Alaska Senate Race Hinges on Second-Round Count After 700-Vote Gap

Alaska’s U.S. Senate race remains unresolved more than 24 hours after polls closed on Election Day. With 74% of ballots counted, Democrat Mary Peltola held a lead of fewer than 700 votes over Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan. The margin had not changed since Friday.

Mississippi and Alaska were the only two states without a new senator as other states finalized their results. Peltola told supporters that delays are standard for the state. “The results are not gonna be fast, but Alaskans are patient.. It will be weeks,” she said.

Alaska uses a ranked-choice voting system. If no candidate reaches 50% of first-place votes, officials remove the last-place finisher and reallocate those ballots. That process will not begin before Nov. 18. Ballots from remote areas must also be transported by air or mail, which extends the counting period.

A complication arose from the presence of another candidate named Dan Sullivan on the ballot as a third-party option. The Justice Department and the FBI are investigating the situation. The Trump administration filed a lawsuit to prevent certification of the election if Peltola wins. The administration argued that Democrats added the same-named candidate to split the vote.

Incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan criticized the outcome. “What’s the first order of business when [Peltola is] going to run for the Senate, to put together a secret scheme,” he said. He claimed the goal was to trick voters and rig the election.

The next major step is the reallocation of ballots, scheduled to start on Nov. 18. Until then, the official outcome of the race remains undecided.