Peltola Holds 637-Vote Edge as Alaska Waits on Ballots and a Ranked Count

Alaska’s closely watched U.S. Senate race remained uncalled on Wednesday, with Democrat Mary Peltola holding a slim lead over Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan in first-choice votes and a large share of ballots still waiting to be counted.

The current count

Preliminary results reported by the Anchorage Daily News showed Peltola, a former congresswoman, with 102,962 votes and Sullivan with 102,325, a margin of 637. Each had about 48 percent. Republican Gerald Heikes had 4,846 votes, and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher who shares the senator’s name, had 3,600.

The Associated Press estimated that roughly three-quarters of the expected vote had been counted, which would leave about 75,000 ballots, according to Alaska News. Those include absentee ballots, early votes cast in the final days before the election and questioned ballots.

Why the leader may not win outright

Because no candidate has passed 50 percent, the race is likely headed to a ranked-choice tabulation. In that process, the last-place candidate is eliminated and those ballots move to each voter’s next ranked choice, repeating until one candidate has a majority. The two trailing candidates together drew about 8,400 first-choice votes, far more than the gap between the leaders.

The state elections division plans to count early votes from the last days of voting, and to begin reviewing questioned ballots, on Nov. 10. Absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day can arrive through Nov. 13 from inside the country and through Nov. 18 from overseas. The ranked-choice tally is scheduled for Nov. 18, and certification is targeted for Nov. 25.

Other Alaska contests

In the race for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat, Republican Rep. Nick Begich had about 49.5 percent of first-choice votes, just short of a majority, ahead of nonpartisan candidate Bill Hill. In the open governor’s race, Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins led with about 49 percent against three Republican tickets.

A ballot measure that would repeal Alaska’s open primaries and ranked-choice general elections was trailing by about 52 percent to 48 percent in early returns.

Legal backdrop

The Senate race has also drawn a federal court fight. The Justice Department sued last month seeking to delay certification if Sullivan loses but would have won had the namesake candidate’s votes gone to him. A federal judge dismissed the suit on Sunday, and the department has appealed, according to Alaska News. Democrats have already won enough seats to control the Senate next year.

How we reported this

This report draws on reporting from the Associated Press and other major news organizations, named in the text. Figures from early or partial counts are identified as such and may change. BURN VOC will update this story as new information is released.