Alaska’s ranked-choice voting means a felon and 2 candidates with the same name will be on November ballot

Washington — Alaska’s House and Senate contests are set for November’s general election, after the results in the state’s nonpartisan top-four primary put fringe candidates on the ballot, including one who shares the same name as the incumbent and a felon serving a 20-year prison sentence in New York. 

CBS News projected that GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan and former Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola advanced to the general election in Alaska’s Senate race in August, as the frontrunners in the race that could be key to determining control of the Senate next year. With 100% of the vote counted on Sept. 1, Republican Daniel J. Sullivan and Democrat David Leslie also advanced to the general election, which will be decided by ranked-choice voting.

Daniel J. Sullivan, a challenger who shares the same first and last name with the senator, added a wrinkle to the already competitive race when the former teacher announced in June that he was challenging the sitting senator, prompting a push to remove him from the ballot. That month, an Alaska election official determined he was not eligible to appear on the ballot, citing a “determined effort and a deliberate attempt” to confuse Alaska voters. But the challenger appealed the decision, paving the way for both Sullivans’ names to appear, and potentially spelling trouble for the incumbent senator’s chances in November.

In the race for Alaska’s sole House seat, CBS News projected last month that GOP Rep. Nick Begich advanced to the general. Independent Bill Hill had the second-most votes, followed by Democrats Matt Schultz and Eric Hafner. Schultz suspended his campaign in July, so he will not be on the November ballot.

Hafner is a convicted felon currently serving out a 20-year prison sentence in New York, after he pleaded guilty to making threatening communications to state officials. He’s been on the ballot in Alaska before, in the 2024 cycle, along with a 2016 Hawaii House race and another House race in Oregon in 2018.

Alaska voted to change its election system in 2020, which was first implemented in 2022. The unique system moved the state away from party primaries in an attempt to stymie polarization. The state has also been home to unusual election outcomes in the past, like in 2010, when Sen. Lisa Murkowski won her reelection bid on a write-in campaign, after she had been defeated in the GOP primary.