Alaska voters decide election issues in a hotly contested race for the state's only U.S. House seat

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska voters decided on Tuesday a closely contested race for the state's only U.S. House seat that could determine control of that chamber. They also considered whether to repeal the state's system of open primaries and ranked-choice voting, just four years after they decided to try that system.

Democratic US Representative. Maria Peltola tried to stave off GOP efforts to retake the seat held for 49 years by Republican Rep. Don Young, who died in 2022. Peltola's main opponent was Republican Nick Begichwho comes from a family of prominent Democrats and was among the opponents she defeated in special and regular elections two years ago when Peltola, whose name is Yup'ik, became the first Alaska Native elected to Congress.

In addition to the repeal initiative, the vote included a measure that would increase the state's minimum wage and require paid sick leave for many workers, a measure opposed by groups including several chambers of commerce and a seafood processing industry association.

Fifty of the state legislature's 60 seats were also up for election, with control of the state House of Representatives and Senate up for grabs. The closely divided House of Representatives has struggled to organize after the last three election cycles. In AlaskaLawmakers don’t always organize by party.

In Alaska's primary race for the House of Representatives, Peltola tried to distance herself from presidential politics by refusing to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris and rejecting any weight that an endorsement from her might have in a state that last voted for one in 1964 Democratic presidential candidate. Casting herself as someone willing to work across party lines, she played her role in getting the Biden administration to approve the massive Willow oil project, which enjoys broad political support in Alaska.

Begich, whose grandfather, the late Democrat Nick Begich, held the seat before Young, was endorsed by former President Donald Trump following his appearance in the primary.

Trump's first choice, Republican Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom, bowed to pressure from Republicans seeking to consolidate behind a female candidate after finishing third in the primary and dropped out. Alaska's open primary allows the top four vote-getters to advance. First-fourth place finisher, Republican Matthew Salisbury, also withdrew, leaving behind Alaskan Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe and Eric Hafner, a Democrat with no apparent ties to the state who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for violating authorities and has threatened others in New Jersey, on the ballot.

Begich, the founder of a software development company, sought to cast Peltola as ineffective in stopping Biden administration actions that restricted resource development in a state dependent on it, including the decision to close leases for oil and gas production in the Arctic to terminate National Wildlife Refuge.

Alaska is one of only two states that have adopted ranked-choice voting — and would be the first to repeal it if the voting initiative is successful. In 2020, Alaskans voted in a close vote to eliminate party primaries in favor of open primaries and ranked-choice voting. Most registered voters in Alaska are not affiliated with a party, and the new system is intended to give voters more choices and moderate the electoral process. However, critics called it confusing.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a moderate Republican and Trump critic who has been at odds with party leaders, appeared in an ad advocating for keeping primaries and ranked-choice voting open.

Opponents of the system managed to collect enough signatures to qualify the repeal measure for the ballot — and survived a months-long legal battle to keep it on the ballot. Begich was among those who supported repeal, and the state Republican Party has also supported the repeal effort.