The Alaska jungle primary starts Aug 5. Here’s how to explain it to friends and neighbors

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Congressional candidate Nick Begich, at the Republican National Convention, with Rep. Jamie Allard of Eagle River, and Assemblyman Scott Myers, also of Eagle River (holding Trump sign)

The Alaska primary election ends on Aug. 20. With early voting options, many ballots will be already cast before that day, as absentee in-person, early vote, electronic transmission and special needs voting begins on Aug. 5.

The promoters of the open, nonpartisan primary say that the system allows voters greater choice. But it does so by robbing other voters, those belonging to political parties, of the ability to advance their candidates to the ballot. Political parties are cut out of the primary process in Alaska due to the 2020 Ballot Measure 2, which implemented jungle primaries and ranked-choice voting general elections.

Some points to remember:

The primary is not ranked-choice voting. It’s a pick-one primary and the top four vote getters proceed to the general election, where the ranking happens. This means that in almost all races across the state, the same candidates who appear on the primary ballot will appear on the general election ballot. Only three races have more than four candidates. They are:

Congressional Race: 12 candidates. Four are Republicans, two Democrats (one from out of state), the remainder are other parties.

State Senate District L (Eagle River): Five candidates. Four are Republicans, one Democrat.

House District 36 (Interior): Six candidates. Four are Republicans, one Democrat, one Libertarian.

“We often hear that this novel system provides an opportunity for greater voter choice, but the Left has realized that in reality, they perform better by offering the public only one candidate from their side of the aisle,” explained congressional candidate Nick Begich.

That is true, as seen in the several races where there are multiple Republicans running, and only one Democrat.

Begich has supported the repeal of Ballot Measure 2, and is the only congressional candidate to have signed the petition to repeal it.

He’s the only Republican candidate for Congress who has vowed to drop out after the primary if he is not the leading Republican in the race for the November ranked-choice ballot. Nancy Dahlstrom has not made that commitment.

“Ranked choice voting has worked for the Left specifically because they have realized that by depriving voters of additional choices they improve their odds of winning. In so doing, they consolidate support from the start while members of other parties argue the finer points of policy rather than unifying behind one candidate,” Begich wrote on his Facebook page.

“It’s for these reasons, that I have supported the repeal of Ranked Choice Voting. I was glad to add my signature to the repeal petition and have even donated personally to the effort to return to our traditional voting method. We need a system that represents the will of the people of Alaska, and this system – because it has been so easily manipulated – does not produce such a result.”

The Alaska Democratic Party is, indeed, raising money and fighting to protect ranked-choice voting, which is being challenged by an initiative that will be seen on November’s general election ballot.

However, until the time the voting system is restored, Begich said there is a way to voluntarily institute an actual primary, rather than the jungle primary that exists now:

“To do this, the leading conservative remains in the race after the primary, while the others withdraw from the race. I have made this commitment many times on the record over the past year because I believe this gives Alaskans the best opportunity to replace Mary Peltola and thereby drastically improve our representation in the U.S. House.

“To date, I am the only candidate in my race who has made this commitment, but I am committed to Alaska, and our nation, and will not allow RCV to divide and dilute our vote again,” Begich said.

By only advancing one candidate, the Left does not suffer from the impact of multiple candidates competing in what effectively becomes a “delayed primary” or a splitting of financial resources among multiple campaigns, Begich said.

78 COMMENTS

  1. The best way to get rid of the RCV nonsense? Hold your nose and vote.
    Don’t sit the election out via a weird sense of pride/morality.

    Learn the systems, use them. Then with the right people in place dump the stupid thing

  2. nancy needs to get out! as lieutenant gov her only responsibility is elections.
    how is she so stupid about rank choice voting?

    • Yup.
      Just like Begich was a plant to throw the election to Peltola over Palin.
      Begich finished in third place, two times.
      Remember? Or has that been memory holed like the Trump assignation attempt.

  3. Nancy Dahlstrom IS the impediment to get rid of Mary Peltola. Dahlstrom is now the new hate magnet for Conservatives and Republicans. A true B—-

  4. Nick Begich is right and he’s the only one I’ve heard talking about this.

    Nancy rides the fence. I just wish she would do her job at the Lt. Gov office.

    • “…….nick begich learned from his mistake last election………”
      It would be nice if conservatives would learn a lesson from the past several elections.
      Don’t hold your breath for that………

  5. I just have to say that Nick has matured as a candidate and has clearly improved his standing within the state, as evidenced by the support he has received from the many Womens Political groups and his selfless commitment to withdraw if he is not the leading Republican candidate after te first round. I think it is a sign of his intent to take away the confusion inherent to RCV, but also a willingness to give Alaskans a fighting chance to overturn RCV and dig out the decubitus, democrat sore in Congress, which is Peltola.

