While in Juneau for the Alaska Democratic Party’s state convention Friday, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee got a little confused. DNC Chairman Jaime Harrison told the state’s top Democrats in attendance that because of ranked-choice voting, President Joe Biden “really has a chance to win this state.”
Ranked-choice voting, which started being used for statewide and district elections in 2022, does not apply to the presidential election in Alaska in the primary, where the parties — whether the Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, or Greens — still get to say who their nominees are whose names will appear on the ballot.
The selection of the nominees is generally done via party caucus or caucus-by-ballot, all conducted by the parties themselves, not by the state Division of Election.
Most polling shows Republican Donald Trump beating Biden in Alaska by at least 8 points. The only practical way Biden could win is if Trump didn’t get over 50% of the first-round vote in November and if Trump voters chose Biden as their second choice, highly unlikely.
Trump won over Biden in 2020, 53-43. without ranked-choice voting in place.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify the difference between primary and general election rules.
