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{{Infobox political party
| name             = Alaska Democratic Party
| national         = [[Democratic Party (United States)| Democratic Party]]
| logo             = File:Alaska Democratic Party logo 2024.svg
| colorcode        = #77CCC9
| headquarters     = PO Box 240207, <br> [[Anchorage, Alaska]] 99524
| leader1_title    = Chairperson
| leader1_name     = [[Mike Wenstrup]]
| leader2_title    = House Leader
| leader2_name     = [[Calvin Schrage]] ([[Independent politician|Independent]], Minority Caucus)
| leader3_title    = Senate Leader
| leader3_name     = N/A (Bipartisan Coalition)
| membership_year  = 2024
| membership       = {{decrease}}73,963<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.elections.alaska.gov/research/statistics/#vrstats|title=Alaska Division of Elections}}</ref>
| ideology         = [[Modern liberalism in the United States|Modern liberalism]]
| colors           = {{color box|#77CCC9|border=darkgray}} [[Blue]]
| seats1_title     = Seats in the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]]
| seats1           = {{Composition bar|0|2|hex=#77CCC9}}
| seats2_title     = Seats in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]]
| seats2           = {{Composition bar|0|1|hex=#77CCC9}}
| seats3_title     = [[Government of Alaska#Executive|Statewide Executive Offices]]
| seats3           = {{Composition bar|0|2|hex=#77CCC9}}
| seats4_title     = Seats in the [[Alaska Senate|State Senate]]
| seats4           = {{Composition bar|9|20|hex=#77CCC9|ref={{efn|name=AKsenate|9 Democrats are part of a [[grand coalition]] with 8 Republicans.}}}}
| seats5_title     = Seats in the [[Alaska House of Representatives|State House of Representatives]]
| seats5           = {{Composition bar|14|40|hex=#77CCC9|ref={{efn|name=AKhouse|14 Democrats are part of a [[grand coalition]] with 2 Republicans and 5 [[Independent politician|Independents]].}}}}
| website          = [http://www.alaskademocrats.org www.alaskademocrats.org]
| country          = Alaska
| symbol           = [[File:Democratic Disc.svg|100px]]
}}
 
The '''Alaska Democratic Party''' is the affiliate of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] in [[Alaska]], headquartered in [[Anchorage, Alaska|Anchorage]].

It is one of two major parties in Alaska, alongside the [[Alaska Republican Party]]. The Democratic Party holds the [[Alaska Senate]] in a coalition government.{{efn|name=AKsenate}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Partisan_composition_of_state_houses|title=Partisan composition of state houses|website=Ballotpedia}}</ref> As of 2020, there are over 75,000 registered members of the Alaska Democratic Party.<ref name="alaskademocrats.org">{{Cite web |url=http://www.alaskademocrats.org/what-we-do-1 |title=Alaska Democrats - What We Do |access-date=2020-02-20}}</ref>

==History==
In 1949, the Young Democrats of Alaska was established as a group.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.akyoungdems.org/#!akyd-history/c1i4h |title=Akyd |access-date=2015-10-24 |archive-date=2016-01-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113103300/http://www.akyoungdems.org/#!akyd-history/c1i4h |url-status=usurped }}</ref> Except in U.S. presidential elections, the Alaska Democratic Party was very successful in the early days of statehood and the late territory days (pre-1959), featuring such characters as territorial governor and later national senator [[Ernest Gruening]].  Gruening was one of only two senators to vote against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, which authorized an expansion of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.  [[Bob Bartlett]], also a Democrat, and erstwhile secretary of the territory, was the first senator from Alaska, and remained a senator until his death in 1968. [[William A. Egan]], also of the Alaska Democratic Party, was elected the first governor of the State of Alaska. Until the election of governor Bill Walker, he was the only governor of Alaska of either party to have been born in Alaska. In the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House]] meanwhile, Democrat [[Ralph Julian Rivers|Ralph J. Rivers]] was the state's first representative from statehood until 1967.

