Alaska has two contested top-four state legislative primaries in 2024. Here is a closer look

Alaska has two contested top-four state legislative primaries on August 20, 2024.

This is the second state legislative primary since Alaska voters approved a ballot measure to establish a top-four primary system in 2020. Under the system, the top-four vote getters in the primary, regardless of partisan affiliation, advance to the general election.

The state’s number of contested state legislative primaries fell in 2022 after the implementation of the system. Between 2010 and 2020, before the state began holding top-four primaries, the average number of contested primaries was 21.7.

Four percent of all possible state legislative primaries are contested in 2024. This is up from 1.7% in 2022. Between 2010 and 2020 the average percentage of contested state legislative primaries was 20.8%.

Fifty seats in the Alaska State Legislature, including all 40 House seats and 10 Senate seats, are up for election in 2024.

There are 116 candidates running, including 32 Democrats, 60 Republicans, 12 minor-party candidates, and 12 independent or non-partisan candidates. Between 2010 and 2022, the average number of candidates running was 117.2.

Forty-three incumbents are running for reelection, and only one is contested in the primary. That amounts to 2.3% of all running incumbents, an increase from 0 in 2020. Before Alaska started holding top-four state legislative primaries, an average of 25.1% of returning incumbents were contested each year from 2010 to 2022.

Seven incumbents did not file for re-election in 2024. Among them there was one Democrat, 5 Republicans and one independent. The average number of total retirements between 2010 and 2022 was 8.7.

Alaska has a divided government. While Republicans hold numerical majorities in both chambers of the state legislature, both the House and the Senate are controlled by multipartisan governing coalitions.