The conservative son of a prominent liberal Alaska political family came in second in a ranked-choice primary that could play out similarly to 2022, when Republicans split their votes and elected a Democrat.
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Representative Mary Peltola, Democrat of Alaska, at the Capitol in 2022.
Representative Mary Peltola, Democrat of Alaska, ranked first on Tuesday in an open primary to set the field for her re-election bid, claiming just over 50 percent of the vote in preliminary results, well ahead of 11 challengers vying for her position as the state’s sole member of the House.
The results put Ms. Peltola in a strong position for the general election in November, setting the stage for a possible replay of her successful run in 2022, when Republicans split their party’s support in the state’s unusual ranked-choice system and propelled her to victory.
Nick Begich III, the Republican son of a prominent liberal political family in Alaska, who ran for the seat in 2022 and has been endorsed by the right-wing House Freedom Caucus, ranked second, with 27 percent, according to The Associated Press. He beat out Nancy Dahlstrom, the Republican lieutenant governor endorsed by former President Donald J. Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson, who had 20 percent, according to the A.P., which reported the results Wednesday morning with nearly 90 percent of the state’s precincts tallied. They were the only two challengers in the race who had reported raising any money.
Mr. Begich had said he would drop out of the race if he finished behind Ms. Dahlstrom, which Democrats feared could make for a tougher contest for Ms. Peltola, consolidating Republican support behind a single viable G.O.P. candidate instead of splintering it among several, as happened when she won the seat in 2022. But Ms. Dahlstrom has made no such commitment, and Ms. Peltola’s commanding lead suggested she could prevail even if Republicans united behind one challenger.
The results of Tuesday’s primary shrank the pool of candidates from 12 to four who will advance to the general election. Matthew Salisbury, a Republican, was in fourth place with 0.6 percent of the vote. In November, voters will again rank the candidates, and the preferences will be tallied until one candidate receives a majority.
Ms. Peltola scored an upset victory in a special election in 2022 in part because many Republican voters who backed Mr. Begich as their first choice crossed party lines and listed Ms. Peltola as their second. When Mr. Begich failed to secure a majority, 15,000 of his votes went to Ms. Peltola, helping her to narrowly defeat the polarizing Republican front-runner, former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, who had also been backed by Mr. Trump.
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Source: nytimes.com