In the aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King, [[Ted Kennedy]], representing Senator Robert Kennedy (of New York), in the presence of Senator Gruening, gave a historic speech on the island-community of [[Sitka, Alaska]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tedkennedy.org/ownwords/speech/senator_kennedy_talks_to_the_alaska_democratic_party_about_civil_rights/|title=Senator Kennedy talks to the Alaska Democratic Party about civil rights|access-date=2015-10-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070845/http://tedkennedy.org/ownwords/speech/senator_kennedy_talks_to_the_alaska_democratic_party_about_civil_rights/|archive-date=2016-03-04|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vilda.alaska.edu/digital/collection/cdmg2/id/7088|title=AMRC. Steve McCutcheon Collection|website=vilda.alaska.edu}}</ref> Democrat [[Mike Gravel]] was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1968 and served for two terms until his defeat in the Democratic primary in 1980 (Republicans ultimately picked up the seat in the general). By the end of 1973, Gravel was the only Alaska Democrat remaining in federal office, as the state's [[Alaska's at-large congressional district|House seat]] and other Senate seat had switched hands to Republicans. After Gravel left office, Democrats would not hold any seats in Alaska's congressional delegation again for almost three decades.

===Notable U.S. House elections===
On October 16, 1972, Alaska's incumbent Democratic congressman [[Nick Begich Sr.|Nick Begich]] went missing in a plane crash along with [[House Majority Leader]] [[Hale Boggs]] en route to [[Juneau, Alaska|Juneau]] from [[Anchorage, Alaska|Anchorage]]. In spite of this, three weeks later, Begich [[1972 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska|won re-election]] to his seat. However, he was later declared dead on December 29 of that year after an intensive search effort.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://medium.com/@robinbarefield76/the-mysterious-disappearance-of-cessna-n1812h-8e19dd5cb3ee|title=The Mysterious disappearance of Cessna N1812H|date=15 August 2019|access-date=2019-09-26|language=en}}</ref> Neither Begich's body nor the plane he flew on were ever found. 

In a [[1973 Alaska's at-large congressional district special election|special election]] held shortly thereafter in 1973, Republican [[Don Young]] (who had previously lost to the late Begich) won election to the seat and held it until his death while in office in 2022. In the [[2022 Alaska's at-large congressional district special election|special election]] held after Young's death, Democrat [[Mary Peltola]] won Alaska's at-large congressional seat, flipping the seat to Democrats for the first time in almost 50 years.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gedeon |first=Joseph |date=August 31, 2022 |title=Democrat Peltola beats Palin in Alaska special election upset |url=https://www.politico.com/news/2022/08/31/democrat-peltola-beats-palin-in-alaska-special-election-upset-00054428 |access-date=September 1, 2022 |website=[[POLITICO]] |language=en}}</ref> Peltola would be [[2022 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska|elected]] a full term in November of that year.

===Other recent history===
The most recent Democrat to serve as [[Governor of Alaska]] was [[Tony Knowles (politician)|Tony Knowles]], who served from 1994 to 2002, while the most recent Democrat to hold statewide executive office in Alaska was [[Byron Mallott]], who served as Lieutenant Governor under [[Independent politician|independent]] governor [[Bill Walker (American politician)|Bill Walker]] from 2014 until his resignation in 2018 after a scandal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mustreadalaska.com/the-plot-thickens-on-mallott-resignation/|title=The plot thickens on Mallott resignation|website=mustreadalaska.com|date=18 October 2018|language=en|access-date=2019-09-26}}</ref>

