Preliminary election results Tuesday night showed several incumbent Alaska lawmakers trailing their challengers.

At stake is control of the House and Senate, which could have significant implications for the types of bills that become law and the way the Legislature works with Gov. Mike Dunleavy. This year, coalition-aligned candidates had a significant advantage in fundraising.

Legislative candidates across Alaska say education has been an important issue in this election, especially after lawmakers failed by one vote in March to override Dunleavy's veto of a bipartisan school funding bill.

Candidates say other key issues include potentially reinstating a pension for public employees and teachers, addressing a looming shortage of Cook Inlet natural gas that could lead to rising electricity and heating costs, and reforming the state's election system belonged.

Tens of thousands of ballots still need to be counted.

The elections department reported that about 79,000 mail-in ballots had been issued to voters as of Sunday and that nearly 49,000 of them had been returned. Absentee ballots from abroad can be counted as long as they are received by the elections department within 15 days of Election Day.

Additionally, nearly 62,000 Alaska residents voted at one of a dozen early voting locations before Tuesday.

The department will initially only count voters' first ballots. For races where candidates do not achieve a clear majority, the winner will be determined by ranked-choice voting on November 20th.

The house

The State House is currently governed by a Republican-led majority. Four non-Republican representatives representing districts in rural Alaska are part of the current Republican majority.

Key House lawmakers said Tuesday that a majority would likely only emerge after backroom negotiations among lawmakers.

Preliminary results as of 11:45 p.m. Tuesday night showed three incumbent House members trailing their challengers and several key races too close to call:

• Far-right Republican Rep. David Eastman trailed fellow Republican Jubilee Underwood in the race for a Wasilla House seat, with all five counties reporting results. Underwood was at 51%, ahead of Eastman at 48%.

• Rep. Craig Johnson, a South Anchorage Republican, trailed well behind former Rep. Chuck Kopp, a fellow Republican. Kopp was in the lead with 61% of the vote, with all six counties reporting results.

• Former Anchorage Republican state Sen. Mia Costello comfortably edged Democratic candidate Denny Wells for an open West Anchorage House seat, 52% to 45%. The long-term candidate Dustin Darden got just under 3%.

• Fairbanks Democratic Rep. Maxine Dibert was well ahead of former Republican Rep. Bart LeBon, 53% to 46%, with all four counties reporting results.

• Anchorage Democratic Rep. Cliff Groh, a member of the bipartisan minority in the House, narrowly edged his opponent, former Republican Rep. David Nelson, for a seat in North Anchorage. With all five counties reporting results, Groh was ahead by 28 votes.

• Rep. Stanley Wright, a Republican who represents North Muldoon, trailed Democratic challenger Ted Eischeid with all four counties reporting results. Wright had 48% compared to Eischeid's 51%.

• Independent Ky Holland was ahead of Republican Lucy Bauer for an open seat in South Anchorage. Holland had 53% against Bauer with 47% of the vote. Nine out of nine districts had reported results.

• In Ketchikan, Jeremy Bynum had over 52% of the vote for an open seat after independent Rep. Dan Ortiz announced he would not run for re-election. Independent Grant EchoHawk had 24% and independent Agnes Moran had 25% of the vote.

The Senate

Alaska's 20-seat Senate is currently governed by a 17-member bipartisan supermajority that includes nine Democrats and eight Republicans. A bipartisan majority is expected to return to power in the Senate next year, but the election could shift the balance of power between Democrats and Republicans.

Kodiak Republican Senate President Gary Stevens said Tuesday that he expects a Senate majority will be determined Wednesday. Preliminary figures as of 11:45 p.m. suggested mixed results for coalition members.

• Wasilla Republican Sen. David Wilson, a member of the majority, trailed fellow Republican Rob Yundt, a former Mat-Su District member. Yundt had 53% of the vote, Wilson got 29%. Stephen Wright, another Republican, had 17% of the vote. Eleven out of twelve districts had reported results.

• Fairbanks Democratic Sen. Scott Kawasaki was narrowly ahead of his Republican challenger Leslie Hajdukovich by 74 votes. All eight counties had reported results for the most expensive race this cycle.

• Republican Sen. Kelly Merrick of Eagle River, another coalition member, had nearly 47% of the vote, ahead of her Republican challenger Jared Goecker's 40% and Democrat Lee Hammermeister's 13%. Twelve of 13 districts had reported results.

• Rep. Mike Cronk was ahead with 52% of the vote for a large Interior Senate seat. Savannah Fletcher, an independent, came in second with 42% and Bert Williams, an Alaska Independence Party candidate, came in at 6%.

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