Overview and Live Results: Alaska At-Large Congressional Special Primary
By 270toWin Staff
June 10, 2022, 5:35 PM ET
Voters in Alaska have a lot of options from which to choose as they cast their ballot in the all-party primary for the state's at-large congressional district. The seat became open for the first time in nearly half a century when Republican Don Young died in March.
The primary has been conducted largely by mail, with ballots sent to registered voters in late April. Those must be postmarked on or before Election Day, Saturday, June 11. Any ballots that meet that criteria that are received by June 21 will be counted.
There are in-person polling places available on Election Day. The latest of these close at 8:00 PM Alaska Time (midnight Eastern). Live results will appear below after that time, although with the extended window to receive mail ballots, it may be a while before the outcome is known.
48 candidates are on the ballot. The list includes 16 Republicans, 6 Democrats, and 4 from third parties. The remaining 22 filed as either nonpartisan or undeclared. The top four finishers will advance to the August 16 special general election, which will use ranked choice voting to determine a winner. That person will serve until the end of the year, completing Young's term.
Listed below are some prominent candidates, with party affiliation, if the candidate filed with one. To the right of the name is the percentage support the candidate saw in an early May poll from Alaska Survey Research.
| Sarah Palin (R) | 19% | Former Alaska governor and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee. |
| Nick Begich III (R) | 16% | From a prominent, mostly Democratic, Alaska political family. His grandfather, Nick Begich Sr. (D) preceded Don Young in the House; a plane he was on vanished in October, 1972. |
| Al Gross | 13% | Orthopedic surgeon. Running as an independent, he was the 2020 Democratic U.S. Senate nominee, losing to incumbent Dan Sullivan (R). |
| Santa Claus | 6% | Councilman in North Pole, Alaska. Good name recognition. |
| Chris Constant (D) | 5% | Member of the Anchorage Assembly. |
| Mary Peltola (D) | 5% | Former State Representative. |
| Josh Revak (R) | 4% | State Senator and co-chair of Young's 2022 reelection campaign. |
| Tara Sweeney (R) | 4% | Co-chair of Young's 2022 reelection campaign. |
| Jeff Lowenfels | 3% | Long-time gardening columnist for Anchorage Daily News. |
| John Coghill (R) | 2% | Former State Senator |
| Andrew Halcro | 2% | Former State Representative |
| Adam Wool (D) | 2% | State Representative |
| Emil Notti (D) | 0% | Lost in the 1973 special election that elected Don Young. Now 89, he's giving it another try. |
August 16 is also the same date as the statewide primary, where voters will separately choose four nominees for the full two-year term to be contested in November's general election. Filing recently completed for that election, with 31 candidates certified. 24 of these are also on Saturday's ballot, including all the candidates in the above list except for Claus, Halcro, and Notti. Note that candidates can withdraw from the August primary up through June 25, so it is possible the list will shrink after the result of Saturday's primary is known.