  6. If it weren’t for Nick, there would be no Peltola. There would be a Palin. I can’t forget that. I won’t forget that.

    • Better do your homework. Nick Begich was THE only one who filed for candidacy while Don Young was alive. The others, including Palin, rushed in after Don passed away. Prior to that Palin busied herself on The Masked Singer and who knows what else while, sadly, her family life disintegrated. If anyone is responsible for Peltola being in D.C., it’s Sarah Palin.

      • Why waste your time filing to run against Don Young as a Republican. Waste of time and money.
        In fact, that demonstrates a LACK of intelligence on NBIII’s part. Not some kind of benefit.

      • “……..Nick Begich was THE only one who filed for candidacy while Don Young was alive……..”
        Why would I want a candidate who is going to run a primary against my favorite?

        • If Don Young was your favorite, Reggie, then Joe Biden must also be your cup of tea.

          Don was 88 years old when he died. Why did he change his mind and run again at his advanced age?

          Don was ok legislatively, an “extreme moderate,” very heavy union-owned, and a heck of a political animal, but it was hubris and folly for him to run, especially after he told Nick that he was not going to. Nick had the decency to tell Don he was running, and then Don backtracked on his decision and made the unwise choice to try for one more term.

          Don was ancient. He was past his expiration date. He probably would have lived a couple of more years had he not decided to run. All you do is complain about Nick. That’s getting old, too.

          • “………All you do is complain about Nick. That’s getting old, too…….”
            If it makes you feel any better, I’ve been complaining about every Begich that has been holding office (or trying to) for the past 60 years here, and that is a fairly extensive list. Call me consistent, unlike Nick the Republican from a Democrat family who magically seems to attract the same election calamity every time his name appears on the ballot.
            Yeah, I liked Don Young. He saved my bacon from a federal bulldozing agency not once, but thrice. I like results.
            And I’m not averse to Nick. If he beats Peltola, great, but Trump, Dunleavy, Speaker Johnson, Majority Leader Scalise, Majority Leader Emmer, and at least one national Right to Life organization has endorsed Dahlstrom. Remarkably, the NRA endorses Peltola. That leaves Nick out in the wilderness AFAIC.
            Go ahead and sing his praise and vote for him. I will rank him before Peltola, who will not get a vote from me. I ranked him like that last time. We’ll see if this is a repeat of prior disasters, and then we’ll see if folks like yourself can ever learn a lesson. I’m confidently betting that you can’t.

    • actually if it weren’t for palin we would have nick in congress right now but that’s the past. he’s learned from the past and unfortunately someone who has over 20 yrs (the swamp) in politics can’t seem to understand the election process she was elected to be in charge of

      • I vote for either Republicans or RINOs, and often can’t tell which is which until after their service reveals their heart. I haven’t voted for a Democrat at the national level since 1976, and haven’t voted for a Democrat at the state level since Ron Larson’s last election in (I believe) the early 1980’s.
        When Forrest Dunbar was caught being involved with outright leftists from Outside showing up and running for the Legislature in Bush areas as Republicans, it became clear just how corrupt they can be. The RINO effect appears to be both a legitimate moderate wing of the Republican Party and a political guerrilla infiltration into the party. We see none of that in the Democrat Party at any level of government. It is run like an organized crime syndicate. Ignore their tactics at your peril.

    • Palin was to narcissistic to understand the harm she did to our state, Hell she spends more time out of state then in the state. She even left from the governor early because of her narcissism.

      • “……..She even left from the governor early because of her narcissism………”
        She resigned to end the Palin Derangement Syndrome damage inflicted by Andre MacLeod (which, apparently, we have many thousands if her type), to focus on the presidential campaign as McCain’s VP (and to be stabbed in the back by yet another RINO named Schmidt), and to establish her Lt. Governor Sean Parnell as the incumbent in the next gubernatorial election. It was a wise decision way over your head, but admittedly, the spectacle of MacLeod and Schmidt is way, way, way bigger than I ever imagined. Republicans have the Judas Syndrome, and the noose is the only end in sight.

    • But, what is past is past and we need to correct the Now and the future. Rank Begich as 1st choice and dirty Dahlstrom as 2nd choice and rank no others.

    • I thought it was Palin who joined late, and didn’t get out when it was obvious she couldn’t win.
      Too bad she bailed on us as governor to lunge for a bigger prize. She list that too.

      No, Nick should stay.

      • 2022 AK state election results:
        Sarah Palin – 67,866 votes, 25.74%
        Nick Begich III – 61,513 votes, 23.33%
        Looks like you are wrong on who could win.
        .
        And, as to why she resigned, you are wrong on that as well. Even the leftist website Wikipedia has the right reason. Please try and do some research.