Democrat [[Barack Obama]] won the [[Alaska Democratic caucuses, 2008|2008 Democratic caucuses]] in Alaska by a margin of more than three to one over Hillary Clinton, a higher percentage than any state except Idaho. He then received 37.89 percent of the total statewide vote in the [[2008 United States presidential election in Alaska|general election]], losing the state to Republican [[John McCain]], who had selected then-Alaska Governor [[Sarah Palin]] as his vice-presidential running mate. In the same election year, Democrat [[Mark Begich]] narrowly won [[2008 United States Senate election in Alaska|election]] to the U.S. Senate over longtime Republican incumbent [[Ted Stevens]]. Begich [[2014 United States Senate election in Alaska|lost re-election]] in 2014,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/dan-sullivan-wins-alaska-senate-2014-112810.html|title=AP: Sullivan beats Begich in Alaska|work=POLITICO}}</ref> the same year that Democratic-endorsed independent [[Bill Walker (American politician)|Bill Walker]] [[2014 Alaska gubernatorial election|defeated]] incumbent Republican [[Sean Parnell]] for Governor.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/11/19/a-bipartisan-unity-ticket-actually-won-this-year-thats-rare/|title=A bipartisan 'unity ticket' actually won this year. That's rare.|author=Jaime Fuller|date=19 November 2014|newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref>

In [[2012 United States presidential election in Alaska|2012]], President Obama lost the state to Republican [[Mitt Romney]] but increased his percentage of the statewide vote to 40.81%. This was later used as evidence in a high-profile New York Times article detailing the complexity of Alaska politics and the difficulty in predicting the electability of Democrats in the state.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/21/upshot/alaska-might-be-more-friendly-to-democrats-than-it-appears.html|title=Alaska Might Be More Friendly to Democrats Than It Appears|date=21 August 2014|work=The New York Times}}</ref> In [[2016 United States presidential election in Alaska|2016]], Republican presidential candidate [[Donald Trump]] carried the state by around fifteen percentage points over [[Hillary Clinton]]. No Democrat has carried Alaska in presidential elections since [[1964 United States presidential election in Alaska|1964]] when [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] had his landslide victory over [[Barry Goldwater]].

Following the [[2022 Alaska Senate election|2022 Alaska Senate elections]], nine Democrats joined with eight Republicans to form a majority caucus and split several senate posts between them.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-11-26 |title=Alaska Democrats, Republicans form coalition Senate majority |url=https://apnews.com/article/alaska-anchorage-kodiak-gary-stevens-bert-stedman-9fd236cde1085a9fad4f5a52e123082a |access-date=2023-04-22 |website=AP NEWS |language=en}}</ref>

==Party organization==

===Party leadership===
The leadership of the Alaska Democratic Party consists of the following individuals:<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.alaskademocrats.org/our-leadership|access-date=2021-08-07|title=Our Leadership}}</ref>
*Chair - Eric Croft<ref>https://alaskademocrats.org/meet-the-staff/</ref> 
*Vice Chair - Jessica Cook
*Secretary - Katherine Pfeiffer
*Treasurer - Monica Southworth
*National Committeewoman   -     Brenda Knapp
*National Committeeman     -     [[Charles Degnan]]

===Party functions===
The Alaska Democratic Party performs many functions, all with the aim of helping Democrats to win elected office within the state.

These functions include:<ref name="alaskademocrats.org"/>
*The organization and recruitment of citizens to go door to door for the party and promote the party issues and candidates.
*The coordination of statewide campaigns for the general election every two years.
*Working to get articles into newspapers, letters to the editors written, and callers on talk radio stations.
*Operating the official Alaska Democratic Party website.
*Sending out email announcements to Democrats regarding party activities.
*Operating a state Voter File.

