Neal Winston Foster

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Neal Foster
Democratic Party
Alaska House of Representatives District 39
Tenure
2009 - Present
Term ends
2027
Years in position
16
Compensation
Base salary
$84,000/year
Per diem
Non-Juneau legislators receive a per diem of $307 per day; Juneau legislators receive none.
Elections and appointments
Last election
November 5, 2024
Education
Bachelor's
Stanford University
Personal
Birthplace
Nome, AK
Profession
Vice-president of operations
Contact
Official website
Official Facebook
Campaign website
Personal X
Personal LinkedIn

Neal Foster (Democratic Party) is a member of the Alaska House of Representatives, representing District 39. He assumed office on November 16, 2009. His current term ends on January 19, 2027.

Foster (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Alaska House of Representatives to represent District 39. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Foster formerly served as a member of the Nome City Council.

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Neal Winston Foster was born in Nome, Alaska. He earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Stanford University in 1995. He earned a degree in business administration from the University of Alaska, Anchorage in 1997. His career experience includes working as vice-president of operations of an Alaska Native Corporation and for Sitnasuak Native Corporation from 1998 to 2009.[1][2]

Committee assignments

2025-2026

Foster was assigned to the following committees:

2023-2024

Foster was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Foster was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Foster was assigned to the following committees:

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Alaska committee assignments, 2017
• Finance, Chair

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Foster served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Foster served on the following committees:

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Foster served on the following committees:[3]

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2024

See also: Alaska House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Alaska House of Representatives District 39

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Neal Foster in round 1 .

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 4,014
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Alaska House of Representatives District 39

Incumbent Neal Foster and Tyler Ivanoff advanced from the primary for Alaska House of Representatives District 39 on August 20, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Neal Foster
Neal Foster (D)
 
64.3
 
1,057
✔
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Tyler Ivanoff (Alaskan Independence Party) Candidate Connection
 
35.7
 
587

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,644
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Foster in this election.

2022

See also: Alaska House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Alaska House of Representatives District 39

The ranked-choice voting election was won by Neal Foster in round 1 .

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 3,647
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Alaska House of Representatives District 39

Incumbent Neal Foster and Tyler Ivanoff advanced from the primary for Alaska House of Representatives District 39 on August 16, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Neal Foster
Neal Foster (D)
 
55.9
 
1,105
✔
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Tyler Ivanoff (Alaskan Independence Party)
 
44.1
 
871

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,976
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2020

See also: Alaska House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Alaska House of Representatives District 39

Incumbent Neal Foster defeated Dan Holmes and Tyler Ivanoff in the general election for Alaska House of Representatives District 39 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Neal Foster
Neal Foster (D) Candidate Connection
 
64.0
 
3,623
Image of Dan Holmes
Dan Holmes (R) Candidate Connection
 
18.5
 
1,044
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Tyler Ivanoff (Alaskan Independence Party) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
0
 Other/Write-in votes
 
17.5
 
991

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 5,658
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Alaska House of Representatives District 39

Dan Holmes advanced from the Republican primary for Alaska House of Representatives District 39 on August 18, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Dan Holmes
Dan Holmes Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
578

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 578
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Alaska Democratic and Independence parties primary election

Alaska Democratic and Independence parties primary for Alaska House of Representatives District 39

Incumbent Neal Foster defeated Tyler Ivanoff in the Alaska Democratic and Independence parties primary for Alaska House of Representatives District 39 on August 18, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Neal Foster
Neal Foster Candidate Connection
 
52.5
 
1,061
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Tyler Ivanoff
 
47.5
 
961

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 2,022
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2018

See also: Alaska House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Alaska House of Representatives District 39

Incumbent Neal Foster won election in the general election for Alaska House of Representatives District 39 on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Neal Foster
Neal Foster (D)
 
95.9
 
4,963
 Other/Write-in votes
 
4.1
 
211

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 5,174
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Alaska Democratic, Libertarian, and Independence parties primary election

Alaska Democratic, Libertarian, and Independence parties primary for Alaska House of Representatives District 39

Incumbent Neal Foster advanced from the Alaska Democratic, Libertarian, and Independence parties primary for Alaska House of Representatives District 39 on August 21, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Neal Foster
Neal Foster
 
100.0
 
1,197

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,197
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Alaska House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for the Alaska House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 16, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was June 1, 2016.

Incumbent Neal Winston Foster ran unopposed in the Alaska House of Representatives District 39 general election.[4][5]

Alaska House of Representatives, District 39 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Neal Winston Foster Incumbent (unopposed)
Source: Alaska Secretary of State


Incumbent Neal Winston Foster ran unopposed in the Alaska House of Representatives District 39 Democratic Primary.[6][7]

Alaska House of Representatives, District 39 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Neal Winston Foster Incumbent (unopposed)



2014

See also: Alaska House of Representatives elections, 2014

Elections for the Alaska House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election took place on August 19, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 2, 2014. Incumbent Neal W. Foster was unopposed in the Democratic primary and was unchallenged in the general election.[8][9][10][11]

2012

See also: Alaska House of Representatives elections, 2012

Foster ran for re-election in the 2012 election for Alaska House of Representatives District 39. He defeated Woodie W. Salmon in the Democratic primary on August 28, 2012. The general election took place on November 6, 2012.[12][13] Foster won re-election in the general election.[14]

Alaska House of Representatives, District 39, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngNeal W. Foster Incumbent 96% 4,854
     Write-in Write-in 4% 201
Total Votes 5,055
Alaska House of Representatives, District 39 Democratic Primary, 2012
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngNeal Foster Incumbent 72.2% 1,304
Woodie Salmon 27.8% 502
Total Votes 1,806

2010

See also: Alaska House of Representatives elections, 2010

Foster won re-election to the 39th District seat in 2010. He defeated Vincent T. Beans in the August 24 primary.[15] He then ran unopposed in the November 2 general election.[16]

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Neal Foster did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Neal Foster did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Candidate Connection

Neal Foster completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Foster's responses.

