Alaska gubernatorial election, 1998
Encyclopedia
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.http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/08/17/ap/alaska/index.html?eref=sitesearchhttp://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E0D7113FF937A35752C1A96E958260 Knowles was the first incumbent governor to attain re-election since 1978.http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/11/03/election/governors/alaska/index.html
, state senator Robin Taylor, and Wayne A. Ross. Lindauer won the open primary election, with Taylor coming in second. Jim Sykes, founder of the Green Party of Alaska
, ran on that party's ticket, but Desa Jacobsson later replaced him on the ballot. Ray Metcalfe
, a defecting Republican who had founded the Republican Moderate Party of Alaska
, also ran.
lawyer, had financed the bulk of his campaign.http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/11/03/election/governors/alaska/index.html As a result of this revelation, the Republicans withdrew their support of Lindauerhttp://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E0D7113FF937A35752C1A96E958260 and backed Robin Taylor, the runner-up of 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.http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/10/30/alaska.delay.ap/ 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. This was also the first time since 1970 that any candidate won an outright majority of the vote in an Alaska gubernatorial election.
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
incumbent, 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...
, who had won the 1994 gubernatorial election by only 536 votes.http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1998/08/17/ap/alaska/index.html?eref=sitesearchhttp://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E0D7113FF937A35752C1A96E958260 Knowles was the first incumbent governor to attain re-election since 1978.http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/11/03/election/governors/alaska/index.html
Candidates
Incumbent Democratic governor Tony Knowles was up for re-election. On the Republican side, three major candidates jockeyed for the nomination: businessman John Howard LindauerJohn Howard Lindauer
John Howard Lindauer II served as Chancellor for the University of Alaska Anchorage from 1976 to 1978 then was Dean of the School of Business and Public Affairs. He was the Republican Party candidate for governor of Alaska in 1998...
, state senator Robin Taylor, and Wayne A. Ross. Lindauer won the open primary election, with Taylor coming in second. Jim Sykes, founder of the Green Party of Alaska
Green Party of Alaska
The Green Party of Alaska is the state party organization for Alaska of the Green Party of the United States. Alaska was the first state to gain Green Party ballot access, in 1990, when Jim Sykes ran for governor. Sykes had previously filed a ballot access lawsuit, citing an earlier case, Vogler v...
, ran on that party's ticket, but Desa Jacobsson later replaced him on the ballot. Ray Metcalfe
Ray Metcalfe
Ray Metcalfe is a politician and political activist in Alaska. Metcalfe has served in the Alaska House of Representatives as a Republican, and later ran unsuccessfully for the United States Senate as a Democrat.-Personal life:...
, a defecting Republican who had founded the Republican Moderate Party of Alaska
Republican Moderate Party of Alaska
The Republican Moderate Party of Alaska is a political party in Alaska formed by Ray Metcalfe in 1986 as an alternative to what Metcalfe perceived to be a Republican Party dominated by the Religious Right. Only one candidate has ever won an election, a 2002 race for the state senate, but that...
, also ran.
Campaign
Lindauer’s campaign faltered late into the race as a result of his failure to disclose that his wife, a wealthy ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
lawyer, had financed the bulk of his campaign.http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/11/03/election/governors/alaska/index.html As a result of this revelation, the Republicans withdrew their support of Lindauerhttp://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E0D7113FF937A35752C1A96E958260 and backed Robin Taylor, the runner-up of the Republican primary, as a write-in candidate
Write-in candidate
A write-in candidate is a candidate in an election whose name does not appear on the ballot, but for whom voters may vote nonetheless by writing in the person's name. Some states and local jurisdictions allow a voter to affix a sticker with a write-in candidate's name on it to the ballot in lieu...
. Due to the lateness of this change, the Republicans unsuccessfully attempted to obtain a court order to delay the election.http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/10/30/alaska.delay.ap/ 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. This was also the first time since 1970 that any candidate won an outright majority of the vote in an Alaska gubernatorial election.