Alaska
Sponsor restarts process to repeal Alaska ranked-choice voting on 2026 ballot
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Ballot Measure 2, an initiative to repeal Alaska’s open primary and ranked-choice voting system, narrowly failed in the recent election cycle, but the sponsor of the measure is not ready to give up just yet.
After a recount revealed the ballot measure failed by 743 votes, instead of the 737 originally counted, sponsor Phil Izon submitted the paperwork on Monday to get back on the ballot for 2026.
At the Absentee and Petition Office in Anchorage, Izon started the process again by submitting an initiative petition with the signatures of 214 qualified registered voters to serve as sponsors; only 100 are required.
“We have a pretty good amount of people that are really motivated … and they ultimately didn’t like the fact that we lost by small percentages,” Izon said.
Within 60 calendar days after receipt, the office of Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom will notify the sponsor if the application is denied or certified.
After that, the signature-gathering process begins to get on the ballot officially.
Izon said the spirit of the ballot measure is the same, but some fundamental differences need to be made to the ballot language.
He said some voters found the ballot language confusing and thought a “no” vote was for repeal.
Instead, they should have been voting “yes,” Izon said.
The ballot initiative to implement ranked-choice voting and open primaries was approved by Alaskan voters in 2020 and used for the first time in the 2022 election cycle.
He said as the sponsor, he doesn’t get the privilege to write the ballot measure language; state officials write it based on what the sponsor summarized in the written petition.
Izon said this time around, he hopes the language is written clearer; if it’s not, he is prepared to go to court over it.
“I believe language played a role in 2020, and I believe it played a role in 2024, so I do not want a repeat of that in 2026,” Izon said.
Ironically, the ballot measure’s sponsors say they want a repeal of the state’s current election system because they believe voters find it confusing.
In the current system, the top four primary finishers advance to the general election, and then voters rank the candidates by preferred choice. If no candidate receives a majority of votes in the first round, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and the candidate’s votes are redistributed according to each voter’s second preferred choice.
Democrat Lee Hammermeister, who joined Izon on Monday as a co-sponsor and lost a recent Eagle River Senate race this November, said it’s time for Alaska to return to a traditional system.
Like many opponents of ranked-choice voting, Hammermeister points to the number of voters who don’t rank the candidates and only vote for one.
“[There are] people either not understanding it or entirely rejecting using the ranked-choice voting system,” Hammermeister said. “It just turns into something that’s very confusing, and then it just gets very convoluted, both on the voter side and then on the candidate side as well. So I like a simple system.”
Proponents of open primaries and ranked-choice voting argue that most Alaskan voters are nonpartisan and do not identify with a political party. They believe that the current system provides voters with more choices and a greater voice beyond the limitations of the political parties.
Izon said if the ballot measure fails in 2026, he might give one more try in 2028, but in the end, he thinks it might be something that the legislature will have to take up.
“I’ve been in a lot of communication with a bunch of legislators that have actually moved bills through the Senate and the House,” he said. “[I’ve] got a lot of support from those people, and I would love to see it go through that direction.”
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Copyright 2024 KTUU. All rights reserved.
Alaska
Dozens of vehicle accidents reported, Anchorage after-school activities canceled, as snowfall buries Southcentral Alaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Up to a foot of snow has fallen in areas across Southcentral as of Tuesday, with more expected into Wednesday morning.
All sports and after-school activities — except high school basketball and hockey activities — were canceled Tuesday for the Anchorage School District. The decision was made to allow crews to clear school parking lots and manage traffic for snow removal, district officials said.
“These efforts are critical to ensuring schools can safely remain open [Wednesday],” ASD said in a statement.
The Anchorage Police Department’s accident count for the past two days shows there have been 55 car accidents since Monday, as of 9:45 a.m. Tuesday. In addition, there have been 86 vehicles in distress reported by the department.
The snowfall — which has brought up to 13 inches along areas of Turnagain Arm and 12 inches in Wasilla — is expected to continue Tuesday, according to latest forecast models. Numerous winter weather alerts are in effect, and inland areas of Southcentral could see winds up to 25 mph, with coastal areas potentially seeing winds over 45 mph.
Some areas of Southcentral could see more than 20 inches of snowfall by Wednesday, with the Anchorage and Eagle River Hillsides, as well as the foothills of the Talkeetna Mountain, among the areas seeing the most snowfall.
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Copyright 2026 KTUU. All rights reserved.
Alaska
Yundt Served: Formal Charges Submitted to Alaska Republican Party, Asks for Party Sanction and Censure of Senator Rob Yundt
On January 3, 2026, Districts 27 and 28 of the Alaska Republican Party received formal charges against Senator Rob Yundt pursuant to Article VII of the Alaska Republican Party Rules.
