The candidates
| Republicans | Democrats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Frank Murkowski
|
John Binkley
|
Sarah Palin
|
Tony Knowles
|
Eric Croft
|
About this section
In most any state or national election, the number of candidates appearing on a ballot for statewide or national office is long. Alaska's list heading into the Aug. 22 primary election is no different; it includes well-known names, lesser-known names and names few have probably heard of. It includes people who are mounting major campaigns, those who would like to but don't have or can't acquire the money to do so, and those who aren't really campaigning at all.
This year's field for governor of Alaska includes a generally accepted top tier. It is this pool of candidates that has the highest probability of containing the name of the state's governor, be it incumbent or challenger. It is this pool, therefore, that is given the greatest attention, barring any uprising from the public. So far, there appears to be no discernible uprising of support for anyone not in this pool.
Daily News-Miner editors and reporters spent 90 minutes interviewing each of these five top-tier candidates in mid-July, asking questions on a variety of issues of statewide and regional interest. Candidates came to the News-Miner and answered questions without assistance of campaign aides, though they were allowed to do so. They were also allowed to refer to any material brought with them. The interviews were tape recorded, transcribed by an outside professional service, and substantially shortened by the News-Miner to bring the candidates' answers into focus and to fit into the allotted space.
We hope you find this section helpful.