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Democratic Party of Alaska
| Democratic Party of Alaska | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Anchorage, Alaska |
| Type: | Political party |
| Affiliation: | Democratic |
| Top official: | Mike Wenstrup, Chair |
| Website: | Official website |
The Democratic Party of Alaska is the Alaska political party affiliate of the national Democratic Party. The group is headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska.
Party chair
Mike Wenstrup was elected as chairman in May of 2022. Wenstrup also served as chairman from 2013-2016.[1]
Party leadership
As of April 16, 2024, the executive director of the Alaska Democratic Party was Lindsay Kavanaugh.[2]
The website for the Alaska Democratic Party lists the following individuals as the party's state leadership as of April :[3]
- Mike Wenstrup, Chair
- Jessica Cook, First vice chair
- Katherine Pfeiffer, Secretary
- Monica Southworth, Treasurer
- Brenda Knapp, DNC Committeewoman
- Charles ‘Chuck’ Degnan, DNC Committeeman
For more information on the party's full leadership and staff, please click here.
Party platform
For complete information on the party's platform, please click here.
Party rules and bylaws
For complete information on the party's bylaws, please click here.
Party candidates
Note: The following table lists candidates who filed to run for office with this political party in a given year. This may also include candidates who filed to run with more than one political party. The list may not be comprehensive if the state's official filing deadline has not passed. This list may not populate if no candidates have filed to run with this political party. The table lists non-presidential candidates who filed to run for office with this political party in a given year. For more information on presidential candidates and elections, please click here.
Using the tools at the top of the table, you can increase the number of candidates shown on your screen or scroll through the table to view additional candidates. To report an error, please email us at editor@ballotpedia.org.
2025
Noteworthy cases
Federal prisoner ruled ballot eligible (2024)
- See also: Alaska Third District (Alaska Democratic Party and Anita Thorne v. Director Carol Beecher, 3AN-24-08665CI)
- See also: Alaska Third District (Alaska Democratic Party and Anita Thorne v. Director Carol Beecher, 3AN-24-08665CI)
On September 10, 2024, Judge Ian Wheeles dismissed the lawsuit filed by the Alaska Democratic Party (ADP) to remove Eric Hafner (D), a candidate to represent Alaska's at-large congressional district, from the ballot. At the time of the lawsuit, Hafner was serving a 20-year sentence at a federal prison in New York for threatening elected officials, and he was set to be released in 2036.[4][5]
The ADP argued that since Alaskan ranked-choice voting law dictates that if a top four candidate withdraws, the fifth place candidate will take the spot, having a sixth place candidate like Hafner make it on to the ballot is unprecedented and illegal. Nancy Dahlstrom (R) and Matthew Salisbury (R) both withdrew after making the top four which granted John Howe and Hafner spots on the ballot. The ADP also argued that Hafner is ineligible as the Constitution requires that a candidate for U.S. House must be “an inhabitant of that State” by the time they are elected.[4][5]
The state argued that if the Division of Elections was required to stop printing ballots and print new ones without Hafner, it would likely incur significant costs and they would risk missing state and federal ballot deadlines. They also argued that the ADP was seeking to remove Hafner in order to further advance the candidate they had endorsed, Mary Peltola (D). Prior to Dahlstrom and Salisbury withdrawing, Peltola was going to be the only Democrat on the ballot.[4][5]
In his opinion, Judge Ian Wheeles ruled that ranked-choice voting allows each vote to rank however they choose therefore eliminating any potential claim of harm. He also ruled that the court could not weigh in on the probability of Hafner residing in Alaska by Election Day. Finally, in reference to the Alaskan voting statute, Wheeles ruled that the language used is meant to be an example of the ballot filling process when a candidate withdraws and it is not limited to only fifth place moving up only.[4][5]
See also
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Alaska Democratic Party Website
- Alaska Democratic Party on Facebook
- Alaska Democratic Party on Twitter
Footnotes
- ↑ Must Read Alaska, "Newly recycled chair of AK Democrats: Mike Wenstrup," accessed April 16, 2024
- ↑ Alaska Democratic Party, "Meet ADP Staff," accessed April 16, 2024
- ↑ Alaska Democratic Party, "Executive Committee At-Large," accessed April 15, 2024
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 NPR, "He's in a New York prison. Yet courts let him stay on a U.S. House ballot — in Alaska," September 12, 2024
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Alaska's News Source, "Judge rules to allow imprisoned U.S. House candidate to appear on ballot," September 10, 2024
