ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Candidates in the special U.S. House race are scheduled to meet in person for a forum in Anchorage Wednesday afternoon. The Alaska Division of Elections is set to release results of the election while the forum is ongoing, with all three contenders sharing the stage when results are live-streamed for the world to see.
Alaska’s first ranked-choice election was held Aug. 16. After a 15-day waiting period dictated by Alaska’s election laws, results of the race will finally be unveiled by election officials Wednesday at 4 p.m. local time, the Division of Elections said Tuesday. Candidates are scheduled to meet for a 90-minute forum set to begin at 3 p.m. hosted by the Alaska Oil and Gas Association.
Nearly 192,000 ballots have been counted so far. With only first-choice votes tallied, Democratic former state lawmaker Mary Peltola is currently in the lead with 39.6% of votes. Republican former Gov. Sarah Palin is second with 30.9%. Republican Nick Begich III, a businessman and member of a prominent family of Alaska Democrats, trails in third with 27.8%. Write-in candidates got around 1.6% of votes.
