Updates from Election 2022: Election has been certified

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Alaska’s News Source is keeping you up to date with all the major developments throughout the midterm elections.

What does the ballot look like and how does ranked-choice voting work? Here’s an explainer from the Division of Elections.

Following along for updates:

Nov. 30 - 3:28 p.m. - Election certified

The results for the 2022 midterms have been certified.

The Associated Press had already called all but two races. In the tight race for state House District 15, Republican incumbent Thomas McKay prevailed over Democrat Denny Wells. After ranked-choice tabulation, McKay received 3,483 votes to Wells’ 3,476.

In the state Senate District J race, Democrat Forrest Dunbar eclipsed the 50% mark and skirted the need for ranked-choice tabulation. Dunbar won with 4,306 votes — 50.03% of the vote — to Republican Andrew Satterfield’s 2,813 votes and Democrat Geran Tarr’s 1,443 votes.

Nov. 23 - 4:53 p.m. - Murkowski, Peltola win; Gara congratulates Dunleavy

Incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski faced a tough challenge from Kelly Tshibaka, a Republican with the backing of former President Donald Trump. Both held around 43% of first-place votes, but the sitting senator pulled away during ranked-choice tabulation.

Murkowski finished with 135,972 votes to Tshibaka’s 117,299 after tabulation. Murkowski held a slight lead in first-place votes going into tabulation and got a boost in the form of votes among those who listed Democratic candidate Pat Chesbro as their first choice. Murkowski received more than 70% of Chesbro’s votes.

Incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola held off Republicans Nick Begich and former Gov. Sarah Palin for the second time in less than three months, this time holding the seat she first won in August. The sitting representative nearly reached the 50% mark in first-place votes, an improvement over her August showing, and went on to prevail during ranked-choice tabulation.

Peltola finished with 136,893 votes to Palin’s 112,255. Begich, as well as Libertarian candidate Chris Bye, were eliminated during tabulation.

In reaction to the governor’s race, candidate Les Gara congratulated Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

“Today I called friend and newly elected Lt. Governor Nancy Dahlstrom to offer congratulations to she & the Governor on their election,” Gara said. “The problems facing Alaska would be daunting for any candidate to solve. We wish them strength and good luck in the heavy work that’s ahead to solve unprecedented crises in education, affordable housing and child care, and mental health.

“Jess and I have offered our help if it would be meaningful. We thank all of you so much for your support and trust these past 16 months! Here’s our congratulations statement and a short summary of solutions we heard while travelling the state, and that we shared in the event it aids the Governor and his team in addressing our greatest problems. Peace and Love to all this Holiday Season and beyond!”

Nov. 23 - 3:48 p.m. - Dunleavy wins reelection

Incumbent Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy has won reelection. The Alaska Division of Elections released their final results on Wednesday afternoon and Dunleavy eclipsed 50% of the vote, skirting the need to go to further rounds of counting in ranked-choice tabulation.

Nov. 19 - 12:15 p.m. - Murkowski jumps ahead

In the latest batch of election results released late Friday night by the Alaska Division of Elections, incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski overtook Republican challenger Kelly Tshibaka for the lead in the U.S. Senate race.

Murkowski now has 112,519 votes — giving her a lead of 1,658 votes — over Tshibaka. Murkowski now leads by a slim margin of .64%. Tshibaka has 110,860 votes, giving over 42% of ballots counted thus far. Democrat Pat Chesbro received 26,875 votes, which accounts for over 10% of ballots.

In the race for U.S. House, incumbent Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola’s 127,364 votes give her a lead of nearly 60,000 votes — and nearly 23% — over Republican former Gov. Sarah Palin. Palin received 67,485 votes, and Republican Nick Begich received 61,179 votes. Begich trails Peltola by over 66,000 votes and over 25%. Libertarian Chris Bye has received 4,521 votes, accounting for nearly 2% of the ballots.

In the race for governor, incumbent Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy continues to lead and remains over the critical 50% threshold. Dunleavy’s 131,770 votes give him 50.34% of the ballots thus far, which would protect the governor’s race from being decided by the ballot tabulation process on Nov. 23. Democrat Les Gara received 63,284 for over 24% of the ballots and nonpartisan former Gov. Bill Walker received 54,230 votes for over 20% of the ballots. Republican former Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce received 11,723 for over 4% of the ballots.

In races for the Alaska Senate, many candidates have reached the 50% mark and will likely win their seats without ballot tabulation. However, in Senate District E, a three-way race for incumbent Republican Sen. Roger Holland’s seat is coming down to the wire.

