Conservative Republican Nick Begich will win a tight race for Alaska’s lone seat in the House of Representatives, according to the Associated Press.

Begich defeated his main rival, Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, the first Native Alaskan in Congress, and one of only five House Democrats currently representing a district won by President-elect Trump in 2020.

The win widens the Republican majority in the House to 219 and 213 for Democrats.

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The GOP candidate is no stranger to politics, having been born into a prominent political family in Alaska – made up of mostly Democrats.

His grandfather, Nick Begich, Sr., was an Alaska congressman, before mysteriously disappearing on a flight and being pronounced dead in 1972. His uncle, Mark Begich, was a U.S. senator for Alaska from 2009 to 2015.

The other two hopefuls in the race were Alaska Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe and Democratic candidate Eric Hafner.

Alaska is one of only two states to use ranked-choice voting in federal elections, something that benefited Peltola in 2022, when Begich and former Gov. Sarah Palin knocked each other out of the running by splitting the Republican vote.

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Rep. Mary Peltola is one of a few House Democrats in a seat won by Trump in 2020. (Getty Images)

Republicans took a lesson from that defeat, however, and instead, coalesced around Begich earlier in the race.

Alaska has just one House seat given its modest population compared to more densely packed states. It is also one of only two states to use ranked-choice voting in its federal elections.

Peltola won her seat in a special election following the sudden death of longtime Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, in 2022.

Young’s daughters and several former staffers endorsed Peltola for re-election in the November race later that year.

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Rep. Mary Peltola replaced late Rep. Don Young, who died suddenly in 2022. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call)

The moderate Democrat has been known to break from her party on certain climate and energy issues, among others.

Begich’s victory is a much-needed win for House Republicans who have fought tooth-and-nail to retain and even expand their majority.

He was added to the House GOP campaign arm’s “Young Guns” list in August of this year, giving him access to National Republican Congressional Committee resources, support, and advisement.

Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. 

Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur has won her 22nd term in Congress in northwest Ohio, defeating her Republican challenger and holding on to her seat in one of the most closely watched races in the country.

Kaptur defeated Ohio state Rep. Derek Merrin, according to the Associated Press, which called the race Wednesday at 1:02 p.m. With 99% of precincts reporting, Kaptur led Merrin with 48.27% of the vote to 47.63%, a lead of 2,382 votes. 

Though the race was not called on election night, Kaptur had declared victory early on Nov. 6. Her win will keep the incoming Republican House majority at 218 seats while Democrats hold 213. 

“Tonight, the people of Ohio’s 9th District have spoken, and I am deeply grateful for the trust they have placed in me to continue fighting for working families, creating good-paying jobs, protecting healthcare for everyone, and securing Social Security and Medicare so Ohioans can retire with dignity,” her campaign said in a statement. “This campaign has always been about the strength and resilience of our communities, and tonight we celebrate not just a victory but a renewed commitment to the belief that what America makes and grows, makes and grows America.”

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Kaptur was one of eight Democrats running in 2024 in a district that voted for Trump in 2020. Trump won the state of Ohio by 8 points in 2020.

Heading into the election, Republicans were optimistic they could flip the seat after redistricting following the 2020 census brought more Trump-friendly areas into the district.

Merrin took aim at Kaptur’s long tenure in Congress by pushing for term limits and criticizing the congresswoman for sponsoring only five bills on her own that became law in 41 years.

“Marcy Kaptur hasn’t done squat for the four decades she has served in Congress,” Merrin told Fox News Digital earlier this year, arguing that Kaptur will “continue the ineffective status quo.”

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State Rep. Derek Merrin talks to reporters on Feb. 15, 2023, in Columbus, Ohio. (AP Photo/Samantha Hendrickson, file)

Merrin’s campaign also focused on Kaptur’s voting in line with the Biden administration 100% of the time.

Pro-Kaptur ads running on radio and television in Toledo focused on Merrin’s past support for convicted politician Larry Householder, attempted to paint him as a radical on the abortion issue and called him a “corporate puppet.”

Rep. Marcy Kaptur speaks at the VFW Post 2529 Annual Corn Roast in Sandusky, Ohio, on Aug. 20, 2022. (Bill Clark/Getty Images)

“I would put my record up against any person in the current Congress and even some who have preceded me,” Kaptur said in a recent interview. “And I defy my opponents to even show anything they’ve done that comes close to what we have been able to accomplish because of that seniority.”

Kaptur was viewed as one of the most vulnerable members of the House heading into the 2024 election.

“This is seen by everybody around the country as what may be the best pickup opportunity we have to flip a blue seat to red,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said while rallying for Merrin in October.

Proposition 6, the ballot measure that would have amended the California Constitution to prohibit involuntary servitude in prison, failed. That’s troubling. Do voters really believe forced prison labor is acceptable?

The state Constitution (like its federal counterpart) has long outlawed slavery and involuntary servitude except “to punish crime.” Maybe voters thought prisoners should be made to work as part of their punishment, which would be in keeping with the broader “tough on crime” tilt of this year’s electorate. Whatever the voters’ reasons, forcing incarcerated individuals to do work against their will is immoral and does no one any good — neither prisoners nor those in the outside world to which most will return. The practice should be abolished.

Prison itself is the punishment prescribed for those held in one. Prisoners should be able choose their jobs — of which there are many in prison — as well as the educational and treatment programs they need to prepare for life after prison. “The goal should be changing behavior,” says Jay Jordan, a longtime criminal justice reform activist who spent 7½ years in prison and advised the Proposition 6 campaign.

Former prisoners have recounted being assigned work that they didn’t want or that interfered with classes or drug and alcohol treatment programs they wanted to take. Their labor is for the most part barely compensated, at rates far below minimum wage. And refusing work often results in discipline, they have said, such as loss of various privileges. Some former prisoners said they waited years to get the jobs or treatment they wanted.

Not that jobs go undone: More than 90,000 people are in California‘s prisons, and only about 35,000 have jobs. And if Proposition 6 had passed, prisoners still would have been able to work on a voluntary basis.

This system needs to be changed. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has already made a few improvements. Up to 75% of full-time jobs are being converted into part-time jobs, which would leave prisoners with more time to pursue education and treatment. The prison system also doubled the paltry wages it pays for work, although the jobs pay a pittance even with that increase. Most prisoners make 16 to 74 cents per hour, though firefighters can be paid up to $10 an hour.

But state law requires that all able-bodied prisoners work, and prison officials can’t change that.

The state Legislature, however, could — and should. In fact, lawmakers passed and the governor signed legislation to do away with the work requirement this year, but it was contingent on voter approval of Proposition 6.

The Legislature should pass a bill to remove mandatory work from the Penal Code that doesn’t rely on a constitutional amendment. While the Constitution allows forced labor in prison, it is the Penal Code that mandates it. Only voters can change the constitutional provision, but lawmakers have the power and duty to change the law.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom should also explore the possibility of an executive order directing prison officials to end forced labor.

In addition, the Legislature should give voters another opportunity to do away with the constitutional exception, particularly given the possibility that the language of Proposition 6 could have been clearer. Nevada voters decisively passed a similar measure that, in contrast to California’s initiative, used the word “slavery.”

There should be no place in the California Constitution for anything as morally offensive as forced labor. It is a remnant of a national atrocity that should not be tolerated in prisons or anywhere else.