Senator Bill Wielechowski (D) vs. Bob Roses (R) in East Anchorage

Wielechowski is a union lawyer (IBEW) and a strong supporter of ACES. Roses, who served one term in the House when ACES was passed, says he knew from the start that the progressivity was going to be a problem. The state GOP hopes to knock Wielechowski out of the Senate in this race, taking out another bipartisan coalition member.

Senator Bettye Davis (D) vs. Representative Anna Fairclough (R) in East Anchorage / Eagle River

Davis lost 70 percent of her district through reapportionment. The only African-American legislator is considered a heavy underdog against former Anchorage Assembly Chair Fairclough.

Representative Berta Gardner (D) vs. Don Smith (R) in Midtown

Smith is a member of the school board, and is a former assemblyman and, long ago, state representative. He is often viewed as a conservative curmudgeon, complaining, for example, about the number of kids getting free lunches in the school district. But he also bills himself as the "father of the [municipal] tax cap," and is complaining about bloated state spending. Gardner is an intelligent liberal, whose incumbency may count in this race.

Senator Cathy Giessel (R) vs. independent Ron Devon in South Anchorage / Northern Kenai

Giessel is one of the four minority Republicans in the Senate. She has been called a "tea-bagger." She recently was attacked for comments on subsistence, which she said were taken wildly out of context. Devon, who is being staunchly supported by Democrats and Democratic-leaning interest groups, is the husband of famous/infamous Mudflats blogger Jeanne Devon.

Senator Joe Thomas (D) vs. Senator John Coghill (R) in Fairbanks / North Pole and Senator Joe Paskvan (D) vs. former Senator Pete Kelly in Fairbanks

Top House races

No one is predicting Republicans will lose their majority in the House, where they now have 22 of 40 seats, and where four rural Democrats have joined them. But the oil tax issue still resonates in those races.

Representative Mia Costello (R) vs. Michelle Scannell (D) in South Anchorage

This is by far the nastiest race in the state this year, thanks to Scannell. Before the primary, Scannell joined with Costello's Republican opponent to claim Costello had a sham address in the district and didn't really live there. That was quickly debunked. Then this fall Scannell stirred things up by saying that Costello's negotiating posture with the oil companies is "on her knees." Against much scoffing and derision, she insisted that was not a sexual reference.