Just days after the results of the Alaska primary were announced and just hours after the Alaska Supreme Court upheld the repeal of ranked choice voting (RCV), with Democratic Representative Mary Peltola leading Republicans Nick Begich III and Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom, Dahlstrom has now withdrawn from the raceThis means Nick Begich III will have to face incumbent Mary Peltola. It’s a completely different game now.
The Democrats’ chances of winning a key seat in a Republican state in the U.S. House of Representatives could unexpectedly decline. Alaska Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom announced on Friday that she is suspending her campaign for Congress.
Dahlstrom was essentially in a three-way race with incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola and Republican Nick Begich III, who comes from a prominent political family in The Last Frontier.
Although Dahlstrom did not immediately endorse Begich, she suggested in comments about her withdrawal that she had fought for her candidacy to see Peltola defeated.
“I took part in this race because Alaskans deserve better representation than what we received from Mary Peltola in Washington,” Dahlstrom said in a statement.
“The best thing I can do at this time to achieve this goal is to withdraw my candidacy for the general election and end my campaign,” she said.
Dahlstrom added that she has always “done the right thing for Alaska, and today is no different.”
With the great country still relying on ranked choice voting at least through November, this is great news for Republicans, not just in Alaska but nationwide, as it supports Republican hopes of maintaining and expanding their control of the House of Representatives. In presidential elections, Alaska has always been a reliably Republican state since 1964. In the second election since statehood, Alaska voted for Lyndon Johnson, the only year Alaska has ever voted for a Democrat. Since the state is represented by a non-voting member of the House of Representatives, one would expect the same result to occur.
Maybe they will now.
So far on RedState: LIVE: Election results – Alaska, Florida and Wyoming
Repeal of the principle of priority confirmed: Alaska Supreme Court decides, issue on the ballot in November
Nick Begich quickly published a statement:
Begich, whose uncle Mark was a Democratic senator and whose grandfather Nick Sr. was Young’s Democratic predecessor before he disappeared in a plane crash in 1972, said Dahlstrom ran a “strong campaign” and thanked her for her service to the public.
Now, Begich III’s chances of representing Alaska in the House of Representatives have increased dramatically. (I interviewed Nick Begich III in January 2024.)
Two turning points occurred within two hours on Friday. First, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his presidential campaign and endorsed the Republican candidate, former President Donald Trump. With this move, Lieutenant Governor Dahlstrom has now enabled Republicans in Alaska to effectively bypass ranked-choice voting. Interesting times!
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