ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Republican Tara Sweeney said Tuesday she is dropping out of the U.S. House election, after garnering around 3.7% of votes counted so far in the primary race — enough to put her in fourth place and place her name on the November ballot.
Sweeney is a Republican who previously served as assistant secretary of the interior for Native American affairs under former President Donald Trump. An Iñupiaq who previously was an executive with the Arctic Slope Regional Corp., she had endorsements from Alaska’s largest Native corporations. She cited expected fundraising challenges in her decision to end her bid for Congress.
“Looking at the outcome of the regular primary election, I don’t see a path to victory, nor to raise the resources needed to be successful this November,” she said in a written statement. Sweeney had raised nearly $300,000 since announcing her candidacy last spring. A separate super PAC supporting Sweeney raised over $600,000.
