USAupdated 4m ago2 min read
Archive photo · 17 November 2022Mary Peltola Widens Lead Over Dan Sullivan in Alaska U.S. Senate Race
“The controversial race, punctuated by the ‘Decoy Dan’ scheme exposed by The New York Times, has Republican Gerald Heikes at 2.2% (4,865)”
“The state is continuing to process mail ballots.”
Photo: Leah Herman, House Creative Services / US federal government, Public domain · Cropped for layout
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Peltola's lead over Sullivan tightens to about two points as more votes counted. Tens of thousands of ballots remain uncounted, delaying a final result.
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Alaska Senate vote remains close
Mary Peltola and Dan Sullivan remained locked in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race as the state continued processing mail ballots, with ranked-choice tabulation set to begin if no candidate secured a majority.
“On Nov. 18, the state expects to determine whether any candidate has secured a majority.”
The state expected to determine whether any candidate had secured a majority on Nov. 18.
Peltola was ahead of Sullivan by 2,517 votes but not enough to call the race, and a ranked-choice count was set for next Wednesday.
Peltola increased her lead again Tuesday as election officials counted more than 24,000 additional votes, and Peltola led 49% to 47.2%.
Peltola’s lead over Sullivan grew by 4,250 first-choice votes, with 118,926 first-choice votes for Peltola and 114,676 for Sullivan.
Trump and DOJ contest counting
President Donald Trump continued to challenge Alaska’s Senate vote counting, and he demanded that Alaska award all the ballots cast against Mary Peltola to the Republican incumbent in the president’s latest attempt to interfere with the vote counting.
Trump previously demanded that votes cast for a longshot candidate also named Dan Sullivan be awarded to incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan, and Trump also wanted the votes cast for Gerald Heikes to be awarded to Sen. Sullivan.
Trump called the Alaska Senate race a “rigged election,” claiming that adding up the votes cast for Sullivan Jr. to those received by Sullivan would give the Republican senator a victory “by thousands of votes.”
The Department of Justice sued to block the certification of the election if the senator lost, and a federal judge dismissed the case.
Sullivan’s team did not respond to a request for comment, while Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. remained in last place with 4,027 votes.
What happens next for Alaska
Alaska’s ranked-choice system shaped the next steps, and under the system a general election candidate who gets more than 50% of first-choice votes wins outright, without ranked-choice voting.
“The election results are expected to be certified on Nov. 25.”
The state was continuing to process mail ballots and expected additional results on Tuesday and Friday of next week, with smaller updates released sooner.
The Division of Elections was scheduled to release more results Friday, and the Associated Press estimated 84% of votes had been counted.
The process would hold an instant runoff election if neither Peltola nor Sullivan wins a majority of first-choice votes, and the process repeats until a candidate notches the majority.
The election results were expected to be certified on Nov. 25, and a winner may not be known until Nov. 18.