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Trump-backed Alaska Republican withdraws from US House race after third-place finish in primary

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Trump-backed Alaska Republican withdraws from US House race after third-place finish in primary


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, a Republican backed by former President Donald Trump, withdrew from the race for the state’s lone seat in the U.S. House on Friday after finishing third in this week’s primary.

Her decision left second-place finisher Republican Nick Begich as the main challenger to Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, who is the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress.

“I entered this race because Alaskans deserve better representation than what we have received from Mary Peltola in Washington,” Dahlstrom said in a statement released by her campaign. “At this time, the best thing I can do to see that goal realized is to withdraw my name from the general election ballot and end my campaign.”

Peltola, Begich and Dahlstrom were the most prominent among a dozen candidates running for the seat in Alaska’s primary. Under Alaska’s open primary system, voters were asked to pick one candidate, with the top four vote-getters in the race, regardless of party affiliation, advancing to the ranked choice general election.

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In early results, Peltola led in the vote count, followed by Begich and then Dahlstrom. It was too early to call who would finish fourth.

The general election is expected to be hotly contested. The GOP is hoping to reclaim the seat that Republican U.S. Rep. Don Young held for 49 years before his death in 2022. Peltola won the seat with victories in special and regular elections that year.

“Mary was so proud to have received more than 50% of the vote last Tuesday when many voters probably assumed she would be moving forward to the general election without their votes,” her campaign manager, Elisa Rios, said in a statement, while also touting accomplishments during Peltola’s term. “We think voters will make the same choice this November.”

Begich, who ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2022, had support from a number of local Republican groups. Dahlstrom was endorsed by Trump and several House leaders, including Speaker Mike Johnson.

Begich congratulated Dahlstrom in a social media post Friday for running a “strong campaign.”

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“Today we move forward unified in the effort to replace Mary Peltola, who has proven by her alignment with the left that she is not the moderate she claimed to be,” Begich wrote.

Begich said before the primary he would withdraw from the race if he finished behind Dahlstrom. Dahlstrom did not make a similar pledge, but told The Associated Press she would to talk with Begich, Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy and the head of the state Republican party after the primary to analyze “who got what and what it’s going to take to have a conservative in that seat vote-wise.”

The National Republican Congressional Committee had supported Dahlstrom, but said Friday that Begich — who comes from a family of prominent Alaska Democrats — is “a great choice.”

“Nancy Dahlstrom has led a life of service and I want to thank her for stepping into the arena this year,” committee chairman Richard Hudson said in an emailed statement. “Her selfless decision today puts Alaskans and the team first, allowing voters to unite around a single Republican.”

Under state law, if one of top four candidates in the primary dies, withdraws or is disqualified within 64 days of the general election, the fifth-place finisher moves on to the general election ballot. Friday marked 74 days until the Nov. 5 general election.

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If early results hold, the other two candidates to advance to the general election would be little-known Republican Matthew Salisbury and Alaska Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe, who were each receiving less than 1% of of the vote.



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Alaska

Temperatures begin downward trend across Alaska this weekend

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Temperatures begin downward trend across Alaska this weekend


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – A week of warm temperatures during the day and below-freezing conditions overnight makes for an icy mess across Southcentral.

In addition to the warm weather, windy and wet conditions continue for the coastal areas of Southcentral, Southwest, and Southeast Alaska as a storm turns near Kodiak.

This storm will stick with us one more day, before moving on to the east. That means Seward, Portage, and Whitter will see rain on Friday, with showers also likely in Homer, Valdez, and Cordova. The higher elevations, including Turnagain Pass, will likely see a wintry mix Thursday night through Friday.

Anchorage will stay mild on Friday, with temperatures starting out slightly below freezing before warming back to the mid-30s in the afternoon.

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An extended stretch of storm-free weather is likely starting this weekend. But with drier and clearer conditions, it also means temperatures will steadily fall 2 to 4 degrees with each day. Get ready for teens and 20s in Anchorage and the Mat-Su by the middle part of next week.



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Murkowski, a vocal Trump critic, vows to work with him to advance Alaska interests

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Murkowski, a vocal Trump critic, vows to work with him to advance Alaska interests


Republican Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski has long been an outspoken critic of President-elect Donald Trump.

She says she never voted for him. Not in 2016, not in 2020, and not this year.

After Jan. 6, 2021, when Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, Murkowski said Trump should have resigned the presidency immediately. She was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 attack. Trump then vowed to campaign against Murkowski; still, she won reelection in 2022.

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Now, Murkowski says she will work with the Trump administration, setting aside their fraught history.

“At the end of the day, regardless of how a given president feels about me personally or politically, my job, my role is to make sure that Alaska stands to gain, and that’s what I intend to do,” Murkowski said Wednesday.

“I have been able to work with every single president, Republican and Democrat, to advance things that work in Alaska’s best interest. That’s part of my job,” said Murkowski, who met with Alaska news media in her Anchorage office. “You figure out areas that you can work together in. You figure out those areas where you need to push back in.”

Murkowski, like other Alaska politicians, has said that Trump’s policies could be more favorable to resource development projects in Alaska.

One area where she said she expected to push back on a Trump agenda was on the fate of the Affordable Care Act, the law championed by President Barack Obama that Trump tried unsuccessfully to repeal during his first term in office.

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“By then, there had been a growing acceptance and appreciation for how the ACA had allowed so many people who weren’t able to previously receive insurance be able to afford to have it,” said Murkowski.

She said “there may be areas” where she would be willing to consider changes to the law, but she was not open to a wholesale repeal of it.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said ahead of Election Day that his caucus would seek to reform the Affordable Care Act if Trump is re-elected. Even congressional inaction during a Trump presidency could impact the Affordable Care Act. Republicans have signaled they may allow major subsidies approved during the Biden presidency to sunset. Those subsidies helped ACA enrollment nearly double in recent years.

Murkowski originally voted against the Affordable Care Act in 2009, then voted against its repeal in 2017.

Murkowski, who voted against the Biden Inflation Reduction Act in 2022, also said she would not support its wholesale repeal. Trump has vowed to repeal parts of the bill.

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“There are many aspects of the IRA that are legitimately issues that may be worthy of review. But it’s not unlike what we saw with the ACA, where once the law was in place, you started to see the benefits play out from it,” said Murkowski. She said those include tax provisions that have led companies to invest in microchip manufacturing and green energy technologies.

“People are saying, ‘Well, not sure that I liked what got us here, but I like what’s happening now, so don’t get rid of this,’” said Murkowski.

“Oftentimes it just doesn’t make sense to unspool it all,” said Murkowski.

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In Depth: Gov. Dunleavy discusses Trump victory, Alaska energy, ranked-choice voting

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In Depth: Gov. Dunleavy discusses Trump victory, Alaska energy, ranked-choice voting


Less than one day after Donald Trump’s historic win over Vice President Kamala Harris in the presidential race, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy sat down with Alaska’s News Source political reporter Steve Kirch to discuss the electoral win, his own election night experience, what Trump’s victory means to Alaska and the state’s energy resource needs, and how his role as governor might change in the future.



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