(The Center Square) – Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom threw her hat into the ring for Alaska’s sole congressional seat on Tuesday.
Dahlstrom served in the Alaska House of Representatives. She was commissioner of the Department of Corrections when Gov. Mike Dunleavy asked her to be his running mate in 2022. The pair won Alaska’s first ranked-choice vote for governor in the first round.
“Alaska need a proven tough fighter to stop the assault on Alaska from Joe Biden and Washington, D.C. liberals,” Dahlstrom said in a news release. “Raising my four kids and working my way up in the private sector before giving back to serve Alaskans, I have seen how D.C. politicians betray Alaskans every day.”
Democrat Mary Peltola currently holds the position, having won a special election after the death of long-term Rep. Don Young, a Republican, and winning a two-year term in November 2022.
Republican Nick Begich, who lost to Peltola last year, announced in July he will run again.
Two other candidates will be on the ballot, according to the Alaska Division of Elections. Lady Donna Dutchess of Anchorage is running as an independent.
Richard Grayson of Apache Junction is running on the No Labels ticket.
Alaska’s elections are decided by ranked-choice voting. With the ranked-choice system, voters can choose from candidates from all parties during an open primary, casting ballots for their candidate of choice. Based on their votes, the top four candidates are then moved to the general election ballot, where voters then rank the top candidates, one through four.
