Introduction

The Alaska Democratic Party is the primary Democratic Party political organization in the state of Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, headquartered in Anchorage

Anchorage, Alaska

Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...

.

It is one of the two major parties in Alaska. Following the elections of 2008, Democrats hold no statewide executive offices. However, they do help comprise a coalition in the Alaska Senate which is the majority "party".

At the federal level, Democrats hold one of the U.S. Senate seats.

The state's most prominent Democrat is its junior U.S. Senator Mark Begich

Mark Begich

Mark Peter Begich is the junior United States Senator from Alaska and a member of the Democratic Party. A former mayor of Anchorage, he served on the Anchorage Assembly for almost ten years prior to being elected mayor in 2003...

, the former Mayor of Anchorage who narrowly defeated incumbent Republican Ted Stevens

Ted Stevens

Theodore Fulton "Ted" Stevens, Sr. was a United States Senator from Alaska, serving from December 24, 1968, until January 3, 2009, and thus the longest-serving Republican senator in history...

 in 2008. Other notable Democrats from Alaska include former Governor Tony Knowles

Tony Knowles (politician)

Anthony Carroll Knowles is an American Democratic politician and businessman who served as the seventh Governor of Alaska from December 1994 to December 2002. Barred from seeking a third consecutive term as governor in 2002, he ran unsuccessfully for Senate in 2004 and again for governor in...

 and Ethan Berkowitz

Ethan Berkowitz

Ethan A. Berkowitz is an American politician who was the Alaska State Representative for District 26 from 1997 through 2006, serving as Democratic Party Minority Leader from 1999 to 2006.-Early life and education:...

 who almost defeated U.S. Representative Don Young

Don Young

Donald Edwin "Don" Young is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1973. He is a member of the Republican Party.Young is the 6th most senior U.S. Representative and the 2nd most senior Republican Representative, as well as the 2nd most senior Republican in Congress as a whole...

 (R-Alaska) in 2008.

Currently there are over 75,000 registered members of the Alaska Democratic Party.

History

Democrat Barack Obama

Barack Obama

Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

 received 37.89 percent of the total statewide vote in Alaska and lost the state to Republican John McCain

John McCain

John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....

 in 2008, who selected former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin

Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...

 as his vice-presidential running mate.

No Democrat has carried Alaska in presidential elections since 1964 when Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon B. Johnson

Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...

 had his landslide victory over Barry Goldwater

Barry Goldwater

Barry Morris Goldwater was a five-term United States Senator from Arizona and the Republican Party's nominee for President in the 1964 election. An articulate and charismatic figure during the first half of the 1960s, he was known as "Mr...

.

Party Leadership

The Executive Committee of the Alaska Democratic Party consists of the following individuals:

• State Chair - Patti Higgins
• Finance Chair - Rocky Plotnick
• Secretary - Carolyn Covington
• Treasurer - Nanci Jones
• Past State Chair - Jake Metcalfe
• National Committee Man - Ian Olson
• National Committee Woman - Cindy Spanyers
• Vice Chair (Anchorage)- Barbara Gazaway
• Vice Chair (Anchorage)- Rod McCoy
• Vice Chair (Kenai/Kodiak/Mat-Su)- Blake Johnson
• Vice Chair (Kenai/Kodiak/Mat-Su)- Katie Hurley
• Vice Chair (Interior)- Diane Fleeks
• Vice Chair (Interior)- Don Gray
• Vice Chair (Southeast)- Willie Anderson
• Vice Chair (Southeast)- Kathleen Menke
• Vice Chair (Rural)- Chuck Degnan
• Vice Chair (Rural)- Mary Weiss
• At Large - Dave Watts
• Senate Democratic Campaign Committee (SDCC) Co-Chair - Johnny Ellis
• House Democratic Campaign Committee (HDCC) Co-Chairs - Scott Kawasaki / Chris Tuck
• Young Democrats President - Liz Andres

Party Functions

The Alaska Democratic Party performs many functions, all with the aim of helping Democrats to win elected office within the state.

These functions include:

• The organization and recruitment of citizens to go door to door for the party and promote the party issues and candidates.
• The coordination of state-wide campaigns for the general election every two years.
• Working to get articles into newspapers, letters to the editors written, and callers on talk radio stations.
• Operating the official Alaska Democratic Party website.
• Sending out email announcements to Democrats regarding party activities.
• Operating a state Voter File.

External links

• Greater Juneau Democrats