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  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

United States Presidential Elections In Alaska
Since Alaska's admission to the Union in January 1959, it has participated in 16 United States presidential elections, always having 3 electoral votes. In the 1960 presidential election, Alaska was narrowly won by the Republican Party's candidate and incumbent vice president Richard Nixon, defeating the Democratic Party's candidate John F. Kennedy by a margin of just 1.88% (1,144 votes). In the 1964 presidential election, the Democratic Party's candidate Lyndon B. Johnson won Alaska in a national Democratic landslide victory. Since the 1964 election, Alaska has been won by the Republican Party in every presidential election.

Ronald Reagan, the Republican candidate in the 1984 presidential election, won Alaska by 36.78%, which remains the largest margin of victory in the state's history. Ross Perot, the independent candidate in the 1992 presidential election, received the highest vote share (28.43%) ever won by a third-party candidate in Alaska. Various news organizations have characterized Alaska as a safe Republican state. No Republican has won the presidency without carrying Alaska since its statehood in 1959 due to Lyndon B. Johnson being the only Democrat candidate to ever carry the state. Alaska is tied with Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma for the longest Republican voting streak for any state in recent political history, from 1968 to present.

Presidential elections

Key for parties
  American Independent Party – (AI)
  Democratic Party – (D)
  Green Party – (G)
  Independent candidate – (I)
  Libertarian Party – (LI)
  Reform Party – (RE)
  Republican Party – (R)
Note – A double dagger (‡) indicates the national winner.
Presidential elections in Alaska from 1960 to present
Year Winner Runner-up Other candidates EV Ref.
Candidate Votes % Candidate Votes % Candidate Votes %
1960
 Richard Nixon (R) 30,953 50.94% John F. Kennedy (D) ‡ 29,809 49.06%
–
–
–
 3
1964
 Lyndon B. Johnson (D) ‡ 44,329 65.91% Barry Goldwater (R) 22,930 34.09%
–
–
–
 3
1968
 Richard Nixon (R) ‡ 37,600 45.28% Hubert Humphrey (D) 35,411 42.65% George Wallace (AI) 10,024 12.07% 3
1972
 Richard Nixon (R) ‡ 55,349 58.13% George McGovern (D) 32,967 34.62% John G. Schmitz (AI) 6,903 7.25% 3
1976
 Gerald Ford (R) 71,555 57.90% Jimmy Carter (D) ‡ 44,058 35.65% Roger MacBride (LI) 6,785 5.49% 3
1980
 Ronald Reagan (R) ‡ 86,112 54.35% Jimmy Carter (D) 41,842 26.41% Ed Clark (LI) 18,479 11.66% 3
1984
 Ronald Reagan (R) ‡ 138,377 66.65% Walter Mondale (D) 62,007 29.87% David Bergland (LI) 6,378 3.07% 3
1988
 George H. W. Bush (R) ‡ 119,251 59.59% Michael Dukakis (D) 72,584 36.27% Ron Paul (LI) 5,484 2.74% 3
1992
 George H. W. Bush (R) 102,000 39.46% Bill Clinton (D) ‡ 78,294 30.29% Ross Perot (I) 73,481 28.43% 3
1996
 Bob Dole (R) 122,746 50.80% Bill Clinton (D) ‡ 80,380 33.27% Ross Perot (RE) 26,333 10.90% 3
2000
 George W. Bush (R) ‡ 167,398 58.62% Al Gore (D) 79,004 27.67% Ralph Nader (G) 28,747 10.07% 3
2004
 George W. Bush (R) ‡ 190,889 61.07% John Kerry (D) 111,025 35.52% Ralph Nader (I) 5,069 1.62% 3
2008
 John McCain (R) 193,841 59.42% Barack Obama (D) ‡ 123,594 37.89% Ralph Nader (I) 3,783 1.16% 3
2012
 Mitt Romney (R) 164,676 54.80% Barack Obama (D) ‡ 122,640 40.81% Gary Johnson (LI) 7,392 2.46% 3
2016
 Donald Trump (R) ‡ 163,387 51.28% Hillary Clinton (D) 116,454 36.55% Gary Johnson (LI) 18,725 5.88% 3
2020
 Donald Trump (R) 189,951 52.83% Joe Biden (D) ‡ 153,778 42.77% Jo Jorgensen (LI) 8,897 2.47% 3

Graph

The following graph shows the margin of victory of the winner over the runner-up in the 16 presidential elections Alaska participated.


See also