Vote tallies updated Thursday afternoon show Republican challenger Nick Begich III is likely to prevail over Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, and a ballot measure repealing ranked choice voting and open primaries is holding onto a lead of less than 1%.
The results also offer some clarity — and continuing uncertainty — on three state legislative races that had been deemed too close to call.
Begich has 49.03% while Peltola has 45.86% of 304,423 votes tallied as of 3:50 p.m. Thursday, nine days after election day, according to the Alaska Division of Elections. That means Peltola gained about 0.85% in 46,775 ballots added since a tally at the beginning of the week, with election officials estimating there are 30,000 to 35,000 absentee, early and questioned ballots still to be counted.
A Begich win would help ensure Republicans hold onto their slim majority in the U.S. House.
A projected winner of the race has still not been announced by the Associated Press or other major media “decision desks.” Alaska’s ranked choice voting means if no candidate gets a majority of first-choice votes the outcome will be determined on Nov. 20 when second- and third-choice votes are added to candidate totals as necessary.
The other two candidates in the race for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat are Alaskan Independence Party Chair John Wayne Howe with 3.89% and New York prison inmate Eric Hafner, running as a Democrat, with 1%.
Repealing the ranked choice voting system, which includes open primaries where the top four finishers advance to the general election regardless of party, is also maintaining a steady lead of 0.84% (50.42% to 49.58%). Supporters of ranked choice have already said they do not believe they can make up the gap with the remaining votes.
In the Alaska Legislature, Sen. Scott Kawasaki, a Fairbanks Democrat, has significantly increased his lead over Republican challenger Leslie Hajdukovich, which is now at 351 votes compared to 74 votes at the beginning of the week. He is ahead 51.4%-48.32%.
In the state House, Democratic challenger Ted Eischeid has put some distance between himself with a 198-vote leader over Republican incumbent Stanley Wright for a seat representing Muldoon. The gap was previously 111 votes.
Still far too close to call, however, is the race for a North Anchorage House seat where Democratic incumbent Cliff Groh is 19 votes head of Republican David Nelson.
The latest tally represents 49.82% of Alaska’s registered voters and all of the state’s 403 precincts. The last voting station to turn in its results — which occurred on Thursday — was Atqasuk, a village of about 280 people in the North Slope Borough.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
