The Alaska Democratic Party is encouraging its members to back independent Bill Hill, a Dena’ina Athabascan fisherman, in the state’s sole House seat.
Party Chair Eric Croft wrote Saturday in an internal party memo obtained by The Washington Post that the independent candidate has the most realistic chance of unseating incumbent Rep. Nick Begich (R). A formal motion to endorse Hill will depend on how the independent responds to questions on abortion access, union rights and funding for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Croft wrote. The party will meet Tuesday to discuss its endorsements of statewide candidates.
Under the state’s top-four open primary system, the four candidates with the most votes in the primary — regardless of party — go on to the November general election. Begich received more than 44 percent of the vote, while Hill received over 32 percent.
Progressive clergyman Matt Schultz and perennial candidate Eric Hafner came in third and fourth, respectively. Both ran as Democrats. Despite Croft’s support, Schultz suspended his campaign in July and endorsed Hill, meaning the clergyman will not appear on the ballot in November. Hafner is currently serving a federal prison sentence in New York for threatening to kill law enforcement and is viewed by Democrats as a spoiler candidate propped by Begich supporters.
National Democrats have not invested in the race beyond verbal support for Hill from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. He has not been given resources that Democratic candidates in competitive races have generally received.
The party also consolidated around former Alaska state representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins to be the Democratic nominee for governor. Former state senator Tom Begich agreed to drop out of the race over the weekend.
Both Kreiss-Tomkins and Tom Begich advanced to the general election, but both candidates agreed that whoever got the most votes in the primary held Aug. 18 should be the party’s gubernatorial nominee.
The two candidates collectively secured roughly 43 percent of votes. Republican Bernadette Wilson secured the third-most ballots, with roughly 10 percent of the vote.
Alaska voted for President Donald Trump by more than 13 percentage points in 2024. But Democrats feel bullish this year with former congresswoman Mary Peltola at the top of the ticket in the state’s U.S. Senate race against Sen. Dan Sullivan (R). Peltola won the statewide House seat twice in 2022.
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