1998 Alaska gubernatorial election

1998 Alaska gubernatorial election
November 3, 1998
 
Nominee Tony Knowles Robin L. Taylor
(write-in)
Party Democratic Republican
Running mate Fran Ulmer none
Popular vote 112,879 40,209
Percentage 51.27% 18.26%
 
Nominee John H. Lindauer Ray Metcalfe
Party Republican Republican Moderate
Running mate Jerry Ward Clyde Baxley
Popular vote 39,331 13,540
Percentage 17.86% 6.15%
Results by state house district
Knowles:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%
Write-In:[a]      40–50%
Governor before election

Tony Knowles
Democratic

 Elected Governor

Tony Knowles
Democratic

The 1998 Alaska gubernatorial general election took place on November 3, 1998. The election resulted in a landslide for the Democratic incumbent, Tony Knowles, who had won the 1994 gubernatorial election by only 536 votes.[1][2] Jim Sykes, founder of the Green Party of Alaska, ran on that party's ticket, but Desa Jacobsson later replaced him on the ballot.

Knowles was the first incumbent governor to attain re-election since 1978 and the last until 2022.[3] As of 2026, this was the last time a Democrat was elected Governor of Alaska.

Open primary

Incumbent Governor Tony Knowles easily won the Democratic nomination over two minor challengers. On the Republican side, three major candidates jockeyed for the nomination: businessman John Howard Lindauer, state senator Robin L. Taylor, and Wayne A. Ross. Lindauer won the open primary election, with Taylor coming in second. Ray Metcalfe, a defecting Republican who had founded the Republican Moderate Party of Alaska, also ran, along with Green Party candidate Jim Sykes and three candidates from the Alaskan Independence Party. Desa Jacobsson replaced Sykes as the Green Party candidate in the general election.

1998 open primary for Alaska governor[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Tony Knowles (inc.) 38,788 35.57
Republican John Lindauer 25,070 22.99
Republican Robin Taylor 17,679 16.21
Republican Wayne Ross 17,445 16.00
Democratic Nels Anderson, Jr. 3,387 3.11
Green Jim Sykes 2,251 2.06
Democratic Don Wright 1,494 1.37
Republican Moderate Ray Metcalfe 1,157 1.06
Independence Sylvia Sullivan 981 0.90
Independence Harold Haldane 466 0.43
Independence Robert Gigler 339 0.31
Total votes 109,057 100.00

Fran Ulmer and Jerry Ward won the Democratic and Republican nominations for lieutenant governor, respectively. Clyde Baxley won the Republican Moderate nomination. Despite the results of the primary, the Green Party nominee in the general election was Mike Milligan, while Alaskan Independence Party candidate Sylvia Sullivan did not have an official running mate.

1998 open primary for lieutenant governor[4]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Fran Ulmer (inc.) 44,998 42.35
Republican Jerry Ward 28,261 26.60
Republican Virginia Collins 13,089 12.32
Republican Don Smith 8,230 7.75
Republican Doyle Holmes 5,764 5.43
Independence David Harrison 2,923 2.75
Green Dan Winn 2,006 1.89
Republican Moderate Clyde Baxley 973 0.92
Total votes 106,244 100.00

Campaign

Lindauer's campaign faltered late in the race as a result of his failure to disclose that his wife, a wealthy Chicago lawyer, had financed the bulk of his campaign.[3] As a result of this revelation, the Republicans withdrew their support of Lindauer[2] and backed Robin Taylor, the runner-up in the Republican primary, as a write-in candidate. Due to the lateness of this change, the Republicans unsuccessfully attempted to obtain a court order to delay the election.[5] The collapse of Lindauer's campaign resulted in a three-way split of the Republican vote between him, Taylor, and the Republican Moderate Metcalfe.

Knowles defeated Taylor, his closest opponent, by 33%, the widest margin of victory for a gubernatorial candidate in Alaska history. Moreover, if Taylor's and Lindauer's totals are added together, Knowles defeated the two Republicans combined by 16% – still the widest margin in Alaska history until 2010. This was also the first time since 1970 that any candidate won an outright majority of the vote in an Alaska gubernatorial election.

Results

1998 Alaska gubernatorial election[6]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Democratic Tony Knowles (incumbent) 112,879 51.27 +10.2
Republican Write-in Robin L. Taylor 40,209 18.26 +18.2
Republican John Howard Lindauer 39,331 17.86 −22.9
Republican Moderate Ray Metcalfe 13,540 6.15 N/A
Green Desa Jacobsson 6,618 3.01 −1.1
Independence Sylvia Sullivan 4,238 1.92 −11.8
Write-in Others 3,362 1.53 +1.4
Majority 72,670 33.01 +32.7
Turnout 220,177 48.57 −14.9
Democratic hold Swing +32.7

Notes

  1. ↑ Since the vast majority of the write-in votes were towards Republican Robin L. Taylor, he likely won the Ketchikan district. However, the original election report does not separate the write-in votes by candidate, so it cannot be known for sure.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/08/17/ap/alaska/index.html?eref=sitesearch
  2. 1 2 Pear, Robert (November 4, 1998). "THE 1998 ELECTIONS: STATE BY STATE -- WEST; ALASKA". The New York Times.
  3. 1 2 "Knowles wins rare 2nd term in Alaska - November 3, 1998". CNN. February 13, 2007. Archived from the original on February 13, 2007.
  4. 1 2 "1998 PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS". Alaska Division of Elections. Archived from the original on May 14, 2009. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
  5. ↑ "Alaska GOP wants election delayed - October 30, 1998". CNN. May 16, 2006. Archived from the original on May 16, 2006.
  6. ↑ "Election Summary Report: State of Alaska 1998 General Election Official Results". Archived from the original on November 27, 2008.
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