Democratic U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola received more than half of the votes in primary results released Tuesday night, well ahead of Republican challengers, businessman Nick Begich III and Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom.
With 387 of 403 precincts reporting through 1 a.m. on Wednesday, the incumbent Peltola had received 50.4% of the votes counted. She was running well ahead of her 36.8% share of the vote in the 2022 primary, which was held the same day as the special election she won to fill the seat left vacant by the death of 49-year Congressman Don Young.
On the Republican side, Begich received 27%, ahead of Dahlstrom with 20%. Begich said in a statement that he had “won the Republican nomination,” while Dahlstrom said in a statement that the results showed her message is resonating with voters. Before the primary, Begich said he would end his campaign if he finished behind Dahlstrom, while she said she planned to continue through to the general election.
With Peltola, Begich and Dahlstrom having the largest campaigns, the other nine candidates were competing for the fourth and final spot on the ballot in the general election, which will be conducted using ranked choice voting. Republican Matthew H. Salisbury led Alaskan Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe by 62 votes.
In-person voter turnout was down significantly, with 96,539 ballots counted through midnight, well below the 140,000 counted on the primary election night in 2022. In the 2022 primary, roughly 52,000 ballots were counted after election night. This year, just over 17,000 absentee ballots were issued before election day.
After casting an early ballot on Monday in Anchorage, Peltola spent the day in Soldotna, according to campaign spokesperson Shannon Mason. Peltola was also in contact with Native leaders in Wales, Kaktovik and Anaktuvuk Pass, where voting didn’t open, trying to find solutions, Mason said. Voting in Anaktuvuk Pass started shortly before the 8 p.m. deadline.
Earlier in the day, Peltola posted a video to social media, encouraging Alaskans to vote, saying: “Voting is self-care. Please do something for yourself and Alaska’s future and vote today.”
In 2022, Peltola became the first Alaska Native elected to Congress, the first woman to represent Alaska in the U.S. House, and the first Democrat to represent the state in the chamber since Young’s election in 1973.
The race has received national attention, as one of five House districts won by a Democrat in 2022 that former President Donald Trump carried in 2020.
Begich called on Republicans to unite behind his candidacy.
“The voters sent a clear message: I am the best Republican candidate to beat Mary Peltola in November,” Begich said in a statement posted on social media. “To get that done we must unite as conservatives. I congratulate Nancy Dahlstrom on a well-run race. United, it is clear that Republicans can defeat both Mary Peltola and the ranked choice system that only benefits the Democrats.”
Both Begich and Dahlstrom are staunch supporters of Trump.
But Trump has endorsed only Dahlstrom. Trump’s support figures prominently on her campaign website, and her signs are topped with the words “Endorsed by Trump.”
Speaking on Monday, while she and supporters waved signs at an intersection near Fire Lake Elementary School in her hometown of Eagle River, Dahlstrom attributed the endorsement to her experience.
“It came about because President Trump looked at my background and my resume, basically, in my jobs and things that I have done. And he looked at my voting record from actually serving in elected office and said, ‘I like this person, and I think she would be the best to represent the state of Alaska,’” Dahlstrom said.
She said she believes that Trump’s policies will be good for the state, which is ultimately what is important. “So electing a president isn’t like electing a best friend,” she said.
Begich said he did not have the opportunity to meet Trump and ask for his support.
“I believe that if I had had that opportunity, perhaps things would have gone a little differently. But I continue to support President Trump. I believe that he’s good for Alaska. He will be good for our nation,” Begich said while sign-waving with supporters in Midtown Anchorage on Tuesday morning.
Loran Baxter, one of those Begich supporters gathered at the busy Seward Highway-Northern Lights Boulevard intersection, said Trump’s endorsement of Dahlstrom might reflect loyalty to Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
“I do believe he might be looking at Dunleavy for secretary of the interior or something, and Nancy is the lieutenant governor, so he’s going to support her,” said Baxter, who was wearing a “Make America Great Again” hat. “I support Trump, but I support Nick, and I think there’s a lot of Alaskans who feel the same way.”
Dunleavy, like Trump, has endorsed Dahlstrom, as have U.S. House Republican leaders.
Begich has some national endorsements as well, but his website highlights in-state endorsements.
One thing that marks this year’s election is the absence of a famous Trump ally: former Gov. and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Palin was the runner-up two years ago, eventually losing to Peltola.
Palin is not running this time. That makes a difference in this year’s campaign, Begich said.
“I think it’s less of a spectacle than it was in 2022,” he said. “We can be more policy-focused and policy-driven. And that’s how elections should be decided. It should be based on who has the policies that best reflect the constituents of the district.”
This year’s election season is the second in Alaska under the ranked choice system, so the four top vote-getters in the open primary will advance to the general election.
Begich has pledged to drop out if Dahlstrom receives more votes than he does. But Dahlstrom said on Monday that she had no such intention.
“I’m in it till November,” she said.
Ballots will be counted through Aug. 30, with Sept. 1 set as the target date for the State Review Board to certify the results. Sept. 2 is the deadline for candidates to withdraw from the ballot. If a candidate withdraws, the fifth-highest vote-getter would replace them on the ballot.
• Andrew Kitchenman has covered state government in Alaska since 2016, serving as the Capitol reporter for Alaska Public Media and KTOO before joining the Alaska Beacon. Before this, he covered state and local governments on the East Coast – primarily in New Jersey – for more than 15 years. He enjoys reading, watching movies and walking around Anchorage. This article originally appeared online at alaskabeacon.com. Alaska Beacon, an affiliate of States Newsroom, is an independent, nonpartisan news organization focused on connecting Alaskans to their state government.