According to the Alaska Republican Party Rules: “Any candidate or elected official may be sanctioned or censured for any of the following
reasons:
(a) Failure to follow the Party Platform.
(b) Engagement in any activities prohibited by or contrary to these rules or RNC Rules.
(c) Failure to carry out or perform the duties of their office.
(d) Engaging in prohibited discrimination.
(e) Forming a majority caucus in which non-Republicans are at least 1/3 or more of the
coalition.
(f) Engaging in other activities that may be reasonably assessed as bringing dishonor to
the ARP, such as commission of a serious crime.”
Party Rules require the signatures of at least 3 registered Republican constituents for official charges to be filed. The formal charges were signed by registered Republican voters and District N constitutions Jerad McClure, Thomas W. Oels, Janice M. Norman, and Manda Gershon.
Yundt is charged with “failure to adhere and uphold the Alaska Republican Party Platform” and “engaging in conduct contrary to the principles and priorities of the Alaska Republican Party Rules.” The constituents request: “Senator Rob Yundt be provided proper notice of the charges and a full and fair opportunity to respond; and that, upon a finding by the required two-thirds (2/3) vote of the District Committees that the charges are valid, the Committees impose the maximum sanctions authorized under Article VII.”
If the Party finds Yundt guilty of the charges, Yundt may be disciplined with formal censure by the Alaska Republican Party, declaration of ineligibility for Party endorsement, withdrawal of political support, prohibition from participating in certain Party activities, and official and public declaration that Yundt’s conduct and voting record contradict the Party’s values and priorities.
Reasons for the charges are based on Yundt’s active support of House Bill 57, Senate Bill 113, and Senate Bill 92. Constituents who filed the charges argue that HB 57 opposes the Alaska Republican Party Platform by “expanding government surveillance and dramatically increasing education spending;” that SB 113 opposes the Party’s Platform by “impos[ing] new tax burdens on Alaskan consumers and small businesses;” and that SB 92 opposes the Party by “proposing a targeted 9.2% tax on major private-sector energy producer supplying natural gas to Southcentral Alaska.” Although the filed charges state that SB 92 proposes a 9.2% tax, the bill actually proposes a 9.4% tax on income from oil and gas production and transportation.
Many Alaskan conservatives have expressed frustration with Senator Yundt’s legislative decisions. Some, like Marcy Sowers, consider Yundt more like “a tax-loving social justice warrior” than a conservative.
Related
Alaska
Pilot of Alaska flight that lost door plug over Portland sues Boeing, claims company blamed him
The Alaska Airlines captain who piloted the Boeing 737 Max that lost a door plug over Portland two years ago is suing the plane’s manufacturer, alleging that the company has tried to shift blame to him to shield its own negligence.
The $10 million suit — filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Tuesday on behalf of captain Brandon Fisher — stems from the dramatic Jan. 5, 2024 mid-air depressurization of Flight 1282, when a door plug in the 26th row flew off six minutes after take off, creating a 2-by-4-foot hole in the plane that forced Fisher and co-pilot Emily Wiprud to perform an emergency landing back at PDX.
None of the 171 passengers or six crew members on board was seriously injured, but some aviation medical experts said that the consequences could have been “catastrophic” had the incident happened at a higher altitude.
Fisher’s lawsuit is the latest in a series filed against Boeing, including dozens from Flight 1282 passengers. It also names Spirit AeroSystems, a subcontractor that worked on the plane.
The lawsuit blames the incident on quality control issues with the door plug. It argues that Boeing caught five misinstalled rivets in the panel, and that Spirit employees painted over the rivets instead of reinstalling them correctly. Boeing inspectors caught the discrepancy again, the complaint alleges, but when employees finally reopened the panel to fix the rivets, they didn’t reattach four bolts that secured the door panel.
The complaint’s allegations that Boeing employees failed to secure the bolts is in line with a National Transportation Safety Board investigation that came to the conclusion that the bolts hadn’t been replaced.
Despite these internal issues, Fisher claims Boeing deliberately shifted blame towards him and his first officer.
Lawyers for Boeing in an earlier lawsuit wrote that the company wasn’t responsible for the incident because the plane had been “improperly maintained or misused by persons and/or entities other than Boeing.”
Fisher’s complaint alleges that the company’s statement was intended to “paint him as the scapegoat for Boeing’s numerous failures.”
“Instead of praising Captain Fisher’s bravery, Boeing inexplicably impugned the reputations of the pilots,” the lawsuit says.
As a result, Fisher has been scrutinized for his role in the incident, the lawsuit alleges, and named in two lawsuits by passengers.
Spokespeople for Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems declined to comment on the lawsuit.
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