==Current elected officials==

===Members of Congress===
====U.S. Senate====
*None

====U.S. House of Representatives====
*None

== Election results ==

=== Presidential ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+Alaska Democratic Party presidential election results
!Election
!Presidential Ticket
!Votes
!Vote %
!Electoral votes
!Result
|-
|'''[[1960 United States presidential election in Alaska|1960]]'''
|[[John F. Kennedy]]/[[Lyndon B. Johnson]]
|29,809
|49.06%
|{{Composition bar|0|3|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}}}
|{{Won}}
|-
|'''[[1964 United States presidential election in Alaska|1964]]'''
|[[Lyndon B. Johnson]]/[[Hubert Humphrey]]
|44,329
|65.91%
|{{Composition bar|3|3|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}}}
|{{Won}}
|-
|'''[[1968 United States presidential election in Alaska|1968]]'''
|[[Hubert Humphrey]]/[[Edmund Muskie]]
|35,411
|42.65%
|{{Composition bar|0|3|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}}}
|{{Lost}}
|-
|'''[[1972 United States presidential election in Alaska|1972]]'''
|[[George McGovern]]/[[Sargent Shriver]]
|32,967
|34.61%
|{{Composition bar|0|3|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}}}
|{{Lost}}
|-
|'''[[1976 United States presidential election in Alaska|1976]]'''
|[[Jimmy Carter]]/[[Walter Mondale]]
|44,058
|35.65%
|{{Composition bar|0|3|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}}}
|{{Won}}
|-
|'''[[1980 United States presidential election in Alaska|1980]]'''
|[[Jimmy Carter]]/[[Walter Mondale]]
|41,842
|26.41%
|{{Composition bar|0|3|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}}}
|{{Lost}}
|-
|'''[[1984 United States presidential election in Alaska|1984]]'''
|[[Walter Mondale]]/[[Geraldine Ferraro]]
|62,007
|29.87%
|{{Composition bar|0|3|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}}}
|{{Lost}}
|-
|'''[[1988 United States presidential election in Alaska|1988]]'''
|[[Michael Dukakis]]/[[Lloyd Bentsen]]
|72,584
|36.27%
|{{Composition bar|0|3|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}}}
|{{Lost}}
|-
|'''[[1992 United States presidential election in Alaska|1992]]'''
|[[Bill Clinton]]/[[Al Gore]]
|78,294
|30.29%
|{{Composition bar|0|3|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}}}
|{{Won}}
|-
|'''[[1996 United States presidential election in Alaska|1996]]'''
|[[Bill Clinton]]/[[Al Gore]]
|80,380
|33.27%
|{{Composition bar|0|3|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}}}
|{{Won}}
|-
|'''[[2000 United States presidential election in Alaska|2000]]'''
|[[Al Gore]]/[[Joe Lieberman]]
|69
|27.67%
|{{Composition bar|0|3|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}}}
|{{Lost}}
|-
|'''[[2004 United States presidential election in Alaska|2004]]'''
|[[John Kerry]]/[[John Edwards]]
|111,025
|35.52%
|{{Composition bar|0|3|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}}}
|{{Lost}}
|-
|'''[[2008 United States presidential election in Alaska|2008]]'''
|[[Barack Obama]]/[[Joe Biden]]
|123,594
|37.89%
|{{Composition bar|0|3|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}}}
|{{Won}}
|-
|'''[[2012 United States presidential election in Alaska|2012]]'''
|[[Barack Obama]]/[[Joe Biden]]
|122,640
|40.81%
|{{Composition bar|0|3|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}}}
|{{Won}}
|-
|'''[[2016 United States presidential election in Alaska|2016]]'''
|[[Hillary Clinton]]/[[Tim Kaine]]
|116,454
|36.55%
|{{Composition bar|0|3|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}}}
|{{Lost}}
|-
|'''[[2020 United States presidential election in Alaska|2020]]'''
|[[Joe Biden]]/[[Kamala Harris]]
|153,778
|42.77%
|{{Composition bar|0|3|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}}}
|{{Won}}
|-
|'''[[2024 United States presidential election in Alaska|2024]]'''
|[[Kamala Harris]]/[[Tim Walz]]
|140,026
|41.41%
|{{Composition bar|0|3|{{party color|Democratic Party (US)}}}}
|{{Lost}}
|}

