Alaskans approve all judges on judicial ballot, according to preliminary results

Nesbett Courthouse in downtown Anchorage on Oct. 7, 2024. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

Alaska voters are on course to retain all 19 judges on this year's election ballots, including Anchorage Superior Court Adolf Zeman, who had been targeted by a no-budget campaign critical of his ruling on a case pertaining to the state's correspondence schools.

With 184 of 212 precincts in the 3rd Judicial District reporting results at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday evening, 53% of voters in the district had voted "yes" to retain Zeman.

Additional absentee, early and questioned ballots will be counted through Nov. 20 and could change the tallies.

Zeman received the lowest percentage of "yes" votes among the 19 judges statewide.

The judge with the highest percentage of "yes" votes, as of late Tuesday evening, was Ketchikan District Court Judge Kristian Pickrell. With 43 of 43 precincts reporting results, Pickrell had 75% "yes" votes.

Two Alaska Supreme Court judges were subject to statewide retention votes. With 296 of 402 state-level precincts reporting results by 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, Justice Dario Borghesan received "yes" votes from 60.1% of voters. Justice Jennifer Henderson had "yes" votes from 59.4% of voters.