Alaska’s U.S. House race close as early votes roll in

Republican challenger Nick Begich III was ahead of Democratic incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola in Alaska’s U.S. House race with more than 95% of precincts reporting by Wednesday afternoon. The final result likely won’t be known until Nov. 20, when Alaska’s election workers are set to tabulate results in the ranked-choice election.

Begich had 49.5% of the over 255,000 votes counted as of Wednesday. Peltola had 45.4%.

If the top vote-getter does not receive over 50% of the vote, the election will be decided in a ranked choice tabulation. Many votes from predominantly Alaska Native areas of the state, where support for Peltola is greatest, have yet to be counted.

Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat is seen as one of a small number that could be won by either a Republican or a Democrat. Millions of dollars were spent by out-of-state groups and donors to support both Begich and Peltola as the parties eyed control of the chamber.

That drove a campaign that was vastly different from the 2022 race, when both Peltola and Begich were on the ballot. But the appearance of another Republican on the 2022 ballot — former Gov. Sarah Palin — drove the two Republicans to spend much of their energy attacking each other. That allowed Peltola to cruise to victory two years ago with virtually no negative campaigning.

This year, Begich and other Alaska Republicans pressured another high-profile GOP member who was set to appear on the November ballot — Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom — to drop out of the race after the August primary. That cleared the way for a traditional Republican-on-Democrat contest that came down to weeks of nonstop attack ads.

Dahlstrom’s departure from the race, along with the departure of another top-finishing Republican, cleared the way for two unexpected congressional candidates to appear on the November ballot.

John Wayne Howe, chair of the Alaskan Independence Party, campaigned on a platform of eliminating most forms of taxation and questioning Alaska’s statehood. Eric Hafner, a serial candidate running as a Democrat, was allowed to appear on the ballot despite serving a 20-year sentence in a federal prison in New York state. Hafner has never lived in Alaska, nor has he visited. Strict limits on the communications coming in and out of prison meant he was virtually banned from campaigning. Neither candidate raised money for their campaigns.

Howe had 3.9% of the vote as of Wednesday. Hafner had just under 1% of the vote. The votes they draw from the front-runners could make a ranked choice tabulation more likely.

On the ground, Begich and Peltola offered different plans for their work in the U.S. House. Begich envisioned himself as a cheerleader for the Trump agenda, who would vote in favor of policies favored by the Republican presidential candidate and seek to promote new resource extraction projects in the state.

Peltola initially endorsed President Joe Biden in the presidential election, then refused to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris when she took his place as Democratic presidential nominee, instead promising that — though she would not vote for Trump — she would seek to work with whoever won the White House.

Peltola and Begich hosted separate parties in downtown Anchorage Tuesday night. Peltola made a brief appearance at 49th State Brewing, where she told supporters that the final result of the race likely would not be known until the ranked choice tabulation occurred on Nov. 20.

Begich, meanwhile, had not yet made an appearance at his own campaign party at the Marriott Hotel as of 10 p.m. on Tuesday. The event had largely turned into a gathering spot for Republican leaders, elected officials and candidates celebrating Trump’s success in the presidential election.

Chants of “USA! USA! USA!” rang out when Fox News called the presidential election for Trump as partygoers hobnobbed with U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan and others.

By the time Begich took the stage at 11 p.m. some of the crowd had dissipated.

“Alaska’s House seat has never mattered more than it matters today,” Begich said. “We’ve got to move an America first agenda through Congress.”

After her speech, Peltola gathered with campaign supporters. She told a reporter she was “clocked out” and not doing any interviews.

“There’s nothing to know right now,” she said. “It’s just too much of a mystery.”

Daily News reporter Alex DeMarban contributed.