ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich, independent Al Gross and Democrat Mary Peltola solidified their leads in the race to advance to August’s special general election for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat, according to an updated ballot count Wednesday.
Officials have now counted around 133,000 ballots. Additional updates are expected Wednesday evening. Another count is expected Friday, with a final count Tuesday and a goal of certifying the election results June 25.
Palin, a former governor, is in the lead with 28.3% of the vote so far. Begich, a businessman and member of a prominent family of Democrats, has 19.3% of the vote. Gross, who ran as an independent for U.S. Senate in 2020 with the Democratic Party’s endorsement, is in third with 12.8% of the vote. Peltola, a former state lawmaker, is in fourth with 8.7% of the vote.
Republican Tara Sweeney is in fifth with 5.5% of the vote. Santa Claus, a progressive independent, is in sixth with 4.5% of the vote.
The top four vote-getters in the 48-candidate special primary will advance to the special general election on Aug. 16. The outcome of that election will determine who will serve out the last few months of the late U.S. Rep. Don Young’s two-year term. Young died unexpectedly in March after 49 years in office.
The count of Anchorage-area ballots is still lagging behind counting in other regions. Election officials counted Anchorage-area votes only received by June 8, while most other areas counted ballots received by June 11. The division will count all ballots postmarked by June 11 and received by June 21.
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