Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom is withdrawing from the race for the state’s lone U.S. House seat, she announced via social media on Friday, just three days after the primary election.
With most of the votes counted, Dahlstrom is expected to finish third in the state’s top-four primary election, behind Democratic incumbent Mary Peltola and fellow Republican challenger Nick Begich.
In a prepared statement published, Dahlstrom said she wanted to see Peltola voted out of office but “at this time, the best thing I can do to see that goal realized is to withdraw my name from the (Nov. 5) general election ballot and end my campaign.”
Peltola’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dahlstrom had been endorsed by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, Speaker of the U.S. House Mike Johnson and other national Republicans, but she struggled to gain support among Alaska Republicans.
While the state’s Republican Party did not make an endorsement ahead of the primary, many local party groups endorsed Begich, who also has the support of the Freedom Caucus, a nationwide group of Republicans that generally support positions to the right of the establishment.
In a statement posted on social media, Begich said Dahlstrom’s decision means Republicans can “move forward unified in the effort to replace Mary Peltola, who has proven by her alignment with the left that she is not the moderate she claimed to be.”
With 399 of 403 precincts reporting results as of Thursday afternoon, Aug. 22, and thousands of absentee ballots yet to be counted, Dahlstrom had 20% of the vote in the April 20 primary election. Peltola had 50.4% of the 96,500 votes, and Nick Begich had 27%.
Peltola led among Wrangell voters but with a slightly smaller margin than statewide. The incumbent collected 46% of the Wrangell votes to 29% for Begich to 25% for Dahlstrom.
Dahlstrom’s withdrawal means the expected No. 4 finisher, Republican Matt Salisbury, will likely advance to the general election alongside Begich and Peltola, as would Alaskan Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe, who is currently No. 5 in the primary.
Salisbury, a little-known moderate Republican, is currently No. 4 with just 0.6% of the vote.
Neither Howe nor Salisbury have raised or spent significant amounts of money, while Peltola has raised more than $7.5 million in support of her candidacy, and Begich has raised almost $1 million.
Millions more is being spent by outside groups.
The Alaska seat in the U.S. House could help determine whether Republicans or Democrats control the chamber next session.
In the November general election, Alaska voters will rank the candidates one through four. The candidate who gets more than 50% of first-choice votes will win, unless no one reaches that threshold in the first count, in which case the fourth- and third-place finishers will be eliminated until a candidate has more than 50% of the ballots.
The Alaska Beacon is an independent, donor-funded news organization. Alaskabeacon.com. The Sentinel contributed reporting for this story.
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