Trump-backed Alaska Republican withdraws from US House race after third-place finish in primary
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, a Republican backed by former President Donald Trump, withdrew from the race for Alaska’s sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday after finishing third in this week’s primary.
Her decision left second-place Republican Nick Begich as the main challenger to Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, who first Alaskan to serve in Congress.
“I entered this race because Alaskans deserve better representation than what we have received from Mary Peltola in Washington,” Dahlstrom said in a statement released by her campaign. “At this time, the best thing I can do to achieve that goal is to withdraw my name from the general election ballot and end my campaign.”
Peltola, Begich and Dahlstrom were the most prominent of the twelve candidates running in the Alaska primary. Under Alaska’s open primary system, voters were asked to select one candidate, with the four candidates with the most votes in the race, regardless of party affiliation, advancing to the ranked-choice general election.
In the early results, Peltola led in the vote count, followed by Begich and then Dahlstrom. It was too early to predict who would finish fourth.
The general election is expected to be hotly contested, with the GOP hoping to win back the seat that Republican US Congressman Don Young held For 49 years, until his death in 2022. Peltola won the seat that year thanks to victories in special and regular elections.
Peltola’s campaign did not immediately respond to a phone call, text message and email seeking comment.
Begich, who ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2022, has received support from several local Republican groups. Dahlstrom has been endorsed by Trump and several House leaders, including Speaker Mike Johnson.
Begich congratulated Dahlstrom in a social media post Friday for running a “strong campaign.”
“Today we stand united in the effort to replace Mary Peltola, who has proven through her ties to the left that she is not the moderate she claimed to be,” Begich wrote.
Begich said before the primary that he would withdraw from the race if he finished behind Dahlstrom. Dahlstrom made no similar promise, but told The Associated Press that she would meet with Begich, Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy and the head of the state Republican Party after the primary to analyze “who got what and what it would take to get a conservative into that seat in terms of votes.”
The Alaska Division of Elections did not respond to an email seeking clarification if the fifth-place candidate advances to the general election. Phone calls to the division went unanswered Friday.