State Rep. Tom McKay drops out of West Anchorage Senate race

GOP state Rep. Tom McKay dropped out of the race for a West Anchorage Senate seat Friday, becoming the latest in a stream of Republicans dropping out of their respective races in which more than one member of their party was running.

McKay came in second in the primary against Democratic incumbent state Sen. Matt Claman, who commanded nearly 60% of votes. McKay had nearly 21%, compared with fellow Republican Liz Vazquez, who had more than 19%.

Under Alaska’s voting system, the top four vote-getters in the primary, regardless of party affiliation, can advance to the ranked choice general election. The majority of legislative races have four or fewer candidates. Proponents of the system have said that it gives voters more options on their ballot, while many conservative Republicans have lamented the loss of their ability to hand-pick GOP candidates in partisan primaries.

McKay currently represents House District 15. He originally intended to run again for the seat, in a race that again features a Democrat who lost to McKay by seven votes in 2022. But McKay announced in June that he would run instead for the state Senate seat held by Claman. In an interview Friday, McKay said he dropped out because he did not see a path to victory, and he expected that a head-to-head race would be more favorable to Republicans.

“I’ve been convinced that having two Republicans against one Democrat in this ranked choice voting scheme is not a good idea for our party,” McKay said.

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Proponents of ranked choice voting say that a multitude of Republican candidates in a single race could actually increase the odds of electing a Republican by boosting turnout among Republican voters — as long as Republicans consistently rank their ballots. Vazquez said she believed that could have happened in the Senate race.

“We could use ranked choice voting to our advantage,” Vazquez said. “Had Tom stayed in, I would have worked it 100% to the best of my ability. I would have really stressed to potential voters that, yes, they can vote for me first, but rank Tom second.”

But McKay was skeptical.

“I don’t necessarily agree that you can go out and convince Alaska voters to do the ranking,” he said.

Claman also said that a head-to-head race could make the race more challenging.

“If there’s a lot of support behind the one opponent, in this case of one Republican, then if they get more consolidated in their support, then I think that makes it a tougher race,” Claman said.

Vazquez previously served in the state House between 2015 and 2017, until losing a reelection bid to independent candidate Jason Grenn. Vazquez ran for state House in 2022, losing to Democratic Rep. Jennie Armstrong. Vazquez also ran unsuccessfully for the Anchorage Assembly in 2022 and 2019.

McKay said he had expected to more handily beat Vazquez in the primary. As of Friday, McKay had 94 votes more than Vazquez.

“Our results in the primary were less than what we are hoping for,” McKay said. “We were hoping that there would be a wider spread between second and third.”

McKay faced significant criticism earlier this year after backing Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of an education bill that would have permanently increased education funding for the first time in years.

Vazquez said that despite Claman’s significant lead in the primary, she thought the race could be won by a Republican. The Senate district comprises one House district represented by a Democrat, and another that is currently represented by McKay.

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