1986 Alaska gubernatorial election

Election for the governorship of the U.S. state of Alaska

← 1982

November 6, 1986

1990 →


Nominee	Steve Cowper	Arliss Sturgulewski	Joe Vogler
Party	Democratic	Republican	Independence
Running mate	Steve McAlpine	Terry Miller	Al Rowe
Popular vote	84,943	76,515	10,013
Percentage	47.31%	42.61%	5.58%

Results by state house district
Cowper: 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80%
Sturgulewski: 40–50% 50–60%

Governor before election

Bill Sheffield
Democratic

Elected Governor

Steve Cowper
Democratic

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The 1986 Alaska gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 1986, for the post of Governor of Alaska. Incumbent Governor Bill Sheffield, a Democrat who was seeking re-election, was defeated by Steve Cowper in the Democratic primary election on August 26, 1986.^[1]^[2]

In the general election, Democratic state Representative Steve Cowper defeated Republican candidate Arliss Sturgulewski and Alaska Independence candidate Joe Vogler. Sturgulewski had defeated former governor Wally Hickel, former Libertarian nominee Dick Randolph, former State House Speaker Joe L. Hayes, and former Alaskan Independence nominee Don Wright for the Republican nomination.

Results

1986 Alaska gubernatorial election^[3]
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Steve Cowper	84,943	47.31%	+1.19%
	Republican	Arliss Sturgulewski	76,515	42.61%	+5.52%
	Independence	Joe Vogler	10,013	5.58%	+3.92%
	Libertarian	Mary Jane O'Brannon	1,050	0.58%	-14.33%
	Write-in votes		7,034	3.92%	+3.73%
Majority			8,428	4.70%
Turnout			179,555
	Democratic hold		Swing

References

^ Hanlon, Tegan (October 27, 2015). "Former Alaska first lady Michael Margaret Stewart, ex-wife of Steve Cowper, dead at 62". Alaska Dispatch News. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
^ "Looking back in Fairbanks — Aug. 29". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. August 21, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2015.
^ "1986 Gubernatorial General Election Results - Alaska" (PDF). Alaska Division of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 2, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.

v t e Alaska gubernatorial elections
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Portal:Politics Third party (U.S. politics) List of third-party and independent performances in United States elections Third-party and independent members of the United States Congress