        • CBMTTek,
          Big reason Sarah couldn’t win… 60% negative rating with voters of all stripes, (especially amongst Republicans of long standing, something about endorsing Bill Walker?). Sarah had a good following in the Mat-Su but was a loser Statewide, go figure. Something about her ability to lead beyond a Cable News Show interview?
          I wish Nick had pulled out in ’22 as your girl still would have gone down in flames.
          BTW, I voted Sarah as my #2 in ’22, haven’t heard much from her since. She still in Arizona? I wish SP the very best in the future.

      • “……….Joel Adams July 31, 2024 At 2:12 pm
        I thought it was Palin who joined late, and didn’t get out when it was obvious she couldn’t win………”
        You’re correct. It was Begich who joined early and didn’t get out when it was obvious he couldn’t win, even getting significantly fewer votes multiple times than the hated Sarah Palin.
        Boy, that shoulda’ hurt………and yet, here he is back again! He must love pain as much as Alfred E. Neuman.
        Makes a guy wonder……..about him AND the party………..

        • You’re criticizing a guy for jumping in and running, when he could just stay in the private sector and make money? For not being a quitter like Palin? If she’s so good for Alaska, why doesn’t she run again?

          For the record, it was not significantly fewer votes than Palin and he probably would have won had she not jumped in — on the last day of filing and AFTER Don Young died. She has huge negatives in Alaska for having quit as governor. Seems like you’re the kind who will criticize anyone for trying to save America. Aren’t there some kids on your lawn who you can yell at?

          • “You’re criticizing a guy for jumping in and running, when he could just stay in the private sector and make money?………”
            Yup. Exactly like the Palin haters. Like you.
            I’m not going to claim that Palin was The Redeemer. I point out, yet again, that she got more votes than Begich every time the two were on the same ballot. Go ahead; gnash your teeth. Spit. Froth. But if you deny, you’re wrong.
            And I point out, yet again, that he finds himself on the ballot with yet another Republican woman, and somehow, that dark storm is brewing again. Not getting wet yet? If you do, will you catch the clue?
            No kids on my lawn. They must all be at the Anchorage library checking out porn.

    • it’s because of sarah palin we have peltola. she got in the race after nick did but the past is the past. he said he learned from the last election. palin has left alaska after the election and hasn’t given tow hoots about this state.
      your only other options are a rino who has been politics for too long or a dem.
      pick nick in august

  7. The republican party of Alaska doesn’t seem to understand the situation. Democrats have figured out how to win, while the Republicans can’t seem to get behind one candidate. So we the people of Alaska end up with a Mary Peltola representing the democrat party and shitting on Alaska and the people.

    • It’s not the Republican party it is the people like Dahlstrom and Palin who are to narcissistic in their own mind to get out of the way.

    • it’s not alaska republican party, they have no control or influence over egotistical entitled politicians like dahlstrom or murkowski

    • “The republican party of Alaska doesn’t seem to understand the situation……..”
      They appear to have difficulty understanding anything. Or maybe it’s narcissism?……….

  8. RCV put Peltola in last time because 5,000 people that voted for Begich/Palin either hated women more than crazy people and couldn’t rank Palin and the others hated crazy people more than women and couldn’t rank Begich.

    I’d also argue that those two races that have 1 Dem in the race and multiple conservatives are probably districts that have one Dem in the district. I mean how many Dems live in Eagle River?

    Think of it this way. Conservatives can choose between the anti-abortion weirdo, the Nazi paraphernalia loving weirdo, or the government hating weirdo. All three will make the final ballot so conservatives can rank their favorite weirdo by what they hate most: women, minorities, or taxes.

  9. Rank voting is dumb.

    Rank voting is the current law of the land.

    If you know how to count to 4 you can rank candidates.

    You don’t need to rank all candidates.

    Blaming Democrats for understanding how to count doesn’t win elections.

  10. Nancy oversees the Division of Elections… and we still use vote tabulation machines/ computers. Yikes!

  11. In the many comments not one has said why over 50% of Alaska voters (ind and undeclared) should not have a voice in who is running!

    Primaries have been rigged by party elite! Why not net 2Dems or 2 Rs run? Let the voters decide.

    • I will tell you why they have no say.
      They have not declared themselves as members of a political party.
      .
      Why should a registered Republican have any say whatsoever in who the Democrat party wants to represent the party on the General election ballot? Or the other way around?
      .
      Primaries are to determine what candidate represents the political party on the general election ballot. Not who the general population wants to see. Don’t like it? Too bad. Join whatever party best represents your interests and work within them to stop the “political elites” from rigging the primaries. That is the right way to get change. Ruining a system that works perfectly well without regard for consequences is the wrong way to do it.

