Peltola leads Sullivan by 626 votes with nearly all Alaska precincts counted

Editor's note: This story was edited at 10:55 am Wednesday for readability and to explain which ballots remain to be counted. The vote totals did not change.

Democrat Mary Peltola led Republican U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan by 626 votes early Wednesday, with nearly all of Alaska's precincts reporting in the unofficial count.

The Division of Elections still has absentee, early and questioned ballots to count.

Peltola had 102,701 first-choice votes, or 48.0%, to Sullivan's 102,075, or 47.7%, in the division's 2:19 am report. Republican Gerald Heikes had 4,821 votes. Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired Petersburg teacher who shares the senator's name, had 3,583.

If no candidate has a majority once all ballots are counted, a ranked-choice count on Nov. 18 would decide the race. The last-place candidate is dropped, and those ballots move to each voter's next choice, if the voter ranked one. That repeats until one candidate wins. Heikes and Daniel J. Sullivan together drew 8,404 first-choice votes, more than 13 times the gap between the two leaders.

The Justice Department sued last month to hold up certification if the senator loses but would have won had votes for Daniel J. Sullivan gone to him instead. A federal judge dismissed the suit Sunday, and the department has appealed.

Sullivan led the Election Day vote by about 8,400 votes, according to the division's precinct file. Peltola led the early vote by about 7,600 and the absentee ballots counted so far by about 1,400.

Early votes cast from the Friday before Election Day through Tuesday won't be counted until Nov. 10, according to the division's counting schedule. That's also when it starts counting questioned ballots, which come from voters who weren't on the rolls, needed to update their information or didn't have ID. Absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day can arrive through Nov. 13 from inside the U.S. and through Nov. 18 from overseas.

In the U.S. House race, Republican Rep. Nick Begich had 105,353 votes, or 49.5%, just short of a majority. Nonpartisan candidate Bill Hill had 85,838, or 40.3%. Democrat Eric Hafner had 7.3%, and Libertarian Jim McDermott had 2.7%. Begich led the Election Day vote, and Hill led the early vote.

In the governor's race, Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and his running mate, nonpartisan Zac Johnson, had 103,610 votes, or 49.0%, about one point short of a majority. Three Republican tickets followed: Bernadette Wilson and Mike Shower with 29.1%, Dave Bronson and Josh Church with 14.1%, and Treg Taylor and Candice English with 7.4%.

Together, the three Republican tickets drew 50.7% of first-choice votes. In a ranked-choice count, though, each ballot moves according to how that voter ranked the candidates.

Ballot Measure 2, which would end Alaska's open primaries and ranked-choice general elections, was trailing about 52% to 48%, a margin of 7,556 votes. Yes led the Election Day vote by about 2,000 votes, and no led the early vote by about 8,100.

A yes vote would bring back party primaries and single-choice general elections. It would also repeal campaign finance rules passed in 2020, including limits and disclosure rules for digital ads, out-of-state donations and the true source of donations, according to the measure's official summary. A no vote keeps the current system and those rules.

Ballot Measure 3, which would add the word "only" to state law so it says only U.S. citizens may vote, led with 69.6% of the vote.

The state is aiming to certify the election by Nov. 25, according to the division's election calendar. This article will be updated as the state posts more results.