Attacks on relatively unknown GOP candidate for Alaska’s U.S. House seat could shape primary results

Ads criticizing a relatively unknown GOP candidate for Alaska’s U.S. House seat could change the dynamics of the competitive race after the primary later this month.

Gerald Heikes, a Palmer resident and perennial candidate for public office in Alaska, has no money to spend on building a campaign website or advertising his positions. But a Democrat-backed group is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars highlighting Heikes’ anti-abortion stance in a quest to bolster Democratic incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola’s chances at reelection.

Alaska’s U.S. House seat is one of a handful that is seen as winnable by both Democrats and Republicans, and could be pivotal in determining control of the U.S. House in November. But Alaska’s new voting system could complicate the GOP’s strategy in retaking a seat previously held by Republican Rep. Don Young for nearly 50 years.

Under Alaska’s voting system, the top four vote-getters in the nonpartisan Aug. 20 primary, regardless of party affiliation, will advance to the general election.

The top three vote-getters are almost guaranteed to include Democratic incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola, Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom and Republican Nick Begich III. The list of options to fill the fourth spot on the general election ballot includes nine individuals who have not reported any significant fundraising and whose campaigns have not garnered any significant attention.

Dahlstrom and Begich have so far touted different strategies in their dueling campaigning. Dahlstrom has endorsements from key GOP leaders, including former President Donald Trump and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson. Begich, meanwhile, has secured endorsements from several local GOP groups, and vowed to drop out of the race if he finishes behind Dahlstrom in the primary. Dahlstrom has said she does not plan to drop out regardless of the outcome in the primary.

But another GOP candidate finishing in the top four could mean that regardless of Begich’s actions, Alaskans will see more than one candidate with an “R” next to their name in November.

An independent group called Vote Alaska Before Party began late last month spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to attack Peltola’s opponents. The spending, according to reports to the Federal Election Commission, has reached nearly $1 million, divided between attacking Dahlstrom, Begich and Heikes.

Heikes, who has reported no fundraising of his own, stands only to gain name recognition from the attack ads, which emphasize his staunch opposition to abortion access.

Political observers point out that the independent group running the ads, which is backed by Democrats, could be attempting to skew the general election ballot in Peltola’s favor by ensuring that the Republican vote is split three ways.

Dahlstrom campaign spokesman Houston Keene said in a statement that the ads were “dirty tricks.”

But the Anchorage-based political consultant running the group, Jim Lottsfeldt, said it’s a matter of pointing out that Heikes, like Dahlstrom and Begich, opposes abortion access.

“There’s so much of parties trying to play in their opposite party’s primaries lately that everyone’s sort of looking for this, ‘Oh, what sort of mouse trap are they building here?’ And sometimes it’s just more simple than that. It’s just the Republicans want to ban abortion, folks. You’re not safe. You better be aware that this is an issue and you better vote to protect your personal freedoms,” said Lottsfeldt.

In an interview last week, Heikes said that he first entered the 2006 gubernatorial race because he was called by God to do so. Heikes, who also serves as a minister in an Anchorage church, has run numerous times for governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House. Each time, he has garnered between a few hundred and a few thousand votes. Heikes calls himself a “constitutional Christian conservative.”

Heikes has not watched the attack ads run by the political action committee, because he said he swore off television several weeks before the primary election. But he was undeterred by the possibility that the ads were meant to further split the Republican vote, saying in an interview on Thursday that he planned to remain in the race no matter the outcome of the primary.

“I’m not going to back out,” he said.

In the interview, Heikes doubled down on his position on abortion. He said he thinks there should “absolutely” be a nationwide ban on abortions, including in cases of rape and incest.

In Alaska, the right to abortion is protected under the state’s constitutional right to privacy. Peltola, like other Democrats across the country, has made protecting that right a key tenet of her campaign. Both Begich and Dahlstrom have said they are opposed to abortion but that the issue should be left up to individual states. Begich has also said he is opposed to making mifepristone, a drug used in medication abortions, available at pharmacies.

Heikes said that Dahlstrom had told him she supported continued abortion access in cases of rape and incest.

Heikes also said that in the November election, when Alaskans will have the opportunity to rank multiple candidates, he intends to vote only for a single candidate.

“I don’t rank anybody. It’s a one-shot deal,” said Heikes.

Alaska first began using ranked choice voting in 2022, and is set to again use the voting method in November. Under that system, Alaskans can rank up to four candidates per race, allowing for an instant runoff if the top vote-getter receives less than 50% of the vote.

Republican voters’ aversion to ranking more than a single candidate played a part in Peltola’s 2022 victory. That year, Peltola faced two GOP challengers, Begich and former Gov. Sarah Palin. Begich and Palin spent much of the weeks leading up to the election criticizing each other and the voting system, culminating in Peltola’s victory.

This year, the Alaska Republican Party has vowed not to repeat the mistake, instead encouraging voters to “rank the red.” Alaska GOP Chair Carmela Warfield did not respond to an interview request on Thursday.

Begich reiterated Thursday that he plans to drop out of the race if he finishes behind Dahlstrom in the primary election. But even if he does — the November ballot could still include more than one Republican candidate.

“Ranked choices changed things, because before it was a system that really only had one utility, which allowed the most conservative Republicans to pick someone from their primary to be their standard bearer,” said Lottsfeldt. “Now that we have ranked choice voting, and it’s the four most popular candidates going forward.”