      • The first-round election IS the general election ballot! It’s not a primary, and no D’s are picking R candidates and no R’s are picking D candidates. There is no nominating going on at all in the first-round. Parties have NO ability to vet or nominate candidates under this voting system.

        • I have been reading that tripe for ages now. And, news flash, you are wrong. Deal with it.
          The “first round election” is not the general election ballot. Well, not unless the general election allows for dozens of candidates… which it does not.
          .
          The PRIMARY election is to determine who represents the political party on the General election ballot.
          Changing the name of it does not change the intent of it.
          .
          And, not D’s are picking R candidates? Really? Are you going to try and convince me that no democrats voted R for Senator in the 2022 primary? Get out of here. Murkowski got WAY more votes than is realistic of your assertion is even remotely close to reality.
          .
          Parties have no ability to vet candidates? Right, correct… That is exactly why the jungle primary is an abomination. Or perhaps you need me to repeat my previous comment.

          • Agree to some extent about name changes. They did NOT change the name, even though the first-round election isn’t a nominating process. Should never have been allowed to call a 1st-rond election a primary. It’s misleading and perhaps deceptive. Open Primaries stole the authority to change meaning of terms like “primary” and “nonpartisan.”

            Parties can very easily obtain ability to vet and nominate candidates under this system if they just ask their legislators to pass a law that requires candidates get authorization from the party to use the parties name as a filing requirement.

  12. Eagle River we must eliminate Merrick. We must never elect her again.
    She has stabbed you in the back twice. Kodiak? What’s with electing Stutes?

  13. In spite of her getting in the race after Nick– in spite of the Masked Singer– in spite of her disintegrated family life– in spite of her narcissism– in spite of her leaving the governorship early– in spite of her spending more time out of state than in state– Sarah beat Nick like a rented mule each and every time they went up against each other. If I could ask Sarah one question, it would be this: ‘Sarah, you beat Nick each and every time you went up against him. Why didn’t you drop out of the race?

    • “……..Sarah beat Nick like a rented mule each and every time they went up against each other……..”
      Stop with the truth! There are too many on the right who just can’t take it!

    • Due to vote-splitting, 1st place vote totals in plurality elections do not tell us who is the most preferred candidate. If no candidate gets 50%+1, we are unable to tell the candidate most preferred by all voters. We cannot tell if the 2nd place vote-getter is preferred more by voters than the 3rd or even 4th place vote-getter. We must look at some other information from voters like rankings, which allows voters to give opinion of more than one candidate, to determine who the most preferred candidate is. Note that RCV ignores that ranking information when deciding who to eliminate when proceeding to the next round.

  14. It was those who hated Palin so much, and used their 2nd choice for Mary is why Mary got in. If they stayed with the red(regardless of Palin being the 2nd R.) In Rank choice voting, in the third or 4th, they should have left blank. Nick should have been 1st then Palin…but Never Mary(D). Now for the 2024….How you choose will determine the results.

    • “It was those who hated Palin so much, and used their 2nd choice for Mary is why Mary got in……..”
      ^^^^^It’s called Palin Derangement Syndrome^^^^^
      It’s going to happen again with Begich and Dahlstrom. Then again with Begich and Unknown. Then again with Begich and Unknown 2.
      Some folks are incredibly slow to learn………..

  15. Based on vote-splitting and spoiler trouble that his previous run for office suffered, it is unwise to suggest one with lesser vote totals should drop out. He was clearly the most preferred Republican in both of those 2022 primaries, yet due to vote-splitting, Palin received more votes. Although for this next 1st-round election, he appears likely to be the most preferred Republican and also likely to get most votes, so this strategy may work well for now. In the future, Republicans need to hold a caucus beforehand, use a better voting method to choose ONE candidate, and run that candidate. Also, caucus losers should be prevented from using the Republican brand if they should decide to run anyway.

    • “He was clearly the most preferred Republican in both of those 2022 primaries,”
      What?
      .
      2022 Primary election results:
      Begich: 50,021 votes
      Palin: 57,693 votes
      Peltola: 70,295 votes
      .
      Begich came in 3rd. (Official results from the AK Department Of Elections.)
      .
      Perhaps you are thinking of the special primary to replace Don Young… Oh… wait, Begich came in 3rd in that one as well.
      Begich: 30,861 votes
      Palin: 43,601 votes.
      .
      Palin was obviously preferred over Begich in both the special primary and the general one.

      • “Stop it! Stop it! It was ALL her fault! All of it!”
        ^^^^^ It’s called Palin Derangement Syndrome^^^^^

      • Vote-splitting in plurality elections prevents us from knowing who is the most preferred candidate. If no candidate gets 50%+1, we cannot tell who most preferred one is. Otherwise, why bother with any runoff at all? Just see who gets most votes in a 48-candidate race, but this could elect a candidate via a spoiler scenario