Federal prisoner who’s not an Alaska resident to face Peltola, Begich in U.S. House race

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A federal prisoner in New York, Eric Hafner — who is not an Alaska resident — will face incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, Republican Nick Begich and Alaska Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe in the November race for Alaska’s lone congressional seat.

Hafner, who is running in Alaska as a Democrat, was sentenced to 20 years in 2023 for “making threatening telephone and email communications to New Jersey state officials, judges, law enforcement officers, and attorneys, and phoning in false bomb threats to local and state government offices, a police department, two law firms, and a commercial establishment” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of New Jersey.

At the time of his sentencing, Hafner was a New Jersey resident.

According to his Alaska candidacy statement, Hafner said he is running for Alaska’s congressional seat because Alaska is at the forefront of the “environment crisis” that he claims is “now manifesting its wrath in the Lower 48-our universities.”

“Our resources like ANWR are precious, not for short term exploitation,” Hafner states. “Together we must unite in our goal, bringing communities together in problem solving, finding viable solutions for the good of all, not immediate greed.”

Alaska Division of Elections Director Carol Beecher cited the U.S. Constitution as the reason Hefner, a convicted felon, is able to run in Alaska.

“Eric Hafner is not an Alaska resident,” Beecher confirmed in a statement to Alaska’s News Source. “The U.S. Constitution, Article 1, Section 2, Clause 2 allows that a candidate for congress does not have to be a resident of the state for which they are running for a U.S. congressional seat, but they must become a resident once elected.

“In Eric Hafner’s case, if elected, he would have to become a resident.”

Alaska has residency requirements preceding filing for state offices but is unable to for U.S. Senate and Representative seats.

“States are not able to add to the constitutional requirements,” Beecher said.

The U.S. Constitution only has specific requirements for age (25 years) and U.S. citizenship (7 years).

Hafner, who has a South Dakota residence, has a history of filing for congressional seats in states where he does not reside.

In 2018, he filed for Oregon’s U.S. House seat as a Democrat, and in 2016, as a Republican, he ran for Hawaii’s congressional seat.

In both instances, he lost in the primary.

His mother, Carol Hafner, has done the same, running in Wyoming in 2020 and Alaska in 2018.

Carol Hafner did not respond to comment on why she and her son run for congressional seats in states where they do not live.

According to Hafner’s Oregon candidate filing, he has identified himself as an ANTIFA & Black Lives Matter activist, a Union organizer, and an ordained Rastafari minister.

Under Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system, the top four primary finishers advance to November’s general election.

With both third- and fourth-place finishers — Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom and Republican Matthew Salisbury — dropping out of the race, Hafner and Howe advanced, even with less than 1% of the primary vote.

In a statement to Alaska’s News Source Rep. Peltola showed dismay of the situation.

“I think, like all Alaskans, I’m offended that someone from out-of-state who has never even stepped foot in Alaska thinks they can represent Alaska,” Peltola said. “I’m confident Alaskans will see through this gimmick and vote for someone who was born and raised in Alaska, gets Alaska, and has helped DC get Alaska with real results: Willow, hundreds of millions of dollars for the railbelt grid, a ban on Russian trawled fish, and 80% reduction in chum bycatch, an icebreaker for the Southeast, billions of dollars for rural internet, and a pause to the Kroger-Albertsons merger.”

Unlike Hafner, Fairbanks resident Howe’s candidate filing said he is a 45-year Alaska resident who presents himself as an anti-tax and anti-government candidate. Howe said he wants to return Alaska to its existence before statehood.

“The vote for statehood was missing the options of being a Commonwealth or becoming a free nation,” Howe said.

“The Feds are an oppressing master, the State is a mere puppet, most local governments are just less oppressive fiefdoms. All the land belongs to Alaskans. All the fish belongs to Alaskans. All the Oil belongs to Alaskans. No Alaskan belongs to anyone. We must be Free. I will work to free the Nation State of Alaska.”

Hafner and Begich have not responded to a request for comment at the time of publication.

The general election is on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024.

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