Girdwood Votes 70% Blue on Election Day

District Slightly Favored Harris

By Soren Wuerth

TNews Editor

Girdwood's voters chose Kamala Harris over Donald Trump, 70% to 22%, in the Nov. 5 election with 830 people showing up at the community center to fill in ballots. 

The election district containing Girdwood and Indian and which includes Anchorage's hillside and Whitter, District 9, also gave Harris the nod, but only by a fraction, 49.3% to 47.1%. 

Girdwood's total vote, including absentee and early voting ballots, is not included on the state Division of Elections' website, but the community typically votes heavily in favor of Democrats. 

In Girdwood, more votes in the U.S. House race fell to Mary Peltola, 75.4%, than to Nic Begich, 21.3%, though Begich would end up winning the total state vote.

Almost 600 Girdwoodians voted for Ballot Measure 1, which increases the state's minimum wage, then rejected it (208) and voters chose to reject a repeal of rank-choice voting 607-189.

Both measures would eventually go Girdwood's way in statewide totals.

And Girdwood helped bring independent Ky Holland to office. He beat Republican Lucy Bauer in a local Election Day vote of 609 to 176. Holland went on to win District 9 by just over 1,000 votes, 6,079 to 5091. 

Seventy-two percent of registered District 9 voters turned out for the election, a turnout that is among the highest of any district in the state.

The municipality of Anchorage also leaned blue, with Harris winning there with a one-point lead. 

Statewide results will be finalized at the end of the month.