Candidates crisscross Alaska in final days ahead of U.S. House primary

Several of the 48 U.S. House candidates are crisscrossing Alaska in the final week of campaigning ahead of this week’s primary voting deadline. More than 110,000 ballots have already been cast, and voters have until Saturday to vote in a race that is unprecedented in almost every way.

The special election to replace U.S. Rep. Don Young, who died in March after holding the seat for 49 years, is the first since Alaskans voted to adopt new election laws that did away with partisan primaries and implemented ranked choice voting for general elections. It’s also the first all-mail election in the state’s history. And with 48 candidates appearing on the primary ballot, voters have more options than ever before.

Those candidates are taking different approaches to campaigning, with less than a week to go before the Saturday deadline to cast a primary ballot. The top four vote-getters in the open, nonpartisan primary advance to a general election that will be decided through ranked choice voting. Facing new voting rules, an abbreviated campaign season, and a candidate list long enough to paralyze some voter, some candidates have shunned events altogether, while others are capitalizing on fundraising and personal wealth to meet voters across the state ahead of the voting deadline.

Democrat Mary Peltola and Independent Al Gross are spending the first half of the week in Sitka at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council before traveling to Juneau for Celebration, an Alaska Native event. Republican Tara Sweeney is spending the week bouncing between Seward, Anchorage and Fairbanks.

Democrat Adam Wool hosted a party in his hometown of Fairbanks on Sunday; and Democrat Chris Constant had a campaign party in Anchorage on Monday.

Republican Sarah Palin’s campaign is focusing on voter turnout efforts on the wings of a rally in Anchorage last week.

Still others are keeping a low profile: Republican Josh Revak’s social media was devoid of any posts about upcoming or recent events, and his campaign manager did not reveal details about Revak’s plans for the week, as the candidate has failed to gain traction despite an endorsement from Young’s widow.

Independent progressive candidate Santa Claus has run an event-free campaign from the beginning. Vowing not to accept campaign contributions, he said he has no plans for in-person events in the final week of the shortened campaign season brought on by Young’s unexpected death in March.

The special election will determine who carries out the last four months of a term previously held by Young. The field for the regularly scheduled November election — which will determine who holds the seat for the next two-year term — is already finalized at 31 candidates. Many of the most prominent candidates are running in both the special and regular election, and some have indicated they may reconsider their candidacy in the November race if they do not secure enough votes to advance to the special general election.

In a race marked by firsts, the Alaska Division of Elections has launched voter education campaigns bolstered by the efforts of the candidates themselves.

Every registered voter in the state received a ballot by mail, with more than half a million going out to voters. The most recent ballot tally puts the turnout rate above 20%, but it is hard to compare that figure to those from previous elections, since so much about this election is different from previous races.

“Anything that could be a first is happening in this election,” said Tiffany Montemayor, Division of Elections spokesperson.

Still, the tally of slightly over 110,000 returned ballots as of Monday afternoon is below the turnout for the 2014 primary, when just under 200,000 Alaskans voted. With a few days to go, that number could still be eclipsed.

[Voter guide: Alaska’s 48 U.S. House candidates in the 2022 special primary election]

Officials will begin counting ballots at 8 p.m. on Saturday, with the first preliminary results expected about an hour later, according to Montemayor. But it is unclear whether those initial results will provide any definitive sense of the top four candidates.

“We’ve never done this before — an all-mail thing. So we’re not 100% sure how it’s actually going to play out,” Montemayor said.

Additional ballot counts are scheduled on June 15 and 17. June 21 is the final day the division will accept ballots, and the target date for certifying the results is June 25, so it could be up to two weeks before Alaskans know who has advanced to the general election, which will be held in August.

For voters that haven’t cast their ballot yet, several options are available. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by June 11. Voters intending to mail their ballots are encouraged to check with their individual post office to find out the cut-off deadline depending on the local hours of operation.

“From the very beginning, we’ve been telling voters to send their ballot in as soon as possible,” Montemayor said. “That allows time for it to get to us.”

Additionally, there are dozens of in-person voting locations open across the state. Most will be open through June 10, but voters can check the list on the the Division of elections website for exact hours and locations. There are also early voting places in Anchorage, Palmer, Soldotna, Wasilla, Fairbanks, Homer, Juneau and Nome. Many — though not all — of these places will be open on Saturday, June 11, the last day of voting.

So far, few Alaskans have taken advantage of in-person voting options, with fewer than 2,000 voters using the in-person or early voting options as of Monday.

Some campaigns are still concerned about a lack of information among voters about how to vote in the election. In Anchorage, Deputy Municipal Clerk for Election Jamie Heinz said about 200 U.S. House race ballots had been dropped off in the five municipal election ballot collection boxes scattered across town.

Heinz said voters are often confused about the difference between municipal and statewide elections, especially when the two are held in quick succession. But the ballots are not lost — Heinz said the Alaska Division of Elections has picked up the ballots, and they will be counted.

Reporter Nathaniel Herz contributed to this report.