Expand all | Collapse all

Passionate about ensuring rural Alaskans have opportunities to improve their quality of life. This means strengthening broadband capabilities, fully funding our schools, and supporting an environment where jobs can thrive. I was born and raised in Nome where to some extent these things were available. We need to both strengthen them and make sure they are beacons of hope in our villages.
  • Seniority & experience to help overcome rural Alaska's small representation
  • Proven track record of defending rural Alaska against disproportionate cuts
  • Highly effective at working across party lines
Rural broadband, schools, and jobs.
Proven track record of working across party lines. The House was deadlocked for 3-months with multiple tie votes for a Speaker of the House. Both parties voted me in by a wide margin to serve as the temporary Speaker. I was told it was because I treated folks fairly and trusted me while serving as the co-chair of finance.
Fight for whatever it is your district asks for. Sometimes your thoughts on an issue may differ from the voters, but you must represent the will of a majority of the voters.
Yes. Politics is like any profession. You want folks with the skills necessary to do a job. It takes either training or experience. Just as you want a doctor who has performed the procedure you need or a plumber who has previously installed piping before...you also want a politician who understands how to maneuver the systems and personalities. Many people think they can do it, but the art of persuading a majority of legislators and multiple committees is difficult even for talented politicians.
Not having term limits can be good for small rural areas. Representation in urban areas typically outnumbers that of rural areas. And when cuts are made then rural areas often receive disproportionate cuts. But a rural politician who has been around awhile is more experienced and may be able to level the playing field.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Neal Foster campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024Alaska House of Representatives District 39Won general$34,431 $30,440
2022Alaska House of Representatives District 39Won general$21,172 $18,263
2020Alaska House of Representatives District 39Won general$22,974 N/A**
2018Alaska House of Representatives District 39Won general$10,450 N/A**
2016Alaska House of Representatives, District 39Won $13,089 N/A**
2014Alaska State House, District 39Won $10,515 N/A**
2012Alaska State House, District 39Won $38,388 N/A**
2010Alaska State House, District 39Won $30,937 N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards, State legislative scorecards in Alaska

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.

In 2024, the Alaska State Legislature was either not in session or no scorecards were found. Please contact us if you would like to suggest a scorecard.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Alaska State Legislature in 2023.

In 2022, the Alaska State Legislature was either not in session or no scorecards were found. Please contact us if you would like to suggest a scorecard.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Alaska State Legislature in 2021.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Alaska State Legislature in 2020.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Alaska State Legislature in 2019.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Alaska State Legislature in 2018.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Alaska State Legislature in 2017.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Alaska State Legislature in 2016.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Alaska State Legislature in 2015.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Alaska State Legislature in 2014.

In 2013, the Alaska State Legislature was either not in session or no scorecards were found. Please contact us if you would like to suggest a scorecard.

Below you can find the scorecards found for the Alaska State Legislature in 2012.

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External links

Candidate

Alaska House of Representatives District 39
  • Website
    		•

    Officeholder

    Alaska House of Representatives District 39
  • Website
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    Personal

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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Ballotpedia staff, "Email communication with Neal Winston Foster," October 16, 2020
    2. ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 15, 2020
    3. ↑ Alaska House of Representatives, "House Majority Members" accessed September 18, 2012 (dead link)
    4. ↑ State of Alaska Division of Elections, "November 8, 2016 General Election Candidate List," accessed August 22, 2016
    5. ↑ Alaska Secretary of State, "General Election Official Results 2016," accessed December 2, 2016
    6. ↑ State of Alaska Division of Elections, "August 16, 2016 Primary Candidate List," accessed June 8, 2016
    7. ↑ State of Alaska Division of Elections, "2016 Primary Election results," accessed September 12, 2016
    8. ↑ Alaska Secretary of State, "Official primary candidate list," accessed June 4, 2014
    9. ↑ Alaska Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed January 1, 2015
    10. ↑ Alaska Secretary of State, "Official general election candidate list," accessed September 11, 2014
    11. ↑ Alaska Secretary of State, "Official General Election Results," accessed November 25, 2014
    12. ↑ Alaska Division of Elections, "2012 Primary Candidate List," accessed March 12, 2014
    13. ↑ Alaska Division of Elections, "Official 2012 Primary Results," accessed March 12, 2014
    14. ↑ Alaska Election Division, "Official 2012 General election results," accessed November 16, 2012
    15. ↑ Alaska Division of Elections, "Official 2010 Primary election results," accessed March 12, 2014
    16. ↑ Alaska Division of Elections, "Official 2010 General election results," accessed March 12, 2014

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    -     		Alaska House of Representatives District 39
    2009-Present    		 Succeeded by
    -


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