,000 barrels a day at its peak. Pikka Phase 1, jointly owned by Santos and Repsol, is slated to start production in early 2026 and could reach peak production of 80,000 barrels a day later that year.

The state last year averaged about 421,000 barrels a day in production, according to EIA, and could be roughly flat this year. The agency estimates that oil production could grow to 477,000 barrels a day next year. Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, cheered the forecast in a statement.

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