Alaska gubernatorial election, 2010

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In the Alaska gubernatorial election of 2010, held on November 2, 2010, Republican Sean Parnell defeated Democrat Ethan A. Berkowitz. As the appointed interim Governor, since July of 2009, Parnell had incumbent status but was serving as an appointee prior to his election, having succeeded to the office upon Sarah Palin's July 2009 resignation.

Following the August 24, 2010 primary elections, Ethan Berkowitz became the Democratic nominee, having beaten Hollis S. French. Among the Republicans, Sean Parnell's most serious challenger was Bill Walker, whom he still beat by 15 points.

November 2, 2010 general election results[edit]

As of November 8th, 100% of votes were reported and counted. The Alaska State Review Board met from November 15th - 29th; they released the official, certified, vote count on November 30, 2010.^[1]

On November 2, 2010, Parnell/Treadwell won election to the office of Governor/Lt. Governor of Alaska. They defeated Berkowitz/Benson (D), Toien/Brown (L) and Donald R. Wright (I) in the general election.

Governor/Lt. Governor of Alaska, 2010
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Republican	Parnell/Treadwell Incumbent	59.1%	151,318
	Democratic	Berkowitz/Benson	37.7%	96,519
	Libertarian	Toien/Brown	1%	2,682
	Alaskan Independence	Wright/Donald R.	1.9%	4,775
	Write-in	N/A	0.4%	898
Total Votes				256,192
Election results via State of Alaska Division of Elections.

Inauguration and Transition[edit]

Innaugural date[edit]

Sean Parnell had been the acting governor since July 26, 2009, when he was sworn in upon Sarah Palin's resignation. Previously, he had been the Lt. Governor. Parnell took the oath of office and began his full term on December 6, 2010. The state legislature did not convene until January 18, 2011. This is done deliberately to give the governor time to make appointments and prepare legislation before the first day of the session.

Parnell's running mate and Lieutenant Governor-elect Mead Treadwell, also took the oath of office on December 6, 2010. Treadwell replaced Craig Campbell, who was the Commissioner of Military and Veteran Affairs for Alaska, before moving up to fill the empty lt. governor post.

Transition team[edit]

Gov. Parnell's transition website listed seven committees he formed to address his priority issues. He also invited citizen input into the key areas^[2]:

1. Resources, Energy, and Environment
2. Health and Education
3. Infrastructure
4. Science, Technology, and Communications
5. Financial Services and Business Investment
6. Public Safety and Justice
7. Military

Bryan Butcher, government relations director for the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, coordinated transition efforts. Each topic area had a committee head.^[3]

Parnell appointments[edit]

While serving as an appointed governor, Parnell left Sarah Palin's appointees largely intact. Upon his election to a full term in the office, he stated his intention to make significant changes; Alaska's Constitution grants the governor very broad powers to appoint positions, including some that are elected by the citizens in most states.

Parnell asked for some resignations and told other key officials they could submit an application to be considered for his administration, but that they should not automatically expect to continue in the post they had prior to the election.^[4]

The first confirmed departure from the governor's office was Department of Fish and Game chief, Denby Lloyd. Parnell noted that his plans to shake up his staff were as much to allow people who wished to take other opportunities to do too so as to form his own administration team.

Official statements on the election[edit]

Republican Governors Association on Parnell victory

Alaska Republican Party on Election results (dead link)

Alaska Democratic Party on Election results

August 24, 2010 primary[edit]

2010 Race for Governor - Democrat Primary^[5]
Candidates		Percentage
Ethan A. Berkowitz (D)		46.64%
Hollis S. French, II (D)		38.88%
William S. Toien (L)		3.55%
Donald R. Wright (AI)		8.92%
Total votes		38,483

2010 Race for Governor - Republican Primary^[6]
Candidates		Percentage
Gerald L. Heikes (R)		0.40%
Merica Hlatcu (R)		0.56%
Sam Little (R)		1.54%
Sean Parnell (R)		49.49%
Ralph Samuels (R)		14.05%
Bill Walker (R)		33.95%
Total votes		88,423

Race ratings[edit]

2010 Race Rankings Alaska
Race Tracker		Race Rating
The Cook Political Report^[7]		Solid Republican
Congressional Quarterly Politics^[8]		Likely Republican
Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball^[9]		Safe Republican
Rasmussen Reports Gubernatorial Scorecard^[10]		Solid GOP
The Rothenberg Political Report^[11]		Currently Safe Republican
Overall Call		Republican

Polling[edit]

General election polling[edit]

CNN/Time[edit]

2010 Race for Governor of Alaska - CNN/Time
Date Reported	Parnell (R)	Berkowitz (D)	Other	Don't Know
September 24-28, 2010^[12]	57%	38%	4%	2%
(Sample)	n=927	MoE=+/- 3.0%	p=0.05

Public Policy Polling[edit]

2010 Race for Governor of Alaska - Public Policy Polling
Date Reported	Parnell (R)	Berkowitz (D)	Other	Don't Know
October 30-31, 2010^[13]	54%	43%	3%	-
October 9-10, 2010^[14]	51%	41%	7%	-
(Sample)	n=1,678	MoE=+/- 2.4%	p=0.05
August 27-28, 2010^[15]	55%	37%	2%	8%
(Sample)	n=1,306	MoE=+/- 2.7%	p=0.05

