Alaska State Senate District D

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Alaska State Senate District D
Incumbent
Assumed office: January 17, 2023

Alaska State Senate District D is represented by Jesse Bjorkman (R).

As of the 2020 Census, Alaska state senators represented an average of 36,804 residents. After the 2010 Census, each member represented 36,076 residents.

About the office

Members of the Alaska State Senate serve four-year terms and are not subject to term limits.[1] Half of the senate is up for re-election every two years. All seats are up for election after redistricting occurs. Up until 1992, members of the Senate and House were elected to both single-member and multi-member districts. Since then, all Alaska legislators have been elected into single-member districts.[2] Alaska legislators assume office on the third Tuesday of January following their election.[3][4]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

Article II, Section 2 of the Alaska Constitution states: "A member of the legislature shall be a qualified voter who has been a resident of Alaska for at least three years and of the district from which elected for at least one year, immediately preceding his filing for office. A senator shall be at least twenty-five years of age and a representative at least twenty-one years of age."[5]

Salaries

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
State legislative salaries, 2024[6]
SalaryPer diem
$84,000/year$307/day

Vacancies

See also: How vacancies are filled in state legislatures

If there is a vacancy in the Alaska State Legislature, the governor is responsible for selecting a replacement. The governor must select the replacement within 30 days after the vacancy happens. Nevertheless, if the predecessor's term is set to expire or if a special election is scheduled to fill a vacancy in the state Senate before the legislature reconvenes, the governor is not authorized to appoint someone to fill the vacancy.[7]

DocumentIcon.jpg See sources: Alaska Stat. §15.40.320


District map

Redistricting

2020-2022

See also: Redistricting in Alaska after the 2020 census

Alaska completed its state legislative redistricting on May 24, 2022, when the Alaska Redistricting Board adopted a new map of state Senate districts at the direction of the state supreme court. In its ruling, the Alaska Supreme Court upheld a May 16, 2022, decision by the Third District of Alaska's Superior Court that determined that the mapping of state House districts to Senate ones was unconstitutional and ordered the Alaska Redistricting Board to adopt another proposed plan for pairing the districts. Click here to read more about litigation surrounding Alaska's legislative boundaries. These maps took effect for Alaska's 2022 legislative elections. On May 15, 2023, the Alaska Redistricting Board adopted its 2022 interim maps as final state legislative maps. The final maps were used in the 2024 elections.[8]

Alaska had initially enacted legislative district boundaries on November 10, 2021, following a 3-2 vote by the Alaska Redistricting Board. The three Republican-appointed board members voted in favor of the map and the two nonpartisan board members voted against it.[9] On March 25, 2022, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that one state House and one state Senate district did not comply with the state constitution and required they be redrawn.[10] The Alaska Redistricting Board adopted new legislative district boundaries to comply with the state supreme court's ruling on April 13, 2022.[11]

How does redistricting in Alaska work? Because Alaska has only one congressional district, congressional redistricting is not necessary. A non-politician commission draws state legislative district lines. In place since 1998, Alaska's redistricting commission comprises five members. Two commissioners are appointed by the governor, one by the state Senate majority leader, one by the state House majority leader, and one by the chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court. State law mandates that commissioners "be chosen without regard to party affiliation." One commissioner must be selected from each of the state's judicial districts.[12]

The Alaska Constitution requires that state legislative districts be contiguous and compact. Furthermore, every state legislative district must contain a "relatively integrated socio-economic area." Each state legislative district is served by one state senator and two state representatives.[12]

Alaska State Senate District D
before 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Alaska State Senate District D
after 2020 redistricting cycle

Click a district to compare boundaries.

Elections

2024

See also: Alaska State Senate elections, 2024

General election

General election for Alaska State Senate District D

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Jesse Bjorkman in round 2 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.


Total votes: 19,318
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Alaska State Senate District D

Incumbent Jesse Bjorkman, Ben Carpenter, Tina Wegener, and Andy Cizek advanced from the primary for Alaska State Senate District D on August 20, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Jesse Bjorkman
Jesse Bjorkman (R)
 
44.3
 
2,924
Image of Ben Carpenter
Ben Carpenter (R)
 
40.3
 
2,660
Tina Wegener (D)
 
12.8
 
845
Andy Cizek (Alaskan Independence Party)
 
2.6
 
172

Total votes: 6,601
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2022

See also: Alaska State Senate elections, 2022

General election

General election for Alaska State Senate District D

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Jesse Bjorkman in round 2 . The results of Round are displayed below. To see the results of other rounds, use the dropdown menu above to select a round and the table will update.


