Current:Home > FinanceAlaska voters deciding a hard-fought race for the state’s only U.S. House seat, election issues -WealthSphere Pro
Alaska voters deciding a hard-fought race for the state’s only U.S. House seat, election issues
View
Date:2025-04-25 11:24:07
Follow live: Updates from AP’s coverage of the presidential election.
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska voters were deciding Tuesday a hard-fought race for the state’s only U.S. House seat that could help decide control of that chamber. They were also choosing whether to repeal the state’s system of open primaries and ranked choice general elections just four years after opting to give that system a go.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola sought to fend off GOP efforts to wrest back the seat held for 49 years by Republican Rep. Don Young, who died in 2022. Peltola’s main challenger was Republican Nick Begich, who is from a family of prominent Democrats and was among the opponents she defeated in special and regular elections two years ago when Peltola, who is Yup’ik, became the first Alaska Native elected to Congress.
In addition to the repeal initiative, the ballot included a measure that would raise the state’s minimum wage and require paid sick leave for many employees, a measure opposed by groups including several chambers of commerce and a seafood processors association.
Fifty of the Legislature’s 60 seats were up for election, too, with control of the state House and Senate up for grabs. The closely divided House has struggled to organize following the last three election cycles. In Alaska, lawmakers don’t always organize according to party.
In Alaska’s marquee House race, Peltola tried to distance herself from presidential politics, declining to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris and dismissing any weight an endorsement from her might carry anyway in a state that last went for a Democratic presidential nominee in 1964. She cast herself as someone willing to work across party lines and played up her role in getting the Biden administration to approve the massive Willow oil project, which enjoys broad political support in Alaska.
Begich, whose grandfather, the late Democrat Nick Begich, held the seat before Young, was endorsed by former President Donald Trump following his showing in the primary.
Trump’s initial pick, Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, bowed to pressure from Republicans seeking to consolidate behind one candidate following her third-place finish in the primary and dropped out. Alaska’s open primaries allow the top four vote-getters to advance. The initial fourth place finisher, Republican Matthew Salisbury, also quit, leaving Alaskan Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe and Eric Hafner, a Democrat with no apparent ties to the state who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for threatening authorities and others in New Jersey, on the ballot.
Begich, the founder of a software development company, sought to cast Peltola as ineffective in stopping actions taken by the Biden administration that limited resource development in a state dependent upon it, including the decision to cancel leases issued for oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Alaska is one of just two states that has adopted ranked voting — and would be the first to repeal it if the ballot initiative succeeds. In 2020, Alaskans in a narrow vote opted to scrap party primaries in favor of open primaries and ranked vote general elections. Most registered voters in Alaska aren’t affiliated with a party, and the new system was cast as a way to provide voters with more choice and to bring moderation to the election process. Critics, however, called it confusing.
U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a moderate Republican and Trump critic who has been at odds with party leaders, appeared in an ad in support of keeping open primaries and ranked voting.
Opponents of the system succeeded in getting enough signatures to qualify the repeal measure for the ballot — and withstood a monthslong legal fight to keep it on the ballot. Begich was among those who supported the repeal, and the state Republican Party also has endorsed repeal efforts.
veryGood! (9)
Related
- 'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
- Live grenade birthday gift kills top aide to Ukraine's military chief
- Parents of a terminally ill baby lose UK legal battle to bring her home
- Soccer Star Neymar’s Girlfriend Bruna Biancardi Speaks Out After Invasion at Family Home
- South Korean president's party divided over defiant martial law speech
- Justice Department opens probe of police in small Mississippi city over alleged civil rights abuses
- Biden Administration appears to lean toward college athletes on range of issues with NCAA
- Krispy Kreme wants to gift you a dozen donuts on World Kindness Day. No strings attached.
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- Soccer Star Neymar’s Girlfriend Bruna Biancardi Speaks Out After Invasion at Family Home
Ranking
- A White House order claims to end 'censorship.' What does that mean?
- Tupac Shakur murder suspect to face trial June 2024, Las Vegas judge says
- CMA Awards 2023: See the Complete Winners List
- Mike Epps, wife Kyra say HGTV's 'Buying Back the Block' rehab project hits close to home
- 2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self
- Ohio legalizes marijuana, joining nearly half the US: See the states where weed is legal
- Judge to hear arguments as Michigan activists try to keep Trump off the ballot
- It looks like a regular video-streaming site. It's fundraising for white supremacists, report says
Recommendation
Trump invites nearly all federal workers to quit now, get paid through September
Watch Bachelor in Paradise's Eliza Isichei Approach Aaron Bryant About His Ex-Girlfriend Drama
NHL trade tracker: Minnesota Wild move out defenseman, acquire another
Bruce Springsteen gives surprise performance after recovering from peptic ulcer disease
Woman dies after Singapore family of 3 gets into accident in Taiwan
Gas prices are plunging below $3 a gallon in some states. Here's what experts predict for the holidays.
Brian Cox thought '007: Road to a Million' was his Bond movie. It's actually a game show
4 California men linked to Three Percenters militia convicted of conspiracy in Jan. 6 case