1998 Alaska gubernatorial election

For related races, see 1998 United States gubernatorial elections.

The 1998 Alaska gubernatorial general election took place on November 3, 1998. The election resulted in a landslide for the Democratic incumbent, Tony Knowles, who had won the 1994 gubernatorial election by only 536 votes.^[1][2] Jim Sykes, founder of the Green Party of Alaska, ran on that party's ticket, but Desa Jacobsson later replaced him on the ballot.

1998 Alaska gubernatorial election

← 1994 November 3, 1998 2002 →

Nominee Tony Knowles Robin L. Taylor (write-in) Party Democratic Republican Running mate Fran Ulmer none Popular vote 112,879 40,209 Percentage 51.27% 18.26%   Nominee John H. Lindauer Ray Metcalfe Party Republican Republican Moderate Running mate Jerry Ward Clyde Baxley Popular vote 39,331 13,540 Percentage 17.86% 6.15%

Results by state house district Knowles:      30–40%      40–50%      50–60%      60–70%      70–80% Write-In:[a]      40–50%

Governor before election Tony Knowles Democratic Elected Governor Tony Knowles Democratic

Knowles was the first incumbent governor to attain re-election since 1978 and the last until 2022.^[3] As of 2025, this was the last time a Democrat was elected Governor of Alaska.

Republican primary

On the Republican side, three major candidates jockeyed for the nomination: businessman John Howard Lindauer, state senator Robin L. Taylor, and Wayne A. Ross. Lindauer won the open primary election, with Taylor coming in second. Ray Metcalfe, a defecting Republican who had founded the Republican Moderate Party of Alaska, also ran.

1998 Republican primary for Alaska governor^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	John Howard Lindauer	25,070	41.65
	Republican	Robin Taylor	17,679	29.37
	Republican	Wayne Ross	17,445	28.98
Total votes			60,194	100.00

Campaign

Lindauer's campaign faltered late into the race as a result of his failure to disclose that his wife, a wealthy Chicago lawyer, had financed the bulk of his campaign.^[3] As a result of this revelation, the Republicans withdrew their support of Lindauer^[2] and backed Robin Taylor, the runner-up of the Republican primary, as a write-in candidate. Due to the lateness of this change, the Republicans unsuccessfully attempted to obtain a court order to delay the election.^[5] The collapse of Lindauer's campaign resulted in a three-way split of the Republican vote between him, Taylor, and the Republican Moderate Metcalfe.

Knowles defeated Taylor, his closest opponent, by 33%, the widest margin of victory for a gubernatorial candidate in Alaska history. Moreover, if Taylor's and Lindauer's totals are added together, Knowles defeated the two Republicans combined by 16% – still the widest margin in Alaska history until 2010. This was also the first time since 1970 that any candidate won an outright majority of the vote in an Alaska gubernatorial election.

Results

1998 Alaska gubernatorial election^[6]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic	Tony Knowles (incumbent)	112,879	51.27	+10.2
	Republican Write-in	Robin L. Taylor	40,209	18.26	+18.2
	Republican	John Howard Lindauer	39,331	17.86	−22.9
	Republican Moderate	Ray Metcalfe	13,540	6.15	N/A
	Green	Desa Jacobsson	6,618	3.01	−1.1
	Independence	Sylvia Sullivan	4,238	1.92	−11.8
	Write-in	Others	3,362	1.53	+1.4
Majority			72,670	33.01	+32.7
Turnout			220,177	48.57	−14.9
	Democratic hold		Swing	+32.7

Notes

1. Since the vast majority of the write-in votes were towards Republican Robin L. Taylor, he likely won the Ketchikan district. However, the original election report does not separate the write-in votes by candidate, so it cannot be known for sure.