Burke wins race to represent Alaska’s House District 40

Democrat Robyn “Niayuq” Burke won the race to represent Alaska’s House District 40, which includes North Slope and Northwest Arctic communities.

After the final ballots were counted Wednesday, Burke had 46.7% of the vote, leading Democrat Saima “Ikrik” Chase, who had 28.3%, and incumbent independent Rep. Thomas “Ikaaq” Baker, who had 24.3%. Since Burke didn’t receive more than 50% of first-choice votes, the results were finalized in the ranked choice tabulation Wednesday, which resulted in Burke winning with 60.1% while Chase had 39.9%.

In a post on social media, Burke thanked voters for believing in her and said that as a state representative, she plans to focus on education, voter access and the well-being of rural Alaska communities.

Burke is the president of the North Slope Borough School District Board of Education, and her campaign focused primarily on increasing funding for education as well as improving economic opportunities in her region and rural Alaska overall.

“To everyone who supported me, QUYANAQPAK!” she said. “Thank you for understanding the importance of our schools and the need for remote Native communities to have a seat at the table.”

In an interview Thursday, Burke said she was humbled by the amount of support she received, especially in her hometown, Utqiagvik, where she secured 75% of the vote.

“The feeling is unmatched,” she said. “I am ready to get to work and to serve our people.”

[Previously: Robyn Burke holds major lead in Alaska’s House District 40 race]

Burke congratulated Baker and Chase on running great campaigns and said all three candidates were very passionate about serving the people in the region and often agreed on what issues should be prioritized by legislators.

Chase, who came in second, congratulated Burke on her win and said she hopes the best for Burke during her tenure as a representative. Chase urged residents of District 40 to remind their state and local elected officials about their needs.

“It’s our responsibility to keep our representative informed on all the things we are facing in our district,” she said. “We have the highest cost of living of all the districts in Alaska, therefore we need to keep our representative and senator informed, especially when big decisions are on the table.”

Reflecting on the race, Chase reiterated her alarm about the amount and source of funds raised by Burke and urged residents to pay attention to fundraising numbers in future races. Burke had raised about $80,000 for her campaign with some funding from Anchorage Democrats, while Baker raised over $11,000 and Chase around $9,000, according to campaign disclosure forms.

Burke had said that Democrats paid close attention and dedicated funds to the District 40 race because it was one of the opportunities for them to pick up a seat.

Chase added that one of her challenges in campaigning was that it was difficult for her to talk about herself and her successes — something that she said doesn’t always match well with one of the Inupiaq values, humility.

“It’s deep-rooted in us to be humble and have humility, so oftentimes I found myself having a hard time campaigning,” she said. “I want to publicly thank all those who voted for me — it means a lot to me.”

With Burke winning the House District 40 seat, there will be 21 women in the Alaska House, three of them Alaska Native: Burke, who is Inupiaq; Democratic Rep. Maxine Dibert, who is Koyukon Athabascan; and Democratic Rep. Nellie “Unangik” Jimmie, who is Yup’ik, Ojibwa and Lakota.

“It’s pretty historic,” Burke said. “We have an amazing opportunity to uplift our communities and highlight the voices of our people.”

Burke also pointed out that several of the women who were elected as state representatives have served as school board presidents.

“I think education will be a priority for this legislative session,” Burke said. “There’s a lot of work to do, and I’m looking forward to getting started.”