Alaska House

2020 Election Update

In the 2020 election, Democrats flipped one GOP-held seat (HD 27), a Nonpartisan candidate flipped one GOP-held seat (HD 25), and an Independent candidate flipped one Democrat-held seat (HD 40). Following the election, Republicans controlled the chamber 21-15 with four Independent or Nonpartisan candidates.

Despite the GOP’s numerical majority, Democrats maintain control of the chamber through a governing coalition. Rep. Louise Stutes (R) was elected Speaker of the House thanks to a coalition of the Democratic, Independent, and Nonpartisan members, and a vote from Rep. Kelly Merrick (R).

The below table shows 2020 and 2018 election results for the Alaska House. The LDI scores are for the 2020 cycle. EveryDistrict will release new scores and district rankings after the redistricting process.

2018 Election Update

After the 2016 election, Republicans controlled the Alaska State House 21-17 with two Independents. However, Democrats gained effective control of the chamber through a governing coalition with the two Independents and three Republicans.

In the 2018 election, Republicans expanded their majority to 23-16 with one Independent. Republicans flipped one Democratic-held seat (HD 1) and one Independent-held seat (HD 22). Democrats, though, continue to maintain control of the chamber through a governing coalition. On February 11, 2019 Bryce Edgmon (HD 37), who served as Speaker of the House in 2017-2018 with the previous governing coalition, switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Independent. On February 14, 2019, a coalition of the Democratic caucus plus four Republicans and the one Independent elected Edgmon Speaker of the House again. Four additional Republicans have now joined the governing coalition.

Understanding the Map

EveryDistrict’s Legislative District Index (LDI) is the gold standard of state legislative competitiveness. Our LDI ranks state legislative districts on a scale from 100 to -100, using statewide elections data. Districts with a score of 100 would vote for statewide Democratic candidates by an average of 100 points (with the Democratic candidate receiving 100% of the vote); districts with a score of -100 would vote for statewide Republican candidates by an average of 100 points (with the Republican candidate receiving 100% of the vote). For a more realistic example, a district with a score of 10 would vote for statewide Democratic candidates by an average of 10 points (meaning we would expect the Democratic state legislative candidate to win with 55% of the vote compared to the Republican winning 45% of the vote).

After the 2018 election, EveryDistrict reviewed and enhanced our LDI system, improving the accuracy of the metric with new methodologies and the most recent electoral data.

For more information about EveryDistrict’s LDI, please click here.