Alaska Senate Race Hinges on Ranked-Choice Transfers

Alaska's U.S. Senate race remains undecided as Democrat Mary Peltola leads Republican Senator Dan S. Sullivan by 637 first-choice votes, with neither candidate reaching 50 percent and tens of thousands of ballots uncounted. A second candidate named Dan Sullivan, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., drew 3,600 votes, more than five times Peltola's lead, and his voters' second choices could shift the outcome. Newsweek estimates ranked-choice transfers would give Senator Sullivan a narrow 333-vote advantage, though Peltola could still win if uncounted ballots favor her by about 0.7 points. The count faces legal disputes and a repeal measure for ranked-choice voting, with roughly 51,000 ballots still to process and deadlines extending to November 18. Final results depend on second-choice allocations if no candidate tops 50 percent.