Former Republican Senate President Cathy Giessel holds a lead of just 93 votes over Holland — Democratic candidate Roselynn Cacy is just 117 votes behind Giessel. Giessel leads Holland by .56%, and leads Cacy by .71%.

A number of races for the Alaska House of Representatives remain neck-and-neck. In House District 13, Democrat Rep. Andy Josephson leads Republican Kathy Henslee by 275 votes, which is nearly 5%. In East Anchorage’s House District 21, Democrat Donna Mears leads Republican Forrest Wolfe by 152 votes. In the adjacent House District 22, Republican Stanley Wright leads Democrat Ted Eischeid by 67 votes.

In the Western Alaska House District 39, Democrat Rep. Neal Foster’s lead over Alaska Independence Party candidate Tyler Ivanoff was down to just single digits Friday afternoon, but ballot counts released Friday night gave Foster a 108 vote lead.

Nov. 18 - 2:20 p.m. - Latest results released

The closest race in Alaska got even closer Friday with the latest release of results by the Division of Elections.

Republican Kelly Tshibaka is still clinging to her lead in the fight for Alaska’s open U.S. Senate seat, with her lead now whittled down to just 428 votes over incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski, also a Republican. Tshibaka and Murkowski both hold approximately 43% of the total vote tally, with Democrat challenger Patricia Chesbro sitting third with 24,377 votes, around 10%.

Friday’s release of ballots, which were mostly composed of absentee and questioned ballots that have been resolved, will be the final update before the Division of Elections will reveal the results of the ranked choice tabulation Wednesday.

In the U.S. House race, Democratic incumbent Mary Peltola widened her lead slightly, adding almost 800 votes to pad her lead to 54,078 votes over Republican challenger Sarah Palin and 59,786 over Nick Begich III, another GOP challenger. Peltola holds about 48% of the vote, meaning the race will likely go to an instant runoff via ranked choice voting next week.

In the governor’s race, Republican incumbent Mike Dunleavy continues to lead with 124,610 votes, about 51% of the tally, which is currently enough to avoid a ranked choice runoff. Democrat Les Gara — who admitted last week that a victory would be “possible but unlikely” — sits second with 24% of the votes and nonpartisan candidate Bill Walker sits third with around 20%. Charlie Pierce is fourth with about 4%.

The proposition to voters on whether a constitutional convention should be held maintained a hefty “no” vote of around 70%.

Nov. 15 - 8:00 p.m. - New numbers released

The Division of Elections released another batch of freshly-counted ballots into the results on Tuesday. The new numbers saw only marginal changes in the big four races — U.S. Senate, U.S. House, the governor’s race and Ballot Measure 1 — but flipped some legislative races.

In the race for U.S. Senate, Republican Kelly Tshibaka’s lead is down to 565 with the release of the latest ballot counts. Tshibaka’s 103,972 votes give her a lead of just .23 percentage points over incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Democrat Pat Chesbro has received 24,013 and Republican Buzz Kelley has received less than 3% with 6,880. It is expected that many — if not all — of Kelley’s ballots will be reallocated to Tshibaka, and a majority of Chesbro’s ballots will be reallocated to Murkowski when the Division of Elections tabulates ranked choice voting totals on Nov. 23 — likely meaning that Murkowski will win reelection by a wide margin once the ballot counting process concludes.

In the race for U.S. House, Democrat incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola widened her lead over Republicans former Gov. Sarah Palin and Nick Begich, but has not yet reached the 50% threshold required to avoid the ranked-choice procedure on Nov. 23. Peltola’s 116,322 put her 53,297 votes ahead of Palin and 58,885 votes ahead of Begich. If every one of the first-place votes for Begich had ranked Palin second, she will amass enough votes to overtake Peltola. However, that is unlikely after over 15,000 Palin voters ranked Peltola second in the August special election, propelling Peltola to Congress as the first Alaska Native to serve.

In the gubernatorial election, Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s lead of over 65,000 votes may be enough to keep his ticket above the 50% threshold. Former Democratic legislator Les Gara has 57,609 votes and nonpartisan former Gov. Bill Walker has 49,398 votes. However, Gara and Walker’s ballots combined only reach 44%, which would not be enough to catch Dunleavy’s total as it stands currently. Former Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce received 10,789 votes, which account for over 4%.

