The state Department of Labor & Workforce Development puts the seasonally adjusted rate at 6.3 percent in September, a slight decrease from August and approximately the same level of unemployment Alaska saw from 2015 through 2017.

Incumbent Gov. Mike Dunleavy is the lone Republican in the race, and independent candidate Bill Walker and Democratic candidate Les Gara are each vying for the support of Alaskans who oppose Dunleavy’s policies. Walker was governor before Dunleavy, and Gara was a longtime Democratic state legislator from Anchorage.

It’s October, yes, the pandemic is still with us, and at the same time, unfortunately, political optimizers are trying to rewrite history. We all are reading the articles filed under “coronavirus” which bear the dooming words: “The Worst Surge for Alaska Yet.”