Alaska Republican drops out of multi-way House race, dealing surprise blow to Democrats nationally

In what may be a surprise blow to Democratic chances of holding a key red-state seat in the U.S. House, Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom announced Friday she is suspending her campaign for Congress.

Dahlstrom was in what was essentially 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.

While Dahlstrom did not immediately endorse Begich, she suggested in comments announcing her withdrawal that her reason for running was to see Peltola defeated.

“I entered this race because Alaskans deserve better representation than what we have received from Mary Peltola in Washington,” Dahlstrom said in a statement.

“At this time, the best thing I can do to see that goal realized is to withdraw my name from the general election ballot and end my campaign,” she said.

RANKED CHOICE VOTING RANKLES ELECTION SEASON

Due to the state enacting ranked choice voting by popular vote in 2020, elections in Alaska now differ from most other states in that the candidate to gain the majority of the votes is not necessarily declared the winner.

That aspect was front-and-center in the first general election race Peltola won – to succeed five-decade Republican Rep. Don Young, who died in office in 2022 at 88.

Peltola defeated both Begich and former Gov. Sarah Palin, who had both run as Republicans. 

Though the two GOP candidates garnered more votes than Peltola, she was named the winner after the hierarchical rounds of ranked choice vote tallying concluded. Under the system, the lowest vote-getter is eliminated and that candidate’s voters’ “second-choice” votes get tallied instead, and so on.

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