The “no” votes for Ballot Measure 1 continue to outpace the “yes” votes, amassing a lead of over 95,000 votes.

In the legislature, candidates in 14 Senate races have reached the 50% threshold. If their totals hold, each of those 14 candidates will avoid a ranked-choice tabulation on Nov. 23 and win their seats outright, while five races will come down to the second-place votes of the last-place candidate, once they are redistributed. In the House, 31 races have a candidate with over 50% of the votes and just nine are awaiting ranked choice tabulation on Nov. 23.

Former Republican Senate President Cathy Giessel holds a lead of just 66 votes in the race for South Anchorage’s Senate seat E. Giessel has 33.72% of the votes to Current Republican Sen. Roger Holland’s 33.31%, making it likely that the second-place votes for third-place candidate Democrat Roselynn Cacy will determine who wins the seat.

With the vote totals released Tuesday, Democrat Donna Mears overtook Republican Forrest Wolfe. Mears leads by just 78 votes, which is the same margin that Republican Stanley Wright leads Democrat Ted Eischeid by in the adjacent House District 22. The slimmest margin currently in any legislative race is that held by Democratic Rep. Neal Foster, who holds just a 10-vote lead on Alaska Independence Party candidate Tyler Ivanoff in House District 39.

Another three races in the house are likely to be decided by ranked choice tabulation on Nov. 23. Nonpartisan candidate Walter Featherly currently holds a 434-vote lead over Republican Julie Coulombe in House District 11 in Anchorage. However, if a majority of third-place candidate Ross Bieling’s voters ranked Coulombe ahead of Featherly, Coulombe will likely prevail.

In Anchorage’s House District 15, Democrat Denny Wells leads Republican incumbent Rep. Tom McKay by 484 votes. McKay would need greater than a majority of David Eibeck’s first-place voters to have ranked him second to overtake Wells and win reelection.

In House District 18 in Anchorage, incumbent Republican Rep. David Nelson leads Democrat Cliff Groh by 138 votes. However, third-place Democrat candidate Lyn Franks received 387 votes. If voters who ranked Franks first ranked Groh second, Groh is likely to surpass Nelson and win the seat for House District 18.

Nov. 11 - 10:55 a.m. - Gara thanks supporters

Democratic candidate for governor, Les Gara, released a statement Friday morning and posted on his social media accounts Thursday thanking his supporters and explaining why he believes his campaign came up short in the race. While he stopped short of conceding, Gara wrote that winning the governor’s office is “possible but unlikely.”

“Voters have spoken, and it will be a steep climb for absentee and early vote ballots to change the current result,” Gara wrote. “... There was a David vs. Goliath aspect of this race we thought we could overcome, but in retrospect, haven’t (so far), and it likely made a difference.”

Nov. 10 - 10:30 a.m. - All precincts reporting

As of 10:30 a.m. Thursday, all precincts are reporting, according to Division of Elections Public Relations Manager Tiffany Montemayor.

The results can be viewed here.

Incumbent Gov. Mike Dunleavy still holds a sizable lead in the gubernatorial race, holding 52% of the vote.

In the U.S. Senate race, Kelly Tshibaka holds a slight lead over incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski, with only 2,933 votes separating the two.

Incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola maintains her lead over former Gov. Sarah Palin and Nick Begich, with 47% of the vote to their 27% and 24%, respectively.

Nov. 9 - 4:45 p.m. - Palin releases statement

U.S. House candidate and former Gov. Sarah Palin released a statement on Facebook on Wednesday afternoon announcing Jerry Ward as her chief of staff, although the House race hasn’t been called official yet, and likely won’t be until Nov. 23, when a runoff would be utilized.

In her video, Palin said she is “feeling victorious.”

Nov. 9 - 2:50 p.m. - Election results update

Division of Elections Public Relations Manager Tiffany Montemayor said in an email that new results were available. Those results can be viewed here.

“We are still waiting on Chevak 38-813 and Gambell 39-912,” Montemayor wrote.

Montemayor said this would be the only update from the Division of Elections on Wednesday.

Nov. 9 - 9:10 a.m. - When will results become final?

The Division of Elections will release updated results from Tuesday’s election on Nov. 15 and Nov. 18 — those releases will include counted absentee, early, and questioned ballots. As it stands now, only ballots that were cast in person on Election Day or during early voting from Oct. 24 to Nov. 3 are being counted.

The final results won’t be known until Nov. 23, two weeks from today, when any races with a leading candidate holding less than 50% of the vote will utilize the “instant runoff” format, or ranked-choice voting, approved by residents in the 2020 election.

