Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom is running for Congress in the 2024 election. Her campaign website went live at this link.
A conservative Republican, Dahlstrom is in her second year as lieutenant governor after serving as Department of Corrections commissioner for four years under Gov. Mike Dunleavy.
Dahlstrom believes she has what it takes to beat incumbent Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola, who won election to Alaska’s only seat in Congress after the death of Congressman Don Young.
There is another Republican already in the race — conservative Nick Begich, who filed for office in mid-July, after placing third to Peltola and former Gov. Sarah Palin during the 2022 election.
Dahlstrom said she will remain serving as lieutenant governor while she is running for Congress. She is not required to resign by law.
With Alaska’s ranked choice voting scheme, all qualifying candidates appear on the primary ballot in August, and the top four vote getters advance to the November ballot, where voters rank them 1 through 4.
Through the ranked-choice calculations, if the leading candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, there is no reassigning of second-choice votes. But if the leader gets less than that, the third and fourth vote getters’ second choices are then assigned, and through a calculation method, whomever gets above the 50% mark then wins.
There will be three on the ballot so far, but the filing deadline for Congress is in June.
In her early political career, Dahlstrom was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives. Later, she became a senior advisor for military affairs for Gov. Sean Parnell.
Dahlstrom is set to make the announcement later today, sources told Must Read Alaska.
This story will be updated later today as details emerge.
Update:
“Alaska needs a proven tough fighter to stop the assault on Alaska from Joe Biden and Washington D.C. liberals,” Dahlstrom said. “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. In Congress, I will stop Biden and the extreme liberals ruining our future, bankrupting our families, killing our jobs, harming our military and veterans, and threatening our security.”
“I’ve dedicated my career advocating for our military and veterans, protecting our families by locking up violent criminals, and developing Alaska’s natural resources, energy, and jobs,” continued Dahlstrom. “Talk is cheap, results matter. Alaska needs Washington D.C. to stop working against us, and no one will fight harder for Alaska’s way of life than me.”
