General Election

What's next for the loser of the Republican U.S. Senate primary isn't very clear Wednesday, with both incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s and challenger Joe Miller’s campaigns keeping pretty quiet. It will probably be next week before we know for sure who has won the Republican Senate primary. Murkowski isn't losing heart, but if the numbers don't swing her way experts say she still has options. Murkowski refused to talk about what decision she may make if the time comes, saying it's way too soon to be making other plans and there are thousands of absentee ballots to still count.

Candidates hoping for a spot on the November ballot hit the streets Monday evening, asking for your vote in Tuesday's primary election. Primary elections in Alaska usually draw between 25 and 30 percent of registered voters. The frantic final hours of the primary election campaign are when it comes down to the supporters reminding their neighbors to get out and vote. “We're waving a lot of signs at cars, getting a lot of honks, getting a lot of positive feedback, thumbs up -- it's great,” said voter Peter Barrasso.

Anchorage School District students made their presidential choices Tuesday as part of a civics exercise, voting on an unofficial abbreviated version of the Alaska ballot while their parents also went to the polls. ASD spokesperson Heidi Embley says 14,230 elementary, middle and high school students -- about a 29 percent turnout from the district's stated enrollment of 48,816 students -- participated in Youth Vote 2012. The mock election, coordinated by the League of Women Voters, is meant to educate students about the electoral process and foster participation in democracy.

Dozens of West Anchorage constituents gathered Thursday night to discuss the possibility of recalling Representative Lindsey Holmes, more than two weeks after she changed political parties from Democrat to Republican. Rep. Holmes served three terms in the Alaska Legislature as a Democrat and she beat a Republican challenger in November's General Election. But two months after the vote, Holmes stunned many people in District 19 and switched to the G.O.P. "There's a whole lot of people that feel betrayed by Lindsey because what she did," former state lawmaker Harry Crawford said.

On the final weekend before Tuesday’s general election, Alaska gubernatorial candidates Gov. Sean Parnell and Democratic challenger Ethan Berkowitz are campaigning in full force, from shaking hands to hitting the phone lines.   They may not agree on much, but both Parnell and Berkowitz say reaching voters is critical with just two days left in the campaign. Parnell, along with his running mate for lieutenant governor Mead Treadwell, took his message on the road Sunday during a bus trip from Anchorage to the Mat-Su Valley.

The legal battle over fair voting practices continued Tuesday. A judge gave both sides of the fight more time to present their arguments, concerning whether a write-in candidate list should be made available to voters who ask for one. The judge gave the state until noon Tuesday to submit written briefs outlining why showing the write-in candidate list to voters who ask for it is legal and attorneys for the political parties that filed the lawsuit had...

by Dan Fiorucci Channel 2 News correspondent Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- After a setback in federal court Wednesday, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens is saying he's confident he will be vindicated. Stevens faces seven felony counts for allegedly failing to report a quarter million dollars worth of gifts. Stevens did not want to have his trial in Washington, but rather in his home state of Alaska. The court denied his request to move the trial.

May 8, 2007: Sen. Ted Stevens responds to a federal indictment of Bill Allen, head of oilfield services company VECO Corp., for allegedly bribing his son, then-state Senate President Ben Stevens, in 2002. July 18, 2007: Stevens files a report on his personal finances after a two-month delay. July 30, 2007: FBI and IRS agents search Stevens’ Girdwood home, looking for records related to their investigation of VECO. July 29, 2008: Stevens is indicted on seven federal felony counts, alleging that he received $250,000 in VECO gifts and work on his home but failed to report it on federal forms.

State lawmakers say they need a few weeks to decide how best to study the proposed Pebble Mine near Bristol Bay. They want to make sure they hire researchers who will provide an honest report with useful information. The Legislature has budgeted $750,000 for the Pebble study. The appropriation is rather broad, and the money could be used to study anything from the project’s economics to its environment effects. The Legislature does not often carry out studies of this size -- then again, there aren’t many projects out there quite like Pebble.

Candidates for Alaska's open U.S. Senate seat and the governor's office aired their stance on the issues during a live debate on Channel 2 Sunday night, while their volunteers worked tirelessly to get out the vote. The race is on for the Nov. 2 general election, and candidates are preparing for the home stretch. But despite a blizzard of political ads and signs, it may be the volunteers and their efforts that win the election for their candidates. “For all my life I've been interested and involved in campaigns and politics,” said Scott McAdams campaign volunteer Hope Finkelstein.