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Peltola nears 50% and Begich's lead shrinks in new Nov. 13 results
New election results the state released Friday evening, Nov. 13, left Democrat Mary Peltola 445 votes short of a majority of the first-choice votes counted so far in Alaska's U.S. Senate race, and nonpartisan Bill Hill cut into Republican Rep. Nick Begich's lead in the U.S. House race.
The update added 22,511 ballots from every House district, about half of them absentee ballots from Anchorage, Eagle River and Chugiak. About 3,700 came from Southeast Alaska and about 2,000 from the Interior House district that stretches from Delta Junction and Glennallen to Galena and Fort Yukon, including the first absentee ballots counted there.
Peltola's lead over Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan grew to 10,412, up from 5,800 after Thursday's update. She has 49.84% of first-choice votes to Sullivan's 46.09% in the Division of Elections' latest results and won about 59% of the new Senate votes. Under state law, a candidate with more than half of the first-round votes when counting ends wins without ranked-choice rounds.
The division's live results page shows Peltola at 50.0% because it leaves write-in votes out of the total and rounds to one decimal place. Leaving out write-ins, she is 17 votes short.
About 10,500 ballots the division had accepted by Friday afternoon weren't in the results yet, by Alaska News' count from the division's ballot report. They include about 2,600 questioned ballots from Anchorage, Eagle River and Chugiak, which voters cast when election workers can't confirm their eligibility at the polls, and none of those have been counted. Ballots from overseas can still arrive through Nov. 18. To top 50%, Peltola would need about 54% of the Senate votes still to be counted, or a little less if more ballots arrive.
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Today
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Interior Department and Marine Minerals Administration Regional Tribal Meeting
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Meeting
Alaska LNG ROW Lease Conversion Public Hearing (Virtual)
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About Alaska
Alaska is a United States state spanning Arctic, subarctic and coastal regions. Its communities range from Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau to Kodiak, the North Slope and villages such as McGrath and Adak that sit off the road system.
The Legislature, the governor's office and state agencies set policy on oil and gas, fisheries, transportation and public lands, and state boards such as the Board of Fisheries and the AIDEA board decide on catch rules, loans and investments. Cities and boroughs keep their own budgets, taxes, liquor licenses and planning decisions.
Questions that recur across the state include local budgets and tax rates, fishery catch limits, air service and ports for remote communities, and decisions on state land. Federal agencies and courts also shape life in Alaska, from air service contracts for rural towns to the certification of statewide election results.
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