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Democrats are running a close governors race in Alaska, hoping to win for the first time in more than 20 years. Eric Stone with Alaska Public Media in Anchorage reports.
ERIC STONE, BYLINE: At a recent community barbecue in the left-leaning state capital, Juneau, insurance agent Emil Mackey says he thinks Alaska is ready for a change.
EMIL MACKEY: This is not a vote-for election. This is a vote-against election, and there's a lot to vote against on the other side.
STONE: Alaska usually votes Republican in statewide races. President Trump won the state by double digits three times, but it's endured some lean years lately, as incumbent Republican Governor Mike Dunleavy meets his two-term limit. Schools are closing. State ferries aren't coming to this isolated capital as much as they used to. The annual checks Alaskans get from a fund supported by oil and gas revenues are near record lows when adjusted for inflation. Mackey, a Democrat, says voters are constantly asked to do more with less.
MACKEY: They're tired of seeing public education absolutely decimated. They're tired of seeing roads and just basically public goods in general neglected. They're ready for a change.
STONE: He's backing the Democrat, former state lawmaker Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins. Here is Kreiss-Tomkins at a recent debate tapping into the anti-incumbent mood.
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JONATHAN KREISS-TOMKINS: The list of things in Alaska that has been broken is long and it is sad. K-12 education has been driven into the ground. Energy and electricity prices are spiraling, and there's no leadership to solve the crisis.
STONE: In Alaska's unique election system, Kreiss-Tomkins is facing three Republican opponents in a ranked-choice contest. There's small business owner Bernadette Wilson. In a state where Democrats and Republicans share power in the legislature, she says working across the aisle hasn't worked.
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BERNADETTE WILSON: Everyone's going to brag about how well they can sing "Kumbaya" with each other. But here's the deal. How has that worked for you?
STONE: Her Republican opponents are more conciliatory, like former Republican Attorney General Treg Taylor.
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TREG TAYLOR: Our next governor needs to be able to fight for Alaska but also work across the aisle.
STONE: And former Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson.
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DAVE BRONSON: Guess what? Compromise sometimes has to happen or we're stalemated.
STONE: President Trump endorsed Wilson.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: We got three Republicans running against one Democrat, OK? And it's not good.
STONE: At a rally in Wasilla, he said he tried to talk the others into leaving the race.
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TRUMP: She won the primary, and the other two should have dropped out. And if they dropped out, we have an easy victory.
STONE: Trump's approval rating has dropped in the state, and Alaska's Senate race has also become competitive. Ranked-choice voting could prevent the three Republican candidates for governor from splitting the vote if voters stick to party lines. But each Republican has baggage, turning some conservatives off.
Outside a post office in a suburb of Anchorage, Sean Fitzpatrick (ph), a construction company project manager, says he'll vote for former Mayor Bronson first and hasn't decided whether to even rank Wilson, who's acknowledged some financial problems in her our business that led to lawsuits.
SEAN FITZPATRICK: I don't think she's been fiscally responsible, and now she wants to be responsible for the finances for the state. That doesn't make much sense to me.
STONE: Independent voter Renae Werner says she's considering the Republican Taylor or the Democrat, Kreiss-Tomkins, who's made working across the aisle a centerpiece of his campaign.
RENAE WERNER: He's to the left of where I would be leaning, but I'm kind of liking what he's seeing there because I think cooperation is important.
STONE: For her, it's more about attitude than it is about partisanship.
For NPR News, I'm Eric Stone in Juneau, Alaska. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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