Cruz came out on top, but only barely, in Tuesday's Republican Presidential Preference Polls, in both the state overall and in District 37.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz claimed a victory in Alaska’s Presidential Preference Poll during Super Tuesday voting yesterday, but not by much. Cruz collected 36 percent of the votes, compared to GOP frontrunner Donald Trump’s 34 percent.
The turnout of registered Republicans in Alaska set a new record; 21,930 votes were cast, well above a previous record of 14,100.
Alaska Republican Party Chairman Peter Goldberg says enthusiasm among party members is due partly to an acute dissatisfaction with the Obama Administration.
"We're tired of the federal overreach," said Goldberg. "We're tired of the disdain Barack Obama has had for the military."
None of the major candidates made stops in Alaska ahead of the Preference Poll, but Ted Cruz was in Alaska before the 2014 election to support Dan Sullivan’s bid to unseat Mark Begich. Goldberg thinks that might’ve helped him edge out Trump among Alaska Republicans.
Republican consultant Cale Green says that while Cruz won a slight victory, both he and Trump represent a similar anti-establishment sentiment among conservative voters that was last tapped into by Joe Miller.
"Those same people who liked Joe Miller often like Cruz," explained Green. "So you look at places like the Valley, it would make sense that those people voted Cruz or Trump, because the message that both of them have is anti-establishment, which is more the resonating theme of the Mat-Su. That's a theme of part of the Kenai Peninsula Borough. And apparently Cruz did very very well in Fairbanks, which I didn't expect."
District 37 Republicans, voting at Dolly’s Hall in Naknek, picked Cruz as well, split by a margin of 4 votes or about 4 percentage points. Ben Carson placed third, Rubio fourth, and Kasich fifth in the district, which had 109 total votes cast.
Alaska is not a winner-take-all state when it comes to its primary contest.
The 28 delegates sent to the Republican National Convention in July will be divided proportionately among all candidates that received more than 13 percent of Tuesday’s vote. That means Cruz will get 12 delegates, Trump 11, and Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who took 15 percent of the state-wide vote, will receive 5.
Alaska Democrats will caucus on March 26 to weigh in on their party’s nominees.