Politics

Alaska voters in 2020 adopted a new way to elect candidates, pairing an open primary with ranked choice voting in the general.

This election, Ballot Measure 2 asks voters whether they want to make history again by becoming the first state to ditch ranked choice voting and go back to partisan primaries.

The No on 2 campaign is trying to persuade Alaskans to keep what they have, equating the open primary, where all candidates appear on the same ballot, with freedom.

“We don’t have to choose a ballot and limit our choices,” said Juli Lucky, who leads No on 2. “We can vote for anybody we want, and we can also vote for people from a different party. So if you’d like a Republican in one race, an independent in one race, a Democrat in another race, our open primary allows you to do that.”

Alaska’s system is lauded nationally as a way to end hyperpolarized politics and promote bipartisan compromise. And, largely from Outside sources, No on 2 has raised more than $12 million. It’s outspending Yes on 2 by 100 to 1.

Yet the ballot measure has a good chance of passing because the open primary and ranked choice is unpopular among Alaska conservatives.

Former Lt. Gov. Loren Leman, a Republican, argues that parties should be able to close their primary to voters of a different affiliation.

“Why should somebody who’s registered as a Democrat vote in the Republican primary, to choose who their candidate is going to run against?” Leman asked, on a recent episode of “Alaska Insight”. “What do you think they’re going to do? Going to low-ball somebody, or, you know, pick somebody that will be a weaker candidate.”

While opponents claim that the voting system was imposed on Alaska by Outside interests, Anchorage attorney Scott Kendall says he came up with the idea. He said he saw the need for it when he was chief of staff to Gov. Bill Walker, trying to get legislators to address the state’s fiscal crisis, among other issues. For two years, Kendall said, he couldn’t loosen legislators from their gridlock.

“They all feared being ‘primaried’ – you know, primary as a verb — that if they didn’t toe the party line, they would get taken out,” he said. “We created a system that was designed for them to get reelected, but also designed for them to fail at their jobs.”

So in 2018, Kendall started thinking of a way to open the primary. He opted for a primary in which the top-four candidates advance to the general. And then he needed a way to narrow the field without creating the spoiler effect, where two candidates from the same party would split the vote and elect a competitor. That’s where ranked choice came in. Then Kendall said he started seeking money to mount a ballot measure campaign.

“Both inside the state, which we had a little bit of success (at), and then outside the state,” he said. “But the ideas and the writing of the measure was all done here in Alaska, by Alaskans.”

Alaska and Maine are the only states that have ranked choice voting for all or most state elections, though several cities use the method. In November, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon will vote on whether to employ ranked choice in future elections. Meanwhile, 10 Republican-led states ban ranked choice.

For many Alaska conservatives, the problem with ranked choice voting was exemplified the first time it was deployed, in the special election for U.S. House in 2022. Democrat Mary Peltola got more of the first-choice ballots than Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich III. But the two Republicans combined got more votes than the single Democrat.

In theory, ranked choice should have healed that Republican split. If every Begich voter ranked Sarah Palin second, Palin would have won.

But Begich voters chose not to use their ballots that way.

Instead, barely more than half of Begich voters chose Palin second. Nearly a third voted for Peltola second. And about a fifth of Begich voters did not rank a second candidate.

So Peltola won. Palin did not get enough of the Begich vote to overtake Peltola’s lead.

To avoid a repeat, some Republicans pressed the message that voters should “rank the red,” even if they don’t like the system. Still, a similar thing happened in the regular election in November 2022: Peltola got more first-choice ballots than the other candidates, and the 2nd and 3rd rankings didn’t give Palin enough of a boost to overtake Peltola’s lead.

The lesson many Republicans took from this is that it’s bad to have two Republican candidates on the general ballot and the idea of ranking as a means of avoiding a spoiler effect hasn’t caught on.

Leman said ranked choice isn’t a good tool for that.

“It’s convoluted. It’s complex. It’s confusing to people,” he said.

Proponents of ranked choice say it’s so simple, even children get it. Lucky points to the low error rate on 2022 ballots as proof that the system isn’t difficult.

One person who has changed his view is Former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich, a Democrat, who was a leading voice against ranked choice voting at first.

“Yeah, in 2020 I supported the effort to keep it the way it was, keep our primary, keep the general election, let the parties make the decision,” said Begich, uncle of House candidate Nick Begich III.

The former senator worried, among other things, that the new system might mean Democratic candidates would be shut out of the general election. Now, he said, he believes it encourages candidates to be less polarized, to campaign on who they are.

“I have changed my view, and I’ve seen it give voters much more choices. And I know there’s an effort now to get rid of it. I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said.

The repeal measure will appear on the ballot as Ballot Measure 2. A yes vote would do away with the open primary and ranked choice voting and replace them with party primaries and single-choice general elections. A no vote would keep the system that’s been in use since 2022.

The Alaska Federation of Natives voted Saturday to endorse the reelection of Democratic U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola and to oppose the ballot measure to repeal the state’s open primaries and ranked choice voting.

The votes came on the last day of its annual three-day convention, which had the theme this year of “Our Children, Our Future Ancestors.” The delegates from tribes, nonprofit tribal organizations and regional and village Native corporations passed 18 resolutions on issues ranging from a call for Congress to amend federal law to explicitly recognize Native rights to subsistence hunting, fishing and gathering to support for the state prioritizing public education funding.

Peltola, who is Yup’ik, from Bethel and the first Alaska Native member of Congress, drew broad support from the delegates, though some groups abstained from the vote.

The resolution endorsing Peltola was introduced by Sealaska, the regional Native corporation for Southeast Alaska.

“Representative Peltola has been a strong advocate for Alaska’s fisheries and subsistence users by introducing and working with her colleagues, regardless of party affiliation, for legislation to strengthen US seafood competitiveness in international markets, taking actions to enhance research to improve federal programs that support domestic seafood production and working tirelessly to reduce bycatch and protect fisheries habitat,” the resolution said.

Peltola’s top opponent is Republican Nick Begich. AFN did not host a candidate forum this year, after having hosted forums at previous conventions.

The resolution opposing Ballot Measure 2 — which would repeal the voting system — passed without opposition. But a resolution in support of Ballot Measure 1 never made it to a vote.

Ballot Measure 1 would raise the state’s minimum wage to $15 per hour by 2027, require employers to pay sick leave, and bar employers from requiring workers to attend political or religious meetings.

A motion to table the resolution supporting Ballot Measure 1 was introduced by Curtiss Chamberlain, assistant general counsel for Calista Corp., the regional Native corporation for the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region.

Chamberlain noted that many village corporations face declining revenue because of the projected decline in revenue being shared by the Red Dog mine. The potential added costs from the ballot measure trouble village corporations in Calista’s region, he said.

“A few brought their concerns to our attention,” he said. “And with that, and based on those discussions and concerns, I respectfully ask that this be tabled.”

Debra Call, a member of the Cook Inlet Tribal Council, unsuccessfully spoke in favor of the resolution and against the motion to table it.

“You really need to raise the standard of living of many of our people, and this is the start to do that,” Call said of the minimum wage increase.

She later added: “I would request that we support this resolution for the betterment of all of Alaska, particularly those who are in jobs that don’t pay what they can live on, so it’s about a living wage.”

The delegates tabled the resolution by a voice vote.

The AFN passed all of the other resolutions. A full list of the resolutions in their draft form — before they were amended on the convention floor — can be found at this link.

Alaska has just one U.S. House seat, but the race between incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola and three challengers is on track to be the most expensive in the country and the most expensive in Alaska history, with more than $15 million spent by party-aligned political groups and $31 million spent altogether across all candidates in both the primary and general elections.

Among the campaign ads flooding Alaskans’ mailboxes is a mailer — there are several versions — that incorrectly claims a Peltola vote against an oil-production bill “weakened the Permanent Fund and shrunk our PFD checks.”

The mailer’s claim includes a footnote to an Alaska Beacon article about possible future financial weakness in the Permanent Fund, but that article was written almost a year before Peltola’s vote and has no connection to it.

Furthermore, Peltola’s vote took place as state lawmakers were setting the amount of this year’s Permanent Fund dividend and had no impact on debates within the state Capitol.

The dividend is based on expected revenue in the coming fiscal year, not on speculative future revenue.

Additionally, most of the Permanent Fund’s value is due to investment income, not oil revenue, and it’s even unclear whether oil production would have been increased by the bill Peltola opposed.

The bill could have reversed restrictions on oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska — assuming it could have passed the Senate and survived a presidential veto — but developing new oil projects on the North Slope can take a decade or more.

The Willow project, now under construction in the petroleum reserve, has been in the works for at least eight years. While the state is expected to gain revenue from the development in the long term, it will actually reduce state revenue in the short term, shrinking the amount of revenue available for dividends.

A 2021 lease sale in ANWR attracted little interest.

The group behind the incorrect ads is Club for Growth Action, which has spent more than $56.6 million over the past two years in support of conservative candidates nationwide.

Club for Growth endorsed Peltola’s Republican challenger, Nick Begich, earlier this year, and Begich has a long history with the group, completing a fellowship with Club for Growth before his 2022 run for House.

The major candidates running for Alaska’s U.S. House seat squared off Thursday night in a debate in Anchorage, drawing out contrasts on abortion rights and presidential elections, and in personal style.

Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola made a forceful case for ensuring women have the right to end their pregnancies, especially because their lives are on the line.

“Being pregnant and delivering a baby is one of the most lethal things a woman can do in her lifetime,” Peltola said. “This is one of the deadliest propositions a woman can undertake. Myriad things can go wrong, and it is not anyone’s place in D.C. or in the state Legislature to get between a woman and her doctor.”

Republican challenger Nick Begich III said he didn’t support a national law banning abortion, nor one protecting abortion rights. He said each state should decide.

Begich, who has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, voiced a variation on Trump’s false claim of election fraud. Begich alleged that election rules were changed in swing states in 2020 and that Google suppressed free speech as techniques to produce Joe Biden’s win.

“I think it’s acceptable and reasonable for any American to question, hey, is this reasonable? Is this what we expect in a free and fair election?” he said. “And I think the answer is a clear no.”

In other parts of the debate, Begich, a tech entrepreneur, spoke in business terms, about T-bills, liquidity and using cryptocurrency “as a hedge asset class for a devalued dollar.”

Peltola more often exuded empathy, such as for homeless children and victims of disaster and war. To a question about balancing gun rights and school safety, she said the common thread linking school shootings was an isolated perpetrator.

“We need to make sure that every child — every child in our community, every child in our school — feels seen and heard,” she said.

Begich raised competitive youth shooting leagues as a solution to school shootings.

“I believe that training responsible firearm ownership at an early age is a great way to push back against the risk that was just described,” he said.

As she has before, Peltola declined to endorse Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, or say whom she’d vote for. She said she’s running her own race.

“I don’t know why I would use up any of my gas on a race I don’t have any control over,” she said.

Debate for the State was broadcast from Alaska Public Media’s studio in collaboration with Alaska’s News Source.

After the broadcast ended, the candidates traded notes on the rigors of debating and campaign travel. They shook hands, and both said they wished they’d remembered to do that while the cameras were still rolling.

Candidates for Alaska’s only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives make their case for your vote during Thursday’s Debate for the State.

Tune in at 7 p.m. for a live debate between incumbent Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola and Republican challenger Nick Begich ahead of the Nov. 5 election. You can also watch live on KTOO 360TV or listen live on the radio.

Debate for the State is presented in partnership between Alaska Public Media, Alaska’s News Source and KTOO.

Democratic Congresswoman Mary Peltola is running an attack ad on her Republican opponent, disparaging how he made his personal wealth.

“Nick Begich only looks out for himself,” her campaign ad begins, over ominous music. “First, he hired workers in India instead of Alaska to make himself rich. Now we learn he cashed in with an online company that pushed phony medical devices to seniors.”

With the campaign ad, Peltola breaks with the Alaska-nice campaign tradition she set in 2022. She’s throwing shade on the brightest feature of Begich’s personal history as he sells himself to Alaska voters: That he’s a brilliant and successful businessman. And the Alaska Democratic Party is doubling down with a new mailer accusing Begich of “scamming seniors with fake medical devices.”

Both the Peltola and Begich campaigns rejected interview requests to discuss the claim. But in an email, the Peltola campaign said the allegedly “phony medical devices” the ad refers to were sold on EarthPulse.com, a business started by the candidate’s dad in the late 1990s, primarily to sell Nick Begich Sr.’s writings about mind control and the alleged powers of a University of Alaska Fairbanks antenna array known as HAARP.

EarthPulse.com also used to sell several electronic products, such the “Alpha-Trainer biofeedback anti-tension device” headset and the handheld “Pointer-Plus.” The website said the Pointer-Plus could locate acupuncture points and stimulate them. “Never miss the point!,” the web copy said. “A complete clinic in your hands.” It sold for $149.

The Pointer-Plus is still for sale on other websites and some models have good reviews on Amazon.com. The problem, the Peltola campaign said, is in the claim the Begich-owned business made for the product.

“Earthpulse advertised Pointer-Plus as basically being 100% accurate and the sole acupuncture tool needed,” the campaign said in an email. “An academic study found it was NOT reliable and should NOT be used by itself.”

Nick Begich Sr. said it was a good product and that his website made no false claims.

“It is 100% accurate at locating points,” he said, when asked about one of the products the Peltola campaign takes issue with, “unless you have some tissue disturbance, like a scar that would interfere with the normal flow of energy across the surface of the skin.”

The elder Begich said Peltola’s ad alleging the company “pushed phony medical devices to seniors” is wrong, because they weren’t medical devices. And, he said, they weren’t pushed on seniors.

“Never,” he said. “We’ve never marketed anything for any specific group, seniors or otherwise.”

He estimates that his company sold fewer than 500 devices over 20 years.

The EarthPulse website recently went offline. Nick Sr. said he’s done with retail. Anyway, he said, his son was just a passive investor.

The candidate’s financial disclosures show he owns a 17% stake of EarthPulse Press that’s worth between $1 million and $5 million. In the latest filing, Begich reports earning less than $50,000 a year from EarthPulse. That’s a drop from the two prior years, when he reported that his stake earned him more than $50,000 a year.

It’s through a different company Begich III owns that he created jobs in India.

That one is FarShore Partners, a software development company he founded. When Nick Begich III first ran for Congress two years ago, FarShore was central to the image he projected as a successful tech entrepreneur, and he never hid that many or most of its workers were overseas.

This year, it’s hard to find any mention of Begich on the FarShore website. The Peltola campaign isn’t the only one making an issue of FarShore’s non-Alaska focus.

“How many Alaska jobs did businessman Nick Begich create? Seems almost none,” an ad from a pro-Peltola group called Vote Alaska before Party says. “Instead, seems almost 90% of Begich’s employees are in India. Which is nice — for India. While doing nothing for Alaska.”

Anchorage consultant Jim Lottsfeldt, who leads Vote Alaska Before Party, said the geography of Begich’s job creation matters.

“It shows you a little bit where his head’s at,” Lottsfeldt said. “He doesn’t see the future of Alaska in business. He sees it as a place where he doesn’t have to pay taxes, and he’s got a famous last name, and he can get into politics, but he’s not investing in Alaska.”

Actually, Begich’s candidate disclosure form shows he has invested in several Alaska businesses.

“Nick has created hundreds of jobs in Alaska,” a Begich campaign spokeswoman said by text message.

She cited his 15% stake in Stuaqpak Inc., through which he’s the partial owner of grocery store in Utqiagvik. That’s one of several investments Begich has made in partnership with his well-known uncle, former U.S. Sen. Mark Begich. Mark and Nick Begich III also teamed up to form an Anchorage-based consulting firm, Begich Capital Partners.