A special election for Alaska’s At-Large Congressional District in the U.S. House will take place in 2022. Former incumbent Rep. Don Young (R) died on March 18, 2022.
A top-four special primary is on June 11, 2022. This is the first top-four congressional primary in U.S. history. All candidates will appear on the same ballot with their affiliations listed next to their names. The four candidates with the most votes will advance to the general election, which will use ranked-choice voting.
Forty-eight candidates filed by the April 1, 2022, deadline. The special primary election ballot comprises:
- 22 candidates running as nonpartisan or with undeclared affiliation
- 16 Republicans
- 6 Democrats
- 2 Libertarians
- 1 American Independent Party member
- 1 Alaskan Independence Party member
The candidates who have received the most media attention and been included in public opinion polls are Nicholas Begich III (R), North Pole City Councilmember Santa Claus (I), former state Sen. John Coghill (R), Anchorage Assemblymember Christopher Constant (D), 2020 U.S. Senate candidate Al Gross (I), Jeff Lowenfels (I), former governor and 2008 vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin (R), former state Rep. Mary Peltola (D), state Sen. Josh Revak (R), former Assistant Secretary of the Interior Tara Sweeney (R), and state Rep. Adam Wool (D). Revak and Sweeney were co-chairs of Young’s 2022 re-election campaign.
Young was first elected as Alaska’s U.S. representative in 1973, when he defeated Emil Notti (D) in a special election. Notti is running in the 2022 special primary election. Young also ran for the House in 1972, when Nick Begich Sr. (D) defeated him. Begich Sr. is Begich III’s grandfather.
The special general election will be held Aug. 16, 2022. The winner of that election will serve until the end of the term Young was last elected to—Jan. 3, 2023. The special election is one of two elections, alongside the regularly scheduled election, for Alaska’s at-large House district in 2022. As of May 20, 18 candidates had filed to run in both the regular and special elections, including all those named above except Claus. The filing deadline for the regular election is June 1.
Here is a timeline for each primary and general election in 2022:
June 11, 2022:
Aug. 16, 2022:
Nov. 8, 2022:
As of May 26, 2022, 14 special elections have been called during the 117th Congress. From the 113th Congress to the 116th Congress, 50 special elections were held.
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