The Ketchikan Gateway Borough, located in Alaska County, is a vibrant and diverse community. Politically, the borough is served by the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly, a seven-member body that is responsible for setting policy and overseeing the borough's budget. The assembly members are elected by the residents of the borough every two years. The current mayor of Ketchikan Gateway Borough is Mike Salazar, who was elected to his second term in 2020. Additionally, there are other local political figures that work closely with the mayor and assembly to ensure that the borough's needs are met. These include representatives from various special interest groups, such as environmental organizations, business leaders, labor unions, and social service providers. All of these individuals help shape the policies and ideas that will best serve the people of Ketchikan Gateway Borough for years to come.
The political climate in Ketchikan Gateway Borough County, AK is somewhat conservative.
In Ketchikan Gateway Borough County, AK 40.7% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 54.8% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 4.5% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Ketchikan Gateway Borough flipped strongly Republican, 54.8% to 40.7%.
Ketchikan Gateway flipped Republican in 2020, after voting Democratic in 2016 and 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Ketchikan Gateway Borough County, AK is somewhat conservative.
Ketchikan Metro Area is somewhat conservative.
Alaska is somewhat conservative.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index is based on recent voting in national elections, federal campaign contributions by local residents, and consumer personality profiles.
VoteWord™
Displaying 20 years of Presidential voting, visualized in one word.
Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska: D R R R D R
How It Works:
Here at BestPlaces, we were looking at the voting patterns since the 2000 election and realized that we could express the results of each election as one letter. R if the Republican Party candidate won, D for the Democrat and I for the Independent. The six elections (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) would be expressed as six-letter word (R R D R R).
Then we went a little further and added the dimension of magnitude. If the difference of victory was greater than 10 percent, the letter is upper case, and lower case if the difference was less than 10 percent. This allows us to see interesting voting patterns at just a glance.
Here's the VoteWord for Iowa d r d d r. In the last six elections the state has been closely contested, voting narrowly for the Republican Party candidate in 2016 and 2020 after voting for the Democratic Party in 2008 and 2012. Virginia (r r d d d D) has voted for the Democratic Party in the last three elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in Ketchikan Gateway Borough County, AK
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 913 contributions totaling $72,253 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $79 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 189 contributions totaling $40,523 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $214 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)