Republican Nick Begich moves closer to Alaska US House victory over Mary Peltola

Sean Maguire, Anchorage Daily News on Nov 13, 2024

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich III moved closer to defeating Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola after 38,000 Alaska ballots were counted Tuesday.

Begich was ahead by 10,133 votes before Tuesday’s ballot count. He now leads by 9,550 votes, or just over 3%.

The Alaska Division of Elections had around 71,000 uncounted early, questioned and absentee ballots before Tuesday. According to data from the division, there are well over 30,000 ballots still to be counted.

State election officials have chosen to initially count only Alaskans’ first-choice votes. If neither Begich nor Peltola gets more than 50%, the winner would then be decided by the state’s ranked choice tabulation process on Nov. 20.

After Tuesday, Begich had 49.1%. Peltola had 45.81%. Alaska Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe had 3.87%. Democrat Eric Hafner had 1%.

Meanwhile, a ballot measure to repeal Alaska’s system of ranked choice voting and open primaries remains on track to pass. Tuesday’s count saw the deficit shrink for supporters of the voting system from 4,137 to 2,841 votes. The repeal effort leads by 1% of counted ballots.

Tuesday’s count saw some shifts in key legislative races, but no change in leaders:

—Anchorage Democratic state Rep. Cliff Groh was ahead by 28 votes against former Republican Rep. David Nelson for a North Anchorage House seat. With more than 500 votes counted on Tuesday, Groh now leads by 19 votes.

—Fairbanks Democratic state Sen. Scott Kawasaki is ahead against Republican challenger Leslie Hajdukovich by 351 votes after more than 2,000 ballots were counted on Tuesday. Kawasaki had led by 74 votes.

—Democrat Ted Eischeid also widened his lead against state Rep. Stanley Wright, R-Anchorage, for a Muldoon House seat. Eischeid now leads by over 4%.

Despite the lack of clarity around results, Alaska state House and Senate leaders felt confident last week to announce they had formed bipartisan coalitions in both legislative chambers.

Before Tuesday’s count, three precincts in rural Alaska had not reported results. As of Wednesday morning, Atqasuk — a North Slope village of around 275 — was the only precinct to not have reported any results from the Nov. 5 election.

Three precincts in Western Alaska had previously shown strong support for third-party candidates for president. After Tuesday’s ballot count, Aniak and Kipnuk now show Vice President Kamala Harris comfortably ahead in both.

At least two more ballot counts are planned for Friday and Nov. 20 — the same day as the ranked choice tabulation process is set to take place.

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