State House incumbent Dave Talerico bested political new-comer Ryan Smith in the interior House District 6 Republican primary. Few differences divided the two candidates, who say they’ve become friends.
House District 6 sprawls across the state, encompassing Healy, Yukon Flat villages, Tok and the Richardson Highway, among other communities. Both Republican candidates call the western sector of the district home. Dave Talerico is the former mayor of Healy and the incumbent for the district. Challenger Ryan Smith is an advisor for engineering student at University of Alaska Fairbanks.
With all the precincts counted Talerico handily defeated Smith Tuesday night, by a nearly 200 vote advantage. Smith was not surprised by the vote though he wishes the contest would have drawn out more voters. Only 6.5% of registered voters cast ballots in the race.
“That’s a dismal percentage of voter,” Smith said. “Hopefully they show up in the general in November.”
Smith says he’s not upset by his loss. He calls Talerico a good guy. He was spurred to run by the state’s fiscal crises. He urges Talerico to seek out oil industry advisors to tap the industry as way to bridge the fiscal gap.
Talerico says he understands Smith’s position but he says he’ll push for precision cuts in the budget, not broad swipes.
“I think maybe the toughest part for everybody is to prioritize what services we need to provide and at level we need to deliver those at,” Talerico said.
Talerico for his parts returns Smith’s kind regards. He says he’s made a friend in him during the primary.
In the general election Talerico faces Democratic candidate Jason Land from Salcha. Justin Pratt of Salcha has filed to run as an independent candidate.
