Trump poised to win Alaska’s electoral college votes

Former President Donald Trump had a decisive lead in Alaska’s presidential race as vote tallies from Tuesday’s election started to roll in.

With more than 250,000 ballots counted by Wednesday afternoon, Trump, a Republican, had 55.6% of the vote. Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris had 40.4% of the vote.

Even with tens of thousands of ballots left to be counted in Alaska, Trump appeared all but assured to carry Alaska’s three electoral college votes.

Sweeping key states including Georgia and North Carolina, Trump pulled away from Harris to reclaim the White House on Tuesday evening.

A Tuesday night party for Alaska’s Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich III turned into an exuberant gathering for Alaska’s GOP leaders and elected officials, who celebrated Trump’s electoral success even as the fate of Alaska’s Republican candidates — Begich among them — was not yet clear.

Kelly Tshibaka, a Republican former U.S. Senate candidate who chaired Trump’s Alaska campaign, said Tuesday evening that she was feeling “elated, enthusiastic, confident, victorious, ecstatic.”

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for four years,” she said.

Jane Angvik, a former member of the Anchorage Assembly who attended a campaign party for Democratic Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola on Tuesday night, said she’s sad it appears Trump could win the presidency.

“I have to say we got a long way to go in terms of human rights and civil rights and women’s rights and areas where he has been challenging for people who believe in equality,” she said.

“What I think is the good news is we live in the United States of America and we have a constitution and it guides everything that we do,” she said. “And so while we might have a Trump presidency, we still have a democracy here. So that means that the citizens of Alaska have the opportunity to express their perspective and see if it’s possible for them to be listened to in the process of making laws.”

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, who was attending an Anchorage gathering for Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich III, said a Trump administration could be better for Alaska than the current one.

“With the Trump administration, if we get there, we’ll have a very different approach on helping Alaska’s economy, helping our workers, helping jobs, helping opportunity here,” said Sullivan. “This administration has been the worst in my memory, on all of them.”

Daily News reporters Alex DeMarban and Sean Maguire contributed to this report.