Peltola Leads Sullivan by 4,250 Votes in Uncalled Alaska Race

Mary Peltola led Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan by 4,250 votes in Alaska’s uncalled Senate race after the latest ballot update, with preliminary results showing neither candidate above the threshold that would avoid a ranked-choice count. The Alaska Division of Elections reported Peltola with 118,926 first-choice votes, or 49%, and Sullivan with 114,676, or 47.2%. The totals remain preliminary as ballots continue to be counted.

Independent candidate Dan J. Sullivan had 4,027 votes, while Republican Gerald Heikes had 5,318. Under Alaska’s ranked-choice system, those votes do not automatically transfer to the Republican incumbent. If tabulation proceeds, ballots are redistributed according to voters’ next-ranked choices, and ballots without another eligible choice no longer count toward the remaining candidates.

Tens of thousands of early and absentee ballots were still outstanding, according to election reporting. One estimate put about 76% of the vote as counted, while other reports described the number of remaining ballots without a settled total. The latest reported lead is larger than Peltola’s 2,517-vote advantage in an earlier update, but the outstanding ballots could change...