=== Gubernatorial ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+Alaska Democratic Party gubernatorial election results
!Election
!Gubernatorial ticket
!Votes
!Vote %
!Result
|-
|'''[[1958 Alaska gubernatorial election|1958]]'''
|[[William A. Egan]]/[[Hugh Wade]]
|29,189
|59.61%
|'''Won''' {{Y}}
|-
|'''[[1962 Alaska gubernatorial election|1962]]'''
|[[William A. Egan]]/[[Hugh Wade]]
|29,627
|52.27%
|'''Won''' {{Y}}
|-
|'''[[1966 Alaska gubernatorial election|1966]]'''
|[[William A. Egan]]/[[Hugh Wade]]
|32,065
|48.37%
|'''Lost''' {{N}}
|-
|'''[[1970 Alaska gubernatorial election|1970]]'''
|[[William A. Egan]]/[[H. A. Boucher|Red Boucher]]
|42,309
|52.38%
|'''Won''' {{Y}}
|-
|'''[[1974 Alaska gubernatorial election|1974]]'''
|[[William A. Egan]]/[[H. A. Boucher|Red Boucher]]
|45,553
|47.37%
|'''Lost''' {{N}}
|-
|'''[[1978 Alaska gubernatorial election|1978]]'''
|[[Chancy Croft]]/[[Katie Hurley]]
|25,656
|20.22%
|'''Lost''' {{N}}
|-
|'''[[1982 Alaska gubernatorial election|1982]]'''
|[[Bill Sheffield]]/[[Steve McAlpine]]
|89,918
|46.12%
|'''Won''' {{Y}}
|-
|'''[[1986 Alaska gubernatorial election|1986]]'''
|[[Steve Cowper]]/[[Steve McAlpine]]
|84,943
|47.31%
|'''Won''' {{Y}}
|-
|'''[[1990 Alaska gubernatorial election|1990]]'''
|[[Tony Knowles (politician)|Tony Knowles]]/[[Willie Hensley]]
|60,201
|30.91%
|'''Lost''' {{N}}
|-
|'''[[1994 Alaska gubernatorial election|1994]]'''
|[[Tony Knowles (politician)|Tony Knowles]]/[[Fran Ulmer]]
|87,693
|41.08%
|'''Won''' {{Y}}
|-
|'''[[1998 Alaska gubernatorial election|1998]]'''
|[[Tony Knowles (politician)|Tony Knowles]]/[[Fran Ulmer]]
|112,879
|51.27%
|'''Won''' {{Y}}
|-
|'''[[2002 Alaska gubernatorial election|2002]]'''
|[[Fran Ulmer]]/Ernie Hall
|94,216
|40.70%
|'''Lost''' {{N}}
|-
|'''[[2006 Alaska gubernatorial election|2006]]'''
|[[Tony Knowles (politician)|Tony Knowles]]/[[Ethan Berkowitz]]
|97,238
|40.97%
|'''Lost''' {{N}}
|-
|'''[[2010 Alaska gubernatorial election|2010]]'''
|[[Ethan Berkowitz]]/[[Diane E. Benson]]
|96,519
|37.67%
|'''Lost''' {{N}}
|-
|'''[[2014 Alaska gubernatorial election|2014]]'''
|''Endorsed [[Bill Walker (American politician)|Bill Walker]]/[[Byron Mallott]] ([[Independent politician|Independents]])''
|N/A
|N/A
|'''Did not run'''
|-
|'''[[2018 Alaska gubernatorial election|2018]]'''
|[[Mark Begich]]/Debra Call
|125,739
|44.41%
|'''Lost''' {{N}}
|-
|'''[[2022 Alaska gubernatorial election|2022]]'''
|[[Les Gara]]/Jessica Cook
|63,851
|24.21%
|'''Lost''' {{N}}
|}

==See also==
*[[Political party strength in Alaska]]
* [[List of state parties of the Democratic Party (United States)]]
*  [[2020 Alaska Democratic primary]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Official website|http://www.alaskademocrats.org/}}

{{U.S. Democratic Party state parties}}
{{AlaskaPoliticalParties}}
{{Portalbar|Alaska}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Alaska Democratic Party| ]]
[[Category:Democratic Party (United States) by state]]
[[Category:Political parties in Alaska|Democratic]]