Rasmussen Reports[edit]

2010 Race for Governor of Alaska - Rasmussen Reports
Date Reported	Parnell (R)	Berkowitz (D)	Other	Don't Know
September 22, 2010^[16]	54%	34%	5%	7%
August 31, 2010^[17]	53%	43%	2%	2%
(Sample)^[18]	n=500	MoE=+/- 4.5%	p=0.05

Primary election polling[edit]

July polling[edit]

2010 Race for Governor of Alaska - Rasmussen Reports
Date Reported	Parnell	Berkowitz	Other	Not sure
July 15, 2010^[19]	53%	34%	7%	6%
Date Reported	Parnell	French	Other	Not sure
July 15, 2010^[20]	57%	29%	7%	8%
Date Reported	Walker	French	Other	Not sure
July 15, 2010^[21]	50%	32%	5%	14%
Date Reported	Samuels	Berkowitz	Other	Not sure
July 15, 2010^[22]	48%	36%	7%	9%
Date Reported	Samuels	French	Other	Not sure
July 15, 2010^[23]	49%	30%	7%	13%
Date Reported	Walker	Berkowitz	Other	Not sure
July 15, 2010^[24]	46%	38%	6%	11%
(Sample)^[25]	n=500	MoE=+/- 4.5%	p=0.05

May polling[edit]

2010 Race for Governor of Alaska - Rasmussen Reports
Date Reported	Parnell	Berkowitz	Other	Not sure
May 12, 2010^[26]	58%	30%	3%	8%
Date Reported	Parnell	French	Other	Not sure
May 12, 2010^[27]	62%	24%	5%	9%
Date Reported	Parnell	Poe	Other	Not sure
May 12, 2010^[28]	62%	21%	5%	12%
Date Reported	Samuels	Berkowitz	Other	Not sure
May 12, 2010^[29]	43%	36%	7%	14%
Date Reported	Samuels	French	Other	Not sure
May 12, 2010^[30]	48%	26%	10%	17%
Date Reported	Samuels	Poe	Other	Not sure
May 12, 2010^[31]	47%	23%	11%	19%
(Sample)^[32]	n=500	MoE=+/- 4.5%	p=0.05

Candidates[edit]

The November Ballot – Who Made It? Alaska Governor
Nominee		Affiliation
Ethan A. Berkowitz^[33]		Democrat
Sean Parnell^[34]		Republican
William S. "Billy" Toien^[35]		Libertarian
Donald R. Wright^[36]		Alaskan Independence
This lists candidates who won their state's primary or convention, or who were unopposed, and who were officially certified for the November ballot by their state's election authority.

Alaska's Division of Elections finalized the list of candidates on July 1, 2010.^[37]

Democrat[edit]

Ethan A. Berkowitz, an attorney and business owner, is a former Minority Leader of the Alaska State House, having served four terms representing the Anchorage's 26th District.
Hollis S. French, II, chairs the Judiciary Committee of the Alaska State Senator and represents the 'M District' covering East Spenard Inlet View and Turnagain. As Judiciary Chair, he received the Legislative Committee's appointment to lead the investigation into former Governor Sarah Palin (R), when her dismissal of public safety commissioner Walt Monegan raised questions. French officially filed his Letter of Intent to run on July 1, 2009. Later that month, he made official announcements in Anchorage, Juneau, and Fairbanks.

Withdrawn candidates

Bob Poe, a businessman with experience in the energy and transportation sectors, withdrew his candidacy, effective June 14, 2010, due to fundraising challenges.
Rob Rosenfeld,a consultant who specializes in the nonprofit sector, formally announced his campaign on February 6, 2009. Later that year, he left the race, referencing the number of declared candidates and the competitive Democratic primary as reasons behind his decision.^[38]

Republican[edit]

John Harris, the Former Speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives, represented the 12th District, covering Valdez, and chaired the Legislative Committee. He filed his Letter of Intent on July 7, 2009 and formally announced his candidacy the next day. In early November of 2009, Harris tentatively suggested he might exit the race, noting, "The governor is going to have to make some mistakes in my opinion, probably, for anybody to beat him, at least on the Republican side."^[39] In early 2010, Harris left the race to run for re-election to his House seat.^[40]
Gerald L. Heikes, an Alaska native and veteran of the Alaska Air National Guard, has filed to run.
Merica Hlatcu, a Rumanian born electrical engineer and photojournalist, who has previously ran in Alaska's 2006's GOP gubernatorial primary and later for the mayor of Anchorage^[41], again sought the office.
Sam Little, who owns his own trucking business and is an amateur country singer, entered the race.^[42]
Incumbent Sean Parnell, Sarah Palin's Lt. Governor, succeeded to the office upon Palin's July 2009 resignation. Previously he had served in both chambers of the Alaska legislature and worked as a lobbyist. He soon announced his intention to seek a full term on his own.
Ralph Samuels, a travel industry executive and a former state House Majority Leader, having served three terms in the 29th District, entered the race in 2010.
Bill Walker, an attorney who serves as project manager and general counsel to the Alaska Gasline Port Authority, announced his campaign in late September, 2009,^[43]