Democrat Mary Peltola increased her lead over incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan on Monday, when the Alaska Division of Elections updated her tally in one of the most closely watched U.S. Senate elections in the country.
Peltola is now in the lead with 2,517 first-choice votes. That’s an increase from the 637 it held last week, in the days following the Nov. 3 election.
She now has 48.6% of the votes. Sullivan owns 47.5%.
In the race for the United States House of Representatives, incumbent Republican Nick Begich is still ahead of his closest challenger, independent Bill Hill. Begich holds 49.1% to Hill’s 40.7%.
The count continues, with further results expected Tuesday and Friday. The state still has thousands of early, absentee and contested ballots to count.
If both leaders remain below 50% of the first-choice votes, the race will be decided by ranked-choice. The division will not make this total until November 18.
State races and ballot measures
Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins continues to hold a substantial lead in the gubernatorial race, now with 49.6% of the vote. Republican Bernadette Wilson is her closest rival with 29%. If Kreiss-Tomkins does not receive more than 50% of the first-choice votes, the race will be determined by ranking of choices.
Some legislative races remain close. Independent Joy Beth Cottle leads Republican Harmony Tomaszewski by 43 votes in a two-way race for a seat in the Fairbanks state House of Representatives vacated by Tomaszewski’s husband, Frank Tomaszewski, who is vying to win a seat in the state Senate. In an Eagle River House race, Republican Ken McCarty leads fellow GOP candidate Gina Wall by 16 votes.
Leaders in the House and Senate formed largely Democratic, bipartisan majority coalitions shortly after Election Day.
In another close race, a slim majority of voters continue to oppose repeal of ranked-choice voting, open primaries and campaign finance rules aimed at unmasking donors. The “no” vote on Ballot Measure 2 came in first with about 9,500 votes, or 52% to 48%.
Monday’s update added about 4,900 ballots to the count. More results are expected to be released on Tuesday.
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