Total votes: 15,190
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Alaska State Senate District D

Tuckerman Babcock, Jesse Bjorkman, and Andy Cizek advanced from the primary for Alaska State Senate District D on August 16, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Tuckerman Babcock (R)
 
49.3
 
5,157
Image of Jesse Bjorkman
Jesse Bjorkman (R)
 
35.9
 
3,754
Andy Cizek (Independent)
 
14.8
 
1,543

Total votes: 10,454
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

2020

See also: Alaska State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Alaska State Senate District D

Incumbent David S. Wilson defeated James Mayfield, Thomas Lamb, and Stephen Wright in the general election for Alaska State Senate District D on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of David S. Wilson
David S. Wilson (R)
 
69.2
 
12,631
James Mayfield (Nonpartisan)
 
14.4
 
2,622
Image of Thomas Lamb
Thomas Lamb (Nonpartisan)
 
14.3
 
2,616
Image of Stephen Wright
Stephen Wright (R) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
0
 Other/Write-in votes
 
2.1
 
386

Total votes: 18,255
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Alaska State Senate District D

The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for Alaska State Senate District D on August 18, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of David S. Wilson
David S. Wilson
 
33.9
 
1,736
Image of Stephen Wright
Stephen Wright
 
26.0
 
1,330
Loy Thurman
 
22.2
 
1,135
Bernadette Rupright
 
9.2
 
470
Chandra McCain-Finch
 
6.7
 
342
Image of Huhnkie Lee
Huhnkie Lee Candidate Connection
 
2.1
 
110

Total votes: 5,123
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Alaska Democratic and Independence parties primary election

Alaska Democratic and Independence parties primary for Alaska State Senate District D

Thomas Lamb advanced from the Alaska Democratic and Independence parties primary for Alaska State Senate District D on August 18, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Thomas Lamb
Thomas Lamb
 
100.0
 
1,329

Total votes: 1,329
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Alaska State Senate elections, 2016

Elections for the Alaska State Senate took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 16, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 1, 2016. Incumbent Charlie Huggins (R) did not seek re-election.

David S. Wilson ran unopposed in the Alaska State Senate District D general election.[13][14]

Alaska State Senate, District D General Election, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png David S. Wilson  (unopposed)
Source: Alaska Secretary of State



David S. Wilson defeated Lynn Gattis in the Alaska State Senate District D Republican Primary.[15][16]

Alaska State Senate, District D Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png David S. Wilson 51.78% 1,748
     Republican Lynn Gattis 48.22% 1,628
Total Votes 3,376

2012

See also: Alaska State Senate elections, 2012

Elections for the office of Alaska State Senate consisted of a primary election on August 28, 2012, and a general election on November 6, 2012. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 1, 2012. Mike Dunleavy defeated incumbent Linda Menard in the August 28 Republican primary. No candidate filed to run in the August 28 Democratic primary.[17][18] Dunleavy won in the general election.[19]

Alaska State Senate, District 4 (D) Republican Primary, 2012
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngMike Dunleavy 57.4% 2,802
Linda Menard Incumbent 42.6% 2,078
Total Votes 4,880

Campaign contributions

From 2002 to 2024, candidates for Alaska State Senate District D raised a total of $1,562,219. Candidates who raised money in contributions earned $62,489 on average. All figures come from Follow the Money

Campaign contributions, Alaska State Senate District D
Year Amount Candidates Average
2024 $226,443 4 $56,611
2022 $215,294 3 $71,765
2020 $122,236 7 $17,462
2016 $61,041 2 $30,521
2012 $161,183 2 $80,592
2010 $198,887 2 $99,444
2006 $317,415 3 $105,805
2002 $259,720 2 $129,860
Total $1,562,219 25 $62,489


See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. "Handbook on Alaska State Government," pg. 74, accessed December 16, 2013
  2. Dubin, M. J. (2007). Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures: A Year by Year Summary, 1796-2006. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc."
  3. JUSTIA US Law, "Alaska Statutes, Sec. 24.05.080," accessed November 1, 2021
  4. Alaska’s Constitution, "A Citizen’s Guide," accessed November 1, 2021
  5. Office of Lt. Governor, "The Constitution of the State of Alaska - Article II – The Legislature," accessed January 24, 2023
  6. National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
  7. Alaska State Legislature, " Sec. 15.40.320. Condition and time for filling vacancy by appointment," accessed February 8, 2021 (Statute 15.40.320)
  8. Alaska Redistricting Board, "2023 May Final Proclamation," accessed March 20, 2025
  9. The Midnight Sun, "'I pray litigation is swift and just.' Redistricting Board finalizes plan with attempted dig at dissenters," Nov. 10, 2021
  10. Alaska Supreme Court, "In the Matter of the 2021 Redistricting Cases," March 25, 2022
  11. Alaska Redistricting Board, "Amended Proclamation of Redistricting," April 13, 2022
  12. 12.0 12.1 All About Redistricting, "Alaska," accessed April 17, 2015
  13. State of Alaska Division of Elections, "November 8, 2016 General Election Candidate List," accessed August 22, 2016
  14. Alaska Secretary of State, "General Election Official Results 2016," accessed December 2, 2016
  15. State of Alaska Division of Elections, "August 16, 2016 Primary Candidate List," accessed June 8, 2016
  16. State of Alaska Division of Elections, "2016 Primary Election results," accessed September 12, 2016
  17. Alaska Division of Elections, "August 28, 2012 Primary Candidate List," December 20, 2013
  18. Alaska Division of Elections, "Official 2012 Primary Results," December 20, 2013
  19. Alaska Election Division, "Election Results 2012," November 16, 2012


Current members of the Alaska State Senate
Leadership
Senate President:Gary Stevens
Majority Leader:Catherine Giessel
Senators
District A
District B
District C
District D
District E
District F
District G
District H
District I
District J
District K
District L
District M
District N
District O
District P
District Q
District R
District S
District T
Republican Party (11)
Democratic Party (9)