On that day, election officials will eliminate the last-place candidate and distribute all their second-place votes to the remaining candidates until the leader attains the crucial 50% mark.

The use of ranked-choice voting means a candidate that is currently leading a race may not win when second-place votes are tabulated and redistributed.

Election officials also said that 14 precincts have not yet had their ballots included, a list that includes:

• Copper Center
• Crooked Creek
• Levelock
• Lower Kalskag
• Chevak
• Toksook Bay
• Alakanuk
• Elim
• Gambell
• Mountain Village
• Atqasuk
• Buckland
• Noatak
• Shungnak

Election officials said results from those 14 precincts had either not called in their results or had communication issues in getting results to election central, and said they would continue working on those issues Wednesday morning.

Nov. 9 - 12:30 a.m. - Following along as new data drops arrive

In the race for one of Alaska’s two seats in the U.S. Senate, Republican Kelly Tshibaka led the polls going into the day after Election Day.

At her watch party in Anchorage Tuesday night, Tshibaka expressed confidence in the vote tally going her way. She said she feels this is a new beginning.

“It feels like this is what we’ve all been working for, for a long time,” she said. “Not that we’re coming to an end, but we’re coming to a beginning – this man told me a couple days ago, ‘We’re tired of feeling like pawns in a DC chess game’ – and that we could actually be heading toward an epic checkmate, and getting an Alaska voice in DC.”

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the incumbent in this year’s race and also running under the Republican ticket, was behind in the polls as of late Tuesday night. Early data from the Div. of Elections show Tshibaka holding about 44.8% of the vote, and Murkowski sitting at around 42.1%.

“The early numbers that were coming in were not as strong as we’d like,” Murkowski said during a watch party in Downtown Anchorage, “but then we saw what we have predicted all along: that, the early voting, also with the districts that we have already performed well in, and knew that we would over-perform in, we are seeing these numbers churn up. So we feel really good right now.”

The lone Democrat in the race, Patricia Chesbro, saw about 9.7% of the vote as of Tuesday night. She said during her watch event in Palmer that she hopes whoever goes to Washington represents a broad spectrum of voices, and not only the voices of those who voted for them.

“You know, that’s part of campaigning,” she said. “Not only listening to people they listen to, but also those that other people serve. So, I’m hoping that’s what happens, and I hope whoever goes to Washington, D.C., will remember we’re thinking about peoples’ rights, we’re thinking about gun violence, we’re thinking about climate change.”

Buzz Kelley, the fourth candidate to move on from the August primary – though he suspended his campaign in September – saw nearly 2.9% of the vote as of late Tuesday.

Nov. 8 - 10 p.m. - Election night parties continue

Tuesday night, candidates were awaiting the release of additional results by the Alaska Division of Elections.

“Thank you guys so much for coming out,” Rep. Mary Peltola said to her supporters at 49th State Brewing in Anchorage. “Really great results from the east to the west and I’m really excited about this first batch of votes that have come in. I’m just so excited to see all the happy faces. This has been an amazing journey that we have all been on together for Alaska.”

Nov. 8 - 9:25 p.m. - Results are in!

The first batch of general election results has been posted by the Division of elections.

Incumbent Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy holds a sizeable lead in the gubernatorial race with 52% of the current batch of ballots.

Incumbent Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola also holds a large lead in the race for the U.S. House of Representatives. Peltola currently has over 14,000 more votes than the current second-place candidate, former Gov. Sarah Palin.

Republican Kelly Tshibaka is currently in the lead against incumbent Rep. Lisa Murkowski in the race for U.S. Senate. Tshibaka currently holds a lead of more than 6% over Murkowski, who is currently Alaska’s longest-tenured representative in Congress.

Ballot Measure 1 — the question of whether or not Alaska should hold a constitutional convention — has more than twice as many “no” votes as “yes” votes. The current batch of results shows that over 58,000 Alaskans voted against holding a constitutional convention, while slightly less than 26,000 have voted in favor thus far.

Nov. 8 - 8 p.m. - Polls are now closed

Polls in Alaska have now closed. Once the Division of Elections starts releasing results, they can be found here.

Nov. 8 - 7:02 p.m. - Bye sign-waving in Fairbanks

KTVF caught up with Chris Bye, U.S. House candidate, in Fairbanks while sign-waving Tuesday afternoon.

