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 Alaska’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.

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.

<bsp-list-loadmore data-module="" class=«PageListStandardB» data-gtm-region=«RELATED COVERAGE» data-gtm-topic=«No Value» data-show-loadmore=«true» data-gtm-modulestyle=«List B»> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> RELATED COVERAGE </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Alaska Supreme Court clears the way for ranked choice repeal measure to appear on November ballot </bsp-custom-headline> <bsp-custom-headline custom-headline=«div»> Western Alaska Yup’ik village floods as river rises from a series of storms