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A sign inside the Mendenhall Mall Annex points toward a polling place during the statewide primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

My Turn: Nick Begich shares our realistic vision for Alaska

I watched all the debates. Mary Peltola has never done anything foolish, but neither has she ever said…

Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich speaks to an audience at the Alaska Chamber of Commerce’s U.S. House debate on Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024, in Fairbanks. At left is incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska. The two candidates again participated in a forum on Monday. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

As early voting opens, Peltola and Begich meet for last face-to-face forum before Election Day

Two leading candidates in U.S. House election appear at a forum hosted by the Anchorage Chamber.

A sign outside of a McDonald’s restaurant in Midtown Anchorage, seen on Oct. 7, advertises openings for jobs that pay up to $16 an hour. Voters will decide the fate of a ballot measure that would set a $15-an-hour minimum wage by 2027 and mandate paid sick leave for workers. (Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaskans to vote on measure raising the minimum wage and mandating paid sick leave

Alaska voters will weigh in on a ballot measure that would increase the state’s minimum wage to $15…

These materials are mailed to Alaska voters who request absentee ballots. Clockwise, from the top right: The envelope from the Alaska Division of Elections, the return envelope, the ballot and instructions. (Andrew Kitchenman/Alaska Beacon)

News

As dropbox program ends, most Alaska absentee voters will pay $1.46 to cast their ballots

The Alaska Division of Elections has not continued a ballot dropbox program operated in coordination with the Municipality…

In an undated photo via Carol Ann Hafner, Eric Hafner. Hafner, who is serving a 20-year sentence, is running to represent a state in which he has never set foot. He could play the spoiler under Alaska’s ranked-choice system. (Via Carol Ann Hafner via The New York Times)

News

How a man imprisoned in New York could sway Alaska’s key U.S. House race

In close race between Peltola and Begich that may determine House majority, Eric Hafner is a bizarre twist.

A sign inside the Mendenhall Mall Annex points toward a polling place during the statewide primary election on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. (Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

My Turn: A candidate in the November election who reaches across the aisle

Alaska has a rich history of political coalitions, but one congressional candidate on November’s ballot shows no inclination…

The ranked choice outcome for Alaska’s U.S. Senate race is shown during an Alaska Public Media broadcast on Nov. 24, 2022. (Alaska Division of Elections)

News

What Alaska voters should know as they consider a repeal of open primaries and ranked choice voting

State would revert to primaries controlled by political parties, general elections that pick one candidate.

Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich, left, and Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska (right) remove their microphones after a televised debate Thursday night, Oct. 10, 2024, in Anchorage. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

Debate: Peltola declines to endorse Harris, Begich questions 2020 election legitimacy

Televised TV and radio debate offers rare insight into U.S. House candidates’ views on social issues.

Pins supporting the repeal of ranked choice voting are seen on April 20, 2024, at the Republican state convention in Anchorage. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska ranked choice voting repeal effort outraised a hundredfold, campaign finance filings show

This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Lesil McGuire’s name and note that campaign finance…

From left to right, Nick Begich, Republican candidate for U.S. House; Alaskan Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe and Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, hold up paddles indicating their opposition to finfish farming in Alaska. Howe had jokingly looked at Begich’s paddle before making a decision. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

At U.S. House debate in Kodiak, candidates differ on future of Alaska fisheries

Begich emphasizes fighting for the state, Peltola focuses on building support in Congress.

Republican challenger Nick Begich III and Democratic U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola are on the stage at the beginning of the Alaska Oil and Gas Association’s candidate forum on Aug. 28, 2024. (Andrew Kitchenman/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska’s U.S. House candidates face each other three times in three days this week

Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, and her leading challenger, Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich, will appear on stage…

An early voting station is set up in the atrium of the State Office Building on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, the first day of early voting for the 2024 Alaska primary election. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska records show no evidence of widespread noncitizen voting or registration

Trump and in-state Republicans have falsely claimed that noncitizens are voting in large numbers.

An early voting station is set up in the atrium of the State Office Building in Juneau on Monday, Aug. 5, 2024, the first day of early voting for the 2024 Alaska primary election. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

Alaska’s voter registration deadline is Sunday, but most residents don’t need to worry

Sunday, Oct. 6, is the deadline to register as an Alaska voter for the November general election.

A local-mail in ballot is deposited in a drop box. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Rodell has big money lead in mayor’s race, Hall tops Assembly candidates a week before Oct. 1 election

Ship-Free Saturday opponents remain dominant money presence with about $500K raised, $750K spent.

(City and Borough of Juneau photo)

Opinion

Opinion: School board and Assembly races offer necessary change

The Oct. 1 municipal election is shaping up as a referendum on changing the status quo. In the…

Former Juneau Mayor Ken Koelsch in 2018. (Michael Penn / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

My Turn: Three strikes and a home run on Oct. 1 municipal election ballot

As a former U.S. government teacher, Juneau Assembly member and mayor, I usually start getting phone calls for…

A crowd of visitors tours the Mendenhall Glacier on Friday, July 21, 2023. (Clarise Larson / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

My Turn: I’m just trying to live here

Ship-Free Saturday (Proposition #2) on the Oct. 1 municipal ballot, is an attempt by a group of residents…

The Senate Finance Committee takes public testimony on Senate Bill 114, on Thursday, May 4, 2023, at the Alaska State Capitol. (James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

News

Public hearings planned for Alaska’s minimum-wage and ranked choice repeal ballot measures

The state of Alaska will hold public hearings Monday and Tuesday on ballot measures that seek to raise…

Cruise ships and passengers in downtown Juneau on Monday, June 3, 2024. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

Opinion

My Turn: Ship-Free Saturday will have harmful effect on tourism statewide

Proposition 2 will damage Alaska tourism statewide. Vote no to keep this sustainable industry healthy

The Alaska Division of Election’s director’s office in Juneau on Nov. 22, 2022. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire file photo)

News

Elections office in Juneau among those in more than dozen states to be mailed suspicious packages

Package for Juneau intercepted before delivery, no hazardous materials reported in incidents.