Juneau is normally a Democratic stronghold, but when it comes to this year’s race for governor, it is a town divided.<\/p>\n
With days remaining until the deadline for a candidate to withdraw from a race, dozens of Democratic supporters in Juneau have signed a petition<\/a> urging their party’s candidate, Mark Begich, to withdraw from the race.<\/p>\n They are among 700 people, including some sitting lawmakers, who have signed the petition.<\/p>\n “I think the Democratic Party and those who are affiliated with it … are quite divided,” said former Juneau mayor Bruce Botelho, one of the people who signed the petition.<\/p>\n This year, instead of supporting the Democratic Party’s candidate, Botelho has signed up as a regional co-chair for the re-election of independent Gov. Bill Walker.<\/p>\n He’s not alone: Walker signs dot lawns across the capital city, and fundraisers for the governor have taken place in the homes of families who traditionally vote for Democratic candidates.<\/p>\n Kim Metcalfe has seen the division closer than most. She used to lead the Tongass Democrats, the Democratic organization for Juneau. Now, she’s director of Begich for Alaska<\/a>, an independent expenditure group intended to support Begich’s run for governor.<\/p>\n “You’re going to start to see things, I think, start to swing in favor of Begich,” she said.<\/p>\n She supports the Democratic candidate even though members of her own family have signed the petition.<\/p>\n “That petition, I don’t know how much good that does anybody,” she said.<\/p>\n “I think it’s kind of juvenile.”<\/p>\n In House District 33, which covers Haines, Skagway, Douglas and downtown Juneau, 23 percent of registered voters are registered as Democrats. That’s a higher proportion than any other district in Alaska.<\/p>\n Statewide, there are just under 75,000 registered Democrats in Alaska. There are more than 140,000 registered Republicans. In order to win statewide office, a Democrat needs to win over a significant fraction of the state’s nonpartisan and undeclared voters while holding on to their base.<\/p>\n Begich did that in 2008, when he was elected to the U.S. Senate over longtime incumbent Ted Stevens. (There were other factors in play as well. Stevens was convicted in a criminal trial just before the election, only to see the convictions subsequently reversed<\/a>.)<\/p>\n This time around, Democrats are divided for two main reasons.<\/p>\n In 2014, Walker joined Democratic gubernatorial candidate Byron Mallott in a “unity ticket” for governor.<\/p>\n Mallott became lieutenant governor, and he brought many Democrats into the new administration.<\/p>\n “The Juneau Democrats, overall, I think adopted well to the unity ticket in 2014 and would like to see a continuation of the efforts reflected in that unity ticket,” Botelho said.<\/p>\n The second factor is that many Democratic voters are thinking strategically in the general election.<\/p>\n Polls throughout the summer have indicated that a three-way race among Begich, Walker and Republican Mike Dunleavy will result in the election of Dunleavy.<\/p>\n In early July, when the first of those polls was released to the public, Begich traveled to Juneau<\/a> and said Walker’s performance in the polls was declining and Dunleavy’s was stagnant.<\/p>\n