More than half of voters in the 2022 midterm primaries split their tickets between candidates from across the political spectrum.

In 2022, Alaska voters for the first time used nonpartisan open primaries to choose candidates for the general election. Every voter, regardless of political registration, received the same ballot. And every ballot listed every candidate in every race.

In this style of primary, voters could support a mix of Republicans, Democrats, independents, and third-party candidates, or they could vote along party lines. Our analysis of 2022 primary election data found slightly more than half of Alaska's 192,061 voters opted to split their tickets in the races for US Senate, US House, governor, and state legislative offices.

The combinations of candidates spanned the political spectrum, which was unsurprising given that Alaska has the highest percentage of independent voters in the nation. The cast vote record from the Alaska Division of Elections shows what combination of candidates each Alaska primary voter chose. From this data, we cross-referenced candidates' self-described political affiliations to determine how many Alaskans split their ticket between candidates of different parties.

One of the more popular multipartisan combos, chosen by 24,350 voters, was an independent gubernatorial candidate, a Republican for US Senate, and a Democrat for US House. Less conventional combinations also surfaced. For instance, 5,606 Alaskans voted for Republicans in the three statewide races and chose at least one Democrat to serve in the legislature.

And very small numbers of voters simultaneously supported conservative and progressive candidates whose platforms appear to have little overlap. The debut in August 2022 of nonpartisan open primaries brought voters unaffiliated with either party closer to squaring their numbers with their political clout. Lawmakers from the two major parties dominate Alaska's political scene, yet only 37 percent of registered voters in the 2022 primary belonged to the Democratic or Republican parties.

Nearly two-thirds of Alaska voters were (and continue to be) independents, a combination of nonpartisan and undeclared voters. The chance to express independent political preferences is a defining feature of Alaska's open primary system. All Alaskans, whether party-registered or not, are free to look beyond party when deciding which candidates they want to see in the general election.

ALASKA'S PRIMARY ELECTION RULES HAVE A HISTORY OF CHANGE

Since statehood, Alaska has vacillated between so-called "blanket" primaries and semi-closed primaries. From 2004-2020, the two major parties settled into a pattern for organizing their primaries. Republicans held semi-closed primaries, meaning only Republican and independent voters could participate, but not Democrats. Democrats and third parties offered a combined ballot open to all registered voters. In Alaska's 2022 nonpartisan open primaries, though, all candidates appeared on a single ballot available to all voters, regardless of party.

Allowing all voters the chance to vet all candidates in a state-funded election made sense. Voters could pick one candidate per race to advance to the general election. The top four vote-getters in each race then moved on to the ranked choice general election. The open primaries apply to races for governor, US Senate, US House, and both chambers of the Alaska legislature. They do not apply to the presidential primaries, which are funded by political parties.

Notably, 49 percent of all voters chose a Republican in at least one race and a candidate of a different party in another contest. The old Republican primary rules forced voters to choose from a menu of Republican candidates only, making such combinations impossible.

When given the chance to choose candidates freely, tens of thousands of Alaska primary voters did just that.

A MAJORITY OF ALASKA'S PRIMARY VOTERS CHOSE A MIX OF CANDIDATES FROM DIFFERENT PARTIES

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