Nov. 8 - 6:03 p.m. - Begich speaks on ‘future of our country’

“The future of our country and that’s what people are excited about. This is their opportunity to be heard. This is their opportunity to fix some of the problems that they see out there. We are seeing that happen across the country today from election to election to election. And I hope to see that red wave continue all the way through to the shores of Alaska here in the next couple of hours,” Begich told Alaska’s News Source on Tuesday evening.

Nov. 8 - 5:30 p.m. - Sign wavers going strong

Candidates and supporters were still out waving signs at intersections across Anchorage Tuesday evening. Polls don’t close for another two hours.

Stay up to date with coverage of the election from Alaska’s News Source.

Nov. 8 - 5:21 p.m. - Division of Elections provides an update on polling locations

Division of Elections Public Relations Manager Tiffany Montemayor provided an update Tuesday evening that stated all of Alaska’s 401 precincts opened today, but two precincts saw staffing delays:

“All 401 precincts opened for voting today. Most precincts opened on time, but two precincts, in Teller and Nuiqsut, did not open until this afternoon. The Division worked throughout the day to identify replacement poll workers and open these two precincts as soon as possible,” Montemayor said.

Nov. 8 - 3:51 p.m. - Sarah Palin in Anchorage talking to reporters, supporters

U.S. House candidate and former Gov. Sarah Palin was in Anchorage on Tuesday evening talking to reporters and supporters.

“Alaskans can appreciate the track record I have in the name of service to Alaska,” Palin told supporters on Election Day.

Nov. 8 - 3:35 p.m. - Language assistance available

Language assistance is for voters online and over the phone. The Division of Elections offers assistance for 13 languages on their website, and voters are also able to dial 907-275-2333 or toll-free at 866-954-8683.

Nov. 8 - 2:39 p.m. - Former Governor Bill Walker votes

Former Alaska Governor Bill Walker’s Twitter account shared two photos of the candidate casting his ballot earlier this afternoon.

Nov. 8 - 2:24 p.m. - Photos from Lt. Governor candidate Nancy Dahlstrom

Gov. Dunleavy’s running mate Nancy Dahlstrom cast her ballot earlier today alongside her husband Kit.

Nov. 8 - 1:35 p.m. - Photos from Sen. Murkowski’s Election Day press conference

Nov. 8 - 12:40 p.m. - Candidates speak about Election Day

Speaking with Alaska’s News Source photojournalist Mike Nederbrock this morning, multiple candidates shared how they were feeling.

“Couldn’t be better. We’re doing wonderful,” former Gov. Bill Walker said. “This election was a bit different. I like it because I was able to, Heidi and I were able to run together as a ticket, and I liked that very much. I think that’s a good change.”

“Feeling good! It’s a beautiful morning out with supporters that are just energized, red hot and rollin’ to go,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski said. “I guess the message is your vote is your voice. Make sure that your voice is heard today.”

“It’s been great. I’ve learned a lot. I’ve gotten to travel the whole state,” Gara said when asked how the election has been for him. “I think, you know, one thing that binds people together is fish, and these factory trawlers destroying our fish in Western Alaska, the danger of the Pebble Mine, people want change.”

Charlie Pierce voted early and is spending the day visiting with friends and voters. Tonight he will attend a private party.

“I’d like to thank those that supported our efforts to run for Governor,” Pierce said in a statement Tuesday morning. “Alaska needs leadership. I love Alaska, and wish all Alaskans the best of luck.”

Republican Nick Begich III, campaigning for the U.S. House seat, said he hopes the work he and his staff have put in over the preceding months pays off with an election win.

“I feel great. Optimistic. Data is looking good,” Begich said. “We’ve got a lot of support, and we’re just working right up until the last minute. I’ve been walking around even grocery stores in Anchorage today and yesterday just meeting people where they’re at. That’s what I’ve done the entire campaign, is meet people where they’re at and traveled the state. Worked every single day for over a year.”

Begich added that he hopes the ranked-choice voting — introduced in the August special election for the U.S. House race that decided who would fill the remainder of the late Don Young’s term — wouldn’t confuse voters in the U.S. Senate race.

“I think it was a little confusing with the ranked-choice voting system,” he said. “We had 48 people at one point in the race. I think there was a lot for the voters to sift through. I think things have gotten more clear as we’ve had more time to go through the campaign, and hopefully people have the information they need when they go to the polls.”

Democrat Mary Peltola, the incumbent state congresswoman who is running for her first full term, said she is feeling relieved that the campaign is near an end.

