A man serving a 20-year sentence in New York gets on the ballot for Alaska’s lone House seat

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A man serving time on a 20-year prison sentence for threatening officials in New Jersey has made it onto Alaska’s general election ballot for the state’s lone U.S. House seat this November.

Eric Hafner was convicted in 2022 of threatening to kill judges, police officers and others and sentenced to serve 20 years in federal prison. He originally came in sixth in Alaska’s ranked choice primary, which allows only the top four vote-getters to advance to the general election.

But Republican Matthew Salisbury withdrew from the race just ahead of Monday’s deadline, and Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom withdrew last month.

That means Hafner will appear on the November general election ballot along with Alaskan Independence Party chairman John Wayne Howe and frontrunners Democratic U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola and Republican Nick Begich.

Peltola finished with the most votes in a field of 12 in the Aug. 20 primary, followed by Begich and Dahlstrom, who was backed by former President Donald Trump. Far behind them were Salisbury and Howe, who combined received just over 1% of the vote and led the remaining candidates. Hafner received just 0.43% of the vote.

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