Now that we’re starting up the election swing to decide not only our next President, but many other local statewide initiatives, it’s important to put into context the types of decisions that will be made in the coming years.
Who makes the decisions? Not the people getting elected. It’s the voters.
Specifically, we wanted to know which cities have the highest number of liberal voters in the Last Frontier?
In order to do so, we turned our sites on measuring how each city in Alaska with populations greater than 5,000 voted and contributed to political campaigns in the past several years. The cities with the highest percentage of voters who voted Democrat and gave the most to liberals where named the most liberal cities in the state.
If you’re wondering, Wasilla is the most conservative city in Alaska of all those we measured.
And to be clear, we didn’t form this list based on our own biases — we relied on the cold hard data. For more on how we ran the numbers, keep on reading. Then we’ll take a closer look at each of our top 10 most liberal cities in Alaska.
And if you already knew these places were liberal, check out some more reading about Alaska and the most lberal places in the country:
How we determined the most liberal cities in Alaska for 2019
We started by making a list of every city in Alaska over 5,000 people based on the 2013-2017 American Community Survey (The most recent data). That left us with 23 cities and towns.
We then measured the voting record and donation data to determine which places lean the most rightward in their allegiances by:
- Percentage Of Registered Democrats
- # Of Contributions To Democrats Per Capita
- $ Amount Contributed To Democrats Per Capita
Next, we ranked each city from 1 to 23 for each of the criteria where number one was the most liberal.
The winner, Ketchikan, is “The Most liberal City in Alaska For 2019”.
Let’s go through these liberal places, shall we?
The 10 Most liberal Places In Alaska For 2019
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Ketchikan is a city in the Ketchikan Gateway Borough, Alaska, United States, the southeasternmost city in Alaska. With a population at the 2010 census of 8,050, it is the fifth-most populous city in the state, and tenth-most populous community when census-designated places are included.
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The City and Borough of Sitka, formerly Novo-Arkhangelsk, or New Archangel under Russian rule, is a unified city-borough located on Baranof Island and the southern half of Chichagof Island in the Alexander Archipelago of the Pacific Ocean, in the U.S. state of Alaska. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,881. In terms of land area, it is the largest city-borough in the U.S., with a land area of 2,870.3 square miles and a total area of 4,811.4 square miles ; however, it is the smallest of Alaska’s boroughs. Urban Sitka, the part that is usually thought of as the “city” of Sitka, is on the west side of Baranof Island.
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Kodiak is one of seven communities and the main city on Kodiak Island, Kodiak Island Borough, in the U.S. state of Alaska. All commercial transportation between the entire island and the outside world goes through this city either via ferryboat or airline. The population was 6,130 as of the 2010 census. 2014 estimates put the population at 6,304.
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Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the U.S. state of Alaska. With an estimated 298,192 residents in 2016, it is Alaska’s most populous city and contains more than 40 percent of the state’s total population; among the 50 states, only New York has a higher percentage of residents who live in its most populous city. All together, the Anchorage metropolitan area, which combines Anchorage with the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 401,635 in 2016, which accounts for more than half of the state’s population.
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Bethel is a city located near the west coast of the U.S. state of Alaska, approximately 400 miles west of Anchorage, in the Bethel Census Area. Accessible only by air and river, Bethel is the main port on the Kuskokwim River and is an administrative and transportation hub for the 56 villages in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
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The City and Borough of Juneau, commonly known as Juneau, is the capital city of Alaska. It is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel in the Alaskan panhandle, and it is the second largest city in the United States by area. Juneau has been the capital of Alaska since 1906, when the government of what was then the District of Alaska was moved from Sitka as dictated by the U.S. Congress in 1900. The municipality unified on July 1, 1970, when the city of Juneau merged with the city of Douglas and the surrounding Greater Juneau Borough to form the current municipality, which is larger by area than both Rhode Island and Delaware.
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Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska.
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Population: 6,155
Percent Democrat: 32.1%
$ Democrat Amount Per Capita: $27.4
# Democrat Contributions Per Capita: 0.41
More on Chena Ridge: Data
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Population: 5,092
Percent Democrat: 32.1%
$ Democrat Amount Per Capita: $41.76
# Democrat Contributions Per Capita: 0.62
More on Farmers Loop: Data
Summing Up The Liberal Snowflakes in Alaska
Well there you have it, the places in Alaska that have the highest number of liberals per capita, with Ketchikan ranking as the least conservative in the entire state.
If you’re curious, here are the least liberal cities in Alaska:
- Wasilla
- Tanaina
- Palmer
For more Alaska reading, check out:
- 10 Best Places To Live In Alaska
- These Are The 10 Best Counties To Live In Alaska
- 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Alaska
- 10 Best Places To Raise A Family In Alaska
- These Are The 10 Best Places To Retire In Alaska
- These Are The 10 Richest Cities In Alaska
- 10 Safest Places In Alaska
- 10 Worst Places To Live In Alaska
Detailed List Of The Most Liberal Places In Alaska
| Rank | City | % Liberal |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ketchikan, AK | 60.2% |
| 2 | Sitka, AK | 44.7% |
| 3 | Kodiak, AK | 41.5% |
| 4 | Anchorage, AK | 40.2% |
| 5 | Bethel, AK | 39.4% |
| 6 | Juneau, AK | 35.1% |
| 7 | Fairbanks, AK | 32.1% |
| 8 | College, AK | 32.1% |
| 9 | Chena Ridge, AK | 32.1% |
| 10 | Farmers Loop, AK | 32.1% |
| 11 | Steele Creek, AK | 32.1% |
| 12 | Badger, AK | 32.1% |
| 13 | Homer, AK | 27.3% |
| 14 | Sterling, AK | 27.3% |
| 15 | Kenai, AK | 27.3% |
| 16 | Kalifornsky, AK | 27.3% |
| 17 | Meadow Lakes, AK | 20.2% |
| 18 | Gateway, AK | 20.2% |
| 19 | Lakes, AK | 20.2% |
| 20 | Fishhook, AK | 20.2% |
| 21 | Palmer, AK | 20.2% |
| 22 | Tanaina, AK | 20.2% |
| 23 | Wasilla, AK | 20.2% |