Alaska voters advanced incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski to the midterm elections in Tuesday’s primary. In the Congressional primary, Sarah Palin was the first to secure a spot on the November ballot.
Alaska is following the “top-four” election format. In this, a singular ballot is issued to voters, who then select their preferred candidate irrespective of party. The top four vote-getters advance to the general elections.
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In addition to Murkowski, GOP’s Kelly Tshibaka has also confirmed her place. According to CNN, the remaining two frontrunners in the US Senate race are Patricia Chesbro (Democrat) and Buzz Kelley (Republican).
The at-large District primary in Alaska has also confirmed spots for Republican Nick Begich and Democrat Mary Peltola, who secured the maximum votes. The Congressional district’s previous Representative was Don Young, who died in March this year.
The special election and primary races were on opposite sides of Tuesday’s ballot. The winner of the ranked choice special election may not be known until the end of the month.
In the race for Alaska governor, Republican Mike Dunleavy, Democrat Les Gara and independent Bill Walker advanced to the November general election. Other candidates in the race include Republican state Representative Christopher Kurka and Charlie Pierce, a Republican borough mayor.
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Lisa Murkowski’s survival in this year’s primary election has been credited to Alaska’s new voting system, which does not take into account party divisions. Murkowski has been a sharp critic of former US President Donald Trump, who has taken the role of the primary kingmaker. Murkowski was also one of the few US Senators who voted to impeach Trump from the White House.
Things did not go well for Liz Cheney, also a Republican critic of Trump and a Congresswoman from Wyoming. She lost her re-election bid on Tuesday to Harriet Hageman, a Trump endorsed candidate.