Peltola, Kreiss-Tomkins grow leads after latest ballot counts in Alaska

Key Points:

• Democrat Mary Peltola increased her lead over Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race after an additional 5,000 ballots were counted, with Peltola holding 49.1% of first-choice votes to Sullivan’s 46.8%.
• In the governor’s race, Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins surpassed 50% of first-choice votes, positioning him ahead of three Republican candidates and on track to become Alaska’s first Democratic governor since 2002.
• Thousands of absentee ballots remain to be counted, with final results expected by November 18, and many newly counted ballots from Southeast Alaska favored Democrats in both the Senate and governor races.
• Republican incumbent Rep. Nick Begich leads in the race for Alaska’s lone U.S. House seat with 48.5% of first-choice votes, followed by Independent Bill Hill at 41.1%.
• A ballot measure to repeal Alaska’s election system failed with 52.8% voting against it, while a separate measure affirming U.S. citizenship requirements for voters is passing with nearly 69% approval; bipartisan Democrat-led majorities are expected to continue in the state legislature.