Alaska and Wyoming voters head to the polls Tuesday for their party primaries. The contest for governor in Wyoming takes center state as we watch to see if wealthy megadonor Foster Friess’s unexpected campaign will end in victory.
Polls close in Wyoming at 9 PM ET (7 PM local time). Most of Alaska closes at 12 AM ET (8 PM local time), with the small portion of the state in the Hawaii-Aleutian Time Zone closing an hour later. We won't be liveblogging this one, but we'll be posting an open thread at Daily Kos Elections for anyone who wants to discuss the results as they come in.
● WY-Gov (R): The GOP primary to succeed termed-out Republican Gov. Matt Mead got a lot more interesting when wealthy megadonor Foster Friess unexpectedly entered the race back in April. Friess attracted national attention in 2012 when he spent millions on a super PAC that almost single-handedly kept Rick Santorum's presidential campaign afloat. He also generated a firestorm over birth control during that campaign when he explained, "Back in my days, they used Bayer Aspirin for contraceptives. The gals put it between their knees and it wasn't that costly."
While Friess was well-known to national Republican operatives, he wasn't very active in state GOP politics and didn't seem to have much of a campaign apparatus ready to go. That showed when he began his bid with a rambling speech that addressed the importance of arming the Kurdish military force in Iraq (which the governor of Wyoming doesn't exactly have much say in); called for "civility" in American politics; and then suggested that Barack Obama had funneled money intended to mitigate global warming to cousins in a foreign country Friess didn't know how to pronounce. "Zoowanatou," Friess offered. "It’s some little country I’ve never been." However, Friess quickly began using his considerable personal wealth to run commercials introducing himself to voters.
He hasn’t dominated the field, though. The early frontrunner had looked like state Treasurer Mark Gordon, who is the only elected official seeking the nomination, and he still appears to be a top contender. Business executive Sam Galeotos, like Friess, also has access to plenty of cash, as well as the support of some state GOP elites. Attorney Harriet Hageman, who boasts of her antagonistic relationship with environmentalists, also has raised a credible amount of money. Also running are physician Taylor Haynes, who lost his 2014 primary bid against Mead 55-32, and businessman Bill Dahlin.
It’s hard to get a good read on where things stand, though, because polling has been scarce. An August survey from the GOP firm Trafalgar Group gave Friess a bare 21-20 lead over Gordon, with Hageman and Galeotos at 16 and 10, respectively, while the rest lagged in the single digits. Whomever emerges from the GOP primary will begin the race as the heavy favorite in this very red state over former state House Democratic Leader Mary Trone, Throne, who faces little intra-party opposition.
● AK-Gov (R): Gov. Bill Walker, an independent who was elected in 2014 with Democratic support, faces a tough path to re-election in this red state. Former Democratic Sen. Mark Begich entered the race in June, and there's a big danger that they'll split middle-of-the-road voters, which would be a huge boon to whomever emerges as the GOP nominee. There’s still a chance that one or the other could drop out, though.
Republicans have a primary between former state Sen. Mike Dunleavy, who was one of the more conservative members of the legislature, and former Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, who entered the race in June. Treadwell, who took third place in a 2014 Senate primary, had little time to raise money, while Dunleavy has a well-funded super PAC on his side. A June poll from Dunleavy's allies gave him a huge lead, and it would be a big surprise if he lost on Tuesday.
● AK-AL (D) (53-38 Trump, 55-41 Romney): Democrats hope that GOP Rep. Don Young, who has represented the entire state since 1973, is vulnerable, but their likely nominee isn't a registered Democrat. Anchorage schools advocate Alyse Galvin identifies as an independent, but she's able to campaign for the Democratic nod while still remaining an independent because Democratic leaders won a lawsuit earlier this year to allow independents to run in party primaries.
Galvin's main primary foe is self-funding businessman Dimitri Shein, but he has spent very little. Both Galvin and Shein say they won't continue their campaigns in the general election if they lose the primary. If Galvin wins, she'd be identified on the ballot both as the Democratic nominee and as an independent.