It’s been a pretty eventful election season in Alaska.
“Insane comes to mind!” laughed Marcia Collins, a registered Republican, after casting her vote on Tuesday in the general election. Collins said she voted Republican down the ballot.
Campaigns raised millions of dollars this election cycle, and the U.S. Senate race was the most expensive in state history. Alaskans were inundated with calls, texts, and fliers. The P.O. boxes in Petersburg were stuffed.
“At one time — one day — I had 13 election slips in my box. 13!” said Collins.
Collins said it didn’t sway her vote. That’s something Petersburg voters seemed to agree on. Multiple voters told KFSK they found the amount of money spent on Alaska’s election wasteful or unhelpful.
“But what’s even worse is my email and my text. Ridiculous!” said Rocky Flint, an independent voter who voted for Democrats and independents.
Flint was one of multiple Petersburg residents the FBI attempted to contact about their donations to U.S. Senate candidate Dan J. Sullivan, a local resident. Agents told residents that they were investigating election fraud.
The Department of Justice announced last week that it was investigating the candidate, after an article by The New York Times claimed Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign intentionally recruited spoiler candidates, including Dan J. Sullivan. The story has made Sullivan’s town of Petersburg the center of national political news.
The FBI left cards for Flint at his son’s business and with his son-in-law. Flint is yet to speak with the FBI, but says he’s aware of who he donated to.
“I have the receipts for him here,” Flint said, pointing to texts on his phone. “I reached out to Dan J. and asked him if he needed some financial help way before any of this all got started. So if they ever really want to talk to me about it, I’ve got proof that nobody duped me.”
Flint said he felt all of the attention on Petersburg was “much ado about nothing.”
Independent voter Debra O’Gara voted for Democrats and independent candidates. She said she wishes the federal government would focus on other issues.
“I would really prefer – and I have sat down at tables with FBI agents – to talk about the horrendous number of Indigenous murdered and missing Indigenous people in the state of Alaska,” she said.
And, she said the attention on Peltola’s campaign felt like a double standard.
“It’s interesting what the Republicans are accusing the Democrats of doing; the Republicans have been doing for decades,” O’Gara said. “And no investigation has been going on against them, or of their stuff. So I think it’s, again, a waste of money, a waste of energy.”
Republican voter Tom Kowalske voted Republican down the ballot, and chose to vote for the incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan. He said he doesn’t know if Petersburg Sullivan was running genuinely, but is interested in what the investigation finds.
“I’d be interested to know what the investigation entails,” he said. “I feel like if somebody wants to run, if they wanted to be genuine about it, you would see a little bit more from that individual. And I haven’t seen anything from this particular candidate.”
National media has descended on the small town, and Kowalske said he’s not crazy about the attention Petersburg has received.
“Well, it’s not the kind of news that I would want to be known for, any kind of conspiracy,” said Kowalske. “I don’t want Petersburg to be the ugly spot in Alaska because of this whole mess.”
KFSK asked voters if they could tell the difference between both Sullivans on the ballot. All voters interviewed said yes. Others expressed relief that the election season was finally coming to a close.
Unofficial results show independent state house representative Rebecca Himschoot is positioned to win her reelection bid. State senator Bert Stedman ran unopposed.
The races for governor, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House are still being counted. You can find unofficial general election results here.
