Hill runs second in Alaska's unofficial U.S. House primary count

According to unofficial results from Alaska's Aug. 18 top-four primary, independent Bill Hill finished second for the state's lone U.S. House seat and is all but certain to reach the November ballot. Two of the four candidates ahead of the cutoff are not mounting general election campaigns.

Incumbent Republican Nick Begich III led with 46.1 percent. Hill took 30.9 percent, Democrat Matt Schultz 8 percent and Democrat Eric Hafner 3.8 percent. The Division of Elections count remains unofficial, with 401 of 403 precincts reporting, and the state has not certified the results.

Schultz suspended his campaign July 17 and endorsed Hill for November, but his name was already printed on the primary ballot and he asked Alaskans to vote for him in it anyway. Hafner, who also ran for the seat in 2024, has reported no fundraising to the Federal Election Commission this cycle. Worth noting, the Alaska Democratic Party did not endorse Schultz at its April convention.

Begich's campaign has framed the withdrawal as an argument against the voting system itself, saying Schultz and the state Democratic Party backed ranked choice voting and then pulled their own candidate rather than use it.

Hill, a Bristol Bay commercial fisherman and former teacher, principal and school superintendent, is running as an independent and has declined to say which party he would caucus with. Federal reports through June 30 show Begich raised about $5.26 million and Hill about $1.17 million.

The general election is Nov. 3. Voters that day also decide a measure to repeal the top-four primary and ranked choice voting.