Most Alaskans, perhaps even most Americans, have a knee-jerk reaction to taxes. They affect citizens in a sensitive area — their pocketbook. Perhaps a little analysis and thought could change this normal negative reaction.

It is clear, even to the stingiest among us, that Anchorage and Alaska need more income. Our severely underfunded public schools, decreasing population — called “outmigration” these days — underfunded police force, deteriorating streets and highways, underfunded city and state park budgets, and on and on, are not going to fix themselves. We have to pay for it.

Public schools are the best example. Do you want your first grader in a classroom with 25-plus students or your intermediate composition student in a class with 35-plus students? What if the teacher needs four to five paragraphs per week per student from two such classes? Who suffers? The teacher and 70 students. It’s not rocket science — if you minimize taxes, you minimize services.

I was an English teacher in Anchorage and had students coming into my classroom at lunch for help. Why? They were ambitious. Far more students who wanted and needed help were too shy, too busy or less motivated. With smaller class sizes, those students would have gotten the help in class.

Some Alaskans resent paying taxes that help other people’s children. They often say, “But I don’t have any kids in school!” The same attitude is heard when folks say, “The streets in our neighborhood are fine.” Taxes are not designed to help specific taxpayers; they are, or should be, designed to help the entire community. And we are a community.

As well, lots of people get real excited by sales taxes, especially those who have enough income to buy lots of stuff. They argue that, on balance, sales taxes are unfair — they are regressive. That means that individuals with less income pay a higher percent of their income than individuals with a higher income, and this is true. It is minimized by exempting some expenses — medical care, groceries and the like.

A recent opinion piece published in the Anchorage Daily News explained the disadvantages of a regressive tax. In doing so, the author made an excellent argument for using a different kind of tax.

The solution is to use an income tax. With an income tax, the regulations of the tax can prevent it from being regressive by requiring higher tax rates as individual incomes increase. Alaska is one of only eight or nine states with no state income tax. For those folks all worked up about regressive sales taxes, this is the solution.

Any tax that most folks will accept depends on people seeing themselves as part of the same community. That’s not always obvious these days — but it doesn’t change the bottom line: We still have to pay our way.

Tom Nelson has lived in Anchorage more than 50 years. He is a retired school teacher, cross country ski coach, track coach, commercial fisherman and wilderness guide.

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The blowout victory not only highlighted Arizona’s depth but also provided several standout individual performances that showed important signs of growth headed towards conference play. Here’s a closer look at the top three Wildcats from the game and how they powered the win.

1. Tanyuel Welch — Team Leader With a Big Night (18 Points)

Guard Tanyuel Welch led all scorers for Arizona with 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting a highly efficient performance that helped set the tone early and keep the Wildcats well ahead of Bellarmine throughout. Welch also knocked down 4-of-4 free throws, showing composure at the line, and contributed six rebounds and three assists while playing 24 minutes.

Two Republican candidates are leading the latest poll in California’s gubernatorial race amid concerns that Democrats could be locked out of the general election in the solidly blue state.

Newsweek reached out to the California Democratic and Republican parties for comment via email.

Why It Matters

California is a solidly Democratic state that rarely elects Republicans to statewide office. However, Democrats are facing a potential challenge in next year’s gubernatorial race. The Golden State uses a unique “jungle primary” system where all candidates, regardless of their party, appear on the same ballot and the two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the general election. This means there is a possible, even if unlikely, scenario where two Republicans could advance to the general election and lock Democrats out of the race.

A string of recent polls suggests that could be a possibility in the race next year to replace retiring Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, who cannot run for a third term due to term limits.

What To Know

California’s gubernatorial race has drawn the interest of several well-known Democrats in the state including Representative Eric Swalwell, former Representative Katie Porter, former Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Xavier Becerra, businessman Tom Steyer, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former Controller Betty Yee.

By contrast, two well-known Republicans—Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and commentator Steve Hilton—are in the race.

The math problem for Democrats would be if the high number of Democrats split the vote in a way that allows Bianco and Hilton to narrowly advance to the general election. Early polls show that as a possibility, though there is still time for Democratic voters to coalesce around specific candidates before June’s primary.

On Thursday, pollster Civic Lens Research released a survey showing Bianco and Hilton advancing to the general election. Hilton led with just under 18 percent of the vote, while Bianco followed with about 14 percent.

Swalwell placed third with about 12 percent support, while Porter and Steyer followed with 9 and 7 percent support, respectively. Still, many voters are still unsure of who they are going to support—and could be decisive in the race. Thirty-one percent said they were undecided in the poll.

The poll surveyed 400 likely California primary voters via a web questionnaire sent by text message between December 14 and 16.

Other polls have also showed a Democratic lockout as a possibility. An Emerson College poll, which surveyed 1,000 likely voters from December 1-2, showed Bianco leading with 13 percent, while Hilton and Swalwell were tied at 12 percent. An FM3 poll showed Hilton lead with 18 percent, followed by Bianco and Swalwell at 17 percent. It surveyed 821 likely voters from November 30 to December 7 and had a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.

Zev Yaroslavsky, a former member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and director of the Los Angeles Initiative at the University of California, Los Angeles, told Newsweek polls are “largely reflecting name identification and party identification.”

“Voters are not focused on the June primary yet,” he said. “With only two Republicans in the mix along with half a dozen or more well-known Democrats, it is not surprising that most of the candidates are bunched up.”

Democratic and undecided voters are likely to “consolidate behind one or two prominent candidates” by the spring, Yaroslavsky said, noting that other candidates will either drop out or “just be relegated to electoral irrelevancy.”

“The top Democrat will assuredly receive far more than 13% in June. Republicans have a ceiling of what they can hope to get in California, and when Democratic and independent voters coalesce around on or two candidates, at least one of the leading Democratic candidates will come in first or second and advance to the general election. At that point, it’s the Democrats’ to lose,” he said.

What People Are Saying

Corrin Rankin, chairwoman of the California Republican Party, told Newsweek in November: “Poll after poll shows Californians are tired of the decades of failure and corruption by Democrats, and they are turning to Republicans for real solutions and leadership on issues like affordability, public safety, and homelessness.”

Rusty Hicks, chair of the California Democratic Party, told Newsweek in November: “We look forward to electing another Democrat as California’s next Governor in 2026.”

What Happens Next?

The primary is set for June 2, 2026, so candidates will spend the first half of next year making their case to voters to convince them they are the best option to lead the nation’s most populous state.