The open primary, ranked-choice general election has delivered for Alaska: Thanks to the new system, Eric Hafner is one of two Democrats who will appear on the November general election ballot for Alaska’s congressional seat.
Twelve people were on the primary election ballot. The top four are supposed to appear on the general election ballot.
But Hafner came in sixth, even though his address is a storage unit in South Dakota.
His actual residence is a federal prison where he is serving 20 years for making serious bomb threats and other murder threats, extortion, and bribery. The 467 votes for him from Alaskans may have simply been Democrats protesting the waffling and weak performance of Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola, who holds the seat for Alaska. And yet, even as the fifth-place candidate, he will still be on the November top-four ballot.
Alaskans voted in this system in 2020, persuaded by lawyers and operatives supporting Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who was no longer a viable candidate for the Republicans’ semi-open primary. They made it so that in 2022, she would not have to compete against a Republican to advance — she could advance with the help of Democrats.
The new election method, not used in any other state, was pushed and paid for by dark money from liberal billionaires outside Alaska, and the messaging was that better-quality candidates would be the result of the ballot measure that they bought and paid for.
With Alaska’s new system being used for the second time, the top four vote getters in the primary this year also proceed to the November ballot, regardless of party.
But with third-place Republican Nancy Dahlstrom and fourth-place Republican Matthew Salisbury dropping after the primary, that means the fifth- and sixth-place vote getters will appear on the general election ballot.
Hafner, whose candidate bio for the Alaska Division of Elections can be found here, got less than half a percent of the vote, and AIP candidate John Wayne Howe squeaked out a little more than half a percent, yet both now will advance. Together, they represent 1,088 votes of the 108,906 ballots cast — about 1% between them.
This means Peltola, who won over 50% of the vote in the primary, could see votes peeled off by Hafner, who is slightly to her left politically.
The Alaska Democrats are on record supporting this system of voting and are working to preserve it as Alaskans are trying to repeal it in November. Again, the same dark money is coming into the state to protect it and the Democrats who support it.
The U.S. Constitution only says congressional candidates must be at least 25, and must a U.S. citizen for seven years. If elected, the candidate must then be a resident of that state after the general election. This is the same way that Hillary Clinton became a U.S. senator for New York, even though she was not a resident when she ran. (Article 1, Section 2).
Alaska often sees people from outside the state file for federal office. But being a candidate from prison outside the state and advancing is a new twist, brought to Alaska by the open primary, ranked-choice general voting scheme.
Hafner has a long history of political activism. Between July 2016 and May 2018, while residing in the Mariana Islands to escape the long arm of the law, Hafner made threats to numerous individuals located in and around Monmouth County, N.J. and elsewhere. According to the Department of Justice, the victims were elected officials, judges, police officers, attorneys, and their families. Hafner sought to extort $350,000 from some of his victims. Hafner also made false bomb threats to an elected official’s office, a county courthouse, a police department, two law firms, and a business.
In 2018, Hafner ran for Congress against Democrat Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon’s 3rd congressional district, and in 2016, he sought the nomination to represent Hawaii’s 2nd congressional district, and won 44% of the vote. He called himself a Hawaiian nationalist and an advocate for marijuana and criminal law reforms. He did not live in either of those localities when he ran for Congress. He was essentially homeless in 2018, he reported then, as he was trying to evade arrest.
Read about the bomb threat case at the Department of Justice at this link.
Oh what irony!
The AK democrats get to vote for a real felon!
To late to make him drop out too!
All joking aside, I hope this illustrates how idiotic RCV is and we motivate our neighbors and friends to go vote to get rid of this thing once and for all!