This is a developing story and will be updated
Unofficial results are in for this year's state primary election. Polls closed Tuesday at 8 p.m. The top four vote-getters in each race advance to the General Election in November.
Senate District D (Northern Kenai Peninsula including Kenai, Soldotna)
Incumbent Republican Sen. Jesse Bjorkman carries a lead of about three percentage points in the race for the Senate District D seat. With all precincts reporting, Bjorkman received about 43.9% of the more than 5,000 votes cast.
The next highest vote-getter was Ben Carpenter, also a Republican, who received about 41.2% of votes cast. They were followed by Democratic candidate Tina Wegner with about 12.2% of votes cast, and Independent candidate Andy Cizek with about 2.6% of votes cast.
| Jesse Bjorkman (R) | 2,605 | 43.93% |
| Ben Carpenter (R) | 2,445 | 41.23% |
| Tina Wegener (D) | 724 | 12.21% |
| Andy Cizek (I) | 156 | 2.63% |
| Total | 5,930 | 100% |
House District 7 (Kenai & Soldotna)
Preliminary results show incumbent Republican Rep. Justin Ruffridge leading by more than 20 percentage points. With all precincts reporting, he received 1,450 votes, or about 60.2% of all votes cast. That’s as compared to challenger Ron Gillham, also a Republican, who received 960, or about 39.8% of votes cast.
| Justin Ruffridge (R) | 1,450 | 60.17% |
| Ron Gillham (R) | 960 | 39.83% |
| Total | 2,410 | 100% |
House District 8 (Northern Kenai Peninsula)
After the first round of votes were reported, just 23 votes separated candidates Bill Elam and John Hillyer. By the end of the evening, though, Hillyer pulled ahead. Both candidates are new to state politics, and are running as Republicans to fill the state House seat that covers the northern Kenai Peninsula.
With all precincts reporting, Hillyer carries a slight lead over Elam. Hillyer received about 50.8% of the more than 3,500 votes cast. That’s compared to Elam, who received about 49.2% of votes.
| John Hillyer (R) | 1,521 | 50.78% |
| Bill Elam (R) | 1,474 | 49.22% |
| Total | 2,995 | 100% |
District 6 (Southern Kenai Peninsula)
Incumbent Republican Rep. Sarah Vance leads in the race for the district that covers the southern Kenai Peninsula. With all precincts reporting, Vance has 1,829, or about 42.9%, of the nearly 4,300 votes cast.
The next highest vote-getter is nonpartisan candidate Brent Johnson, who received about 34.5% of votes cast. He's followed by nonpartisan candidate Alana Greear, who received about 16.8% of votes cast, and Republican Dawson Slaughter, who received about 5.75% of votes.
| Sarah Vance (R) | 1,829 | 42.9% |
| Brent Johnson (NP) | 1,471 | 34.51% |
| Alana Greear (NP) | 718 | 16.84% |
| Dawson Slaughter (R) | 245 | 5.75% |
| Total | 4,263 | 100% |