“All the ads will be over, the phone calls will be over, the text messages will all be done,” Peltola said, adding that she’s optimistic about her chances of winning. “I’m optimistic, I’m happy. The polls show me in the lead, so I’m happy.

“... People who have been to political events for decades said (they) have never felt a vibe like that.”

Nov. 8 - 12:15 p.m. - Election officials warn of suspicious text messages

The Division of Elections reported that at least one voter called election officials reporting a text message received with inaccurate polling location information.

Division of Elections spokesperson Tiffany Montemayor said the division would never text voters directly, and said the division currently does not know where the information is coming from.

“We got a report from a voter that the location that was texted to them was the incorrect location,” Montemayor said. “So we just wanted to tell voters to make sure that they look on our website to double check their voting location, and not (what), you know, a text message tells them.”

Montemayor also said that one voting location in the state did change before Tuesday. The tiny community of Beaver, located about 60 miles southwest of Fort Yukon, moved its location to Cruikshank School at 310 River Road.

Officials the public can reach the FBI Anchorage Field Office at 907-276-4441 or the FBI tips website to report suspected federal election crimes in Alaska. You can also report voting-related issues to the Alaska Division of Elections at (907) 465-4611 or toll free (866) 952-8683.

Nov. 8 - 11:25 a.m. - Tshibaka casts her vote

U.S. Senate candidate and Republican Kelly Tshibaka voted Tuesday morning at Goldenview Middle School.

Tshibaka told reporters that she’s excited to see the months of campaigning come to an end, and said she followed the message that many GOP candidates have been pushing in ranking Republican candidates in front of all other political parties.

“I talked to a guy who told me just a couple of days ago, ‘I’m voting for you because I don’t want to be a pawn in the game in D.C. anymore,” Tshibaka said. “And I think today, the pawns are going to have the ultimate checkmate. And I’m excited to see the results.”

Tshibaka didn’t divulge whether she ranked her opponent, fellow Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, on her ballot.

“Lisa Murkowski has been censured by the Alaska Republican Party, and she has been removed from membership,” Tshibaka said. “She’s out there actively campaigning for Nancy Pelosi to keep the leadership in the House. So that’s not a red candidate in Alaska, that’s a blue candidate.”

Nov. 8 - 11 a.m. - Going smoothly

Nov. 8 - 9 a.m. - Morning sign waving

Candidates are out on the sidewalks this morning, joining supporters with signs and, in one case, dressed as dinosaurs.

Former governor Sarah Palin is vying for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat.

Former Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Charlie Pierce posted a photo on his Facebook page announcing that he voted early Tuesday. Pierce is running without a lieutenant governor after his running mate, Edie Grunwald, announced two weeks ago that she was dropping out. Her name will still appear on the ballot since her announcement came well after the deadline to change.

Another candidate for Alaska’s governor seat, Les Gara, joined supporters along the Seward Highway early Tuesday morning.

U.S. Senate candidate Pat Chesbro, a Democrat hoping to overcome heavyweight contenders Lisa Murkowski and Kelly Tshibaka, was out waving signs with supporters Monday night.

Nov. 8 - 7 a.m.

Polls are officially open for the big day, and supporters of Alaska’s various U.S. and state candidates are already out waving signs and drumming up support in the final hours, but they are doing so amid wintry conditions.

Morning meteorologist Aaron Morrison says be prepared for changing conditions on the roads Tuesday.

“A mixed bag of precipitation is falling across Southcentral Alaska this morning, with inland areas seeing a slight chance for snow showers. While Election Day won’t bring any significant impacts across much of Southcentral, the incoming warm weather could pose some problems. Temperatures along the coast are already warming well above freezing, with the surge of warmer air slowly moving inland.

As a result, slick spots will be an issue as temperatures steadily warm through the day. The only exception will be inland areas of Southcentral where highs will likely only stay near freezing. Should we see any snow, little to no accumulation will occur throughout the day.

The biggest impact for Election Day will occur across Northwestern Alaska, as an area of low pressure moves out of the Bering into the Chukchi Sea. While most of the snow fell yesterday, an additional 2 to 4 inches can fall across parts of Western and Northwestern Alaska. Some areas of wintry mix will also occur in areas where temperatures warm above freezing through the day. From Nome and points northward, winds will stick around through the day with gusts as high as 50 mph.

Southeast looks to be the big winner in the Election Day forecast, as the Panhandle will see highs climbing into the 30s with building clouds through the day.”

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