Republican Nick Begich declared victory Saturday in the race for Alaska’s only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, celebrating his impending victory over Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola.
“The Alaskans have spoken,” Begich said in a post on social media. “It will be the honor of a lifetime to have the opportunity to make your voice heard in Congress.”
The Decision Desk HQ organization projected Begich would win the seat Saturday morning, flipping the seat from Democratic to Republican control. The Associated Press had not yet called the race as of Saturday afternoon. Begich leads Peltola by more than 8,300 votes, 48.7% to 46.1%.
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A representative for Peltola did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Alaska Division of Elections added about 6,800 votes at his count on Saturday.
The update narrowed the gap in another high-profile statewide race, a ballot measure that would repeal the state’s open voting system in primaries and ranked choices.
According to Saturday’s update, the “Yes” vote on Ballot Measure 2 leads by just 895 votes in a race that has seen 310,289 votes counted so far. The margin is now 50.1% to 49.9%, well below the 0.5% threshold that would trigger an automatic recount.
The update did not significantly change the rankings of other races.
The division of elections estimated Saturday that there were about 9,000 ballots left to count. The counting is expected to end on Wednesday, November 20.
The election is expected to be certified on November 30.
Eric Stone covers state government, following the Alaska Legislature, state politics and its impact on all Alaskans. Contact him at estone@alaskapublic.org and follow it on @eriwinsto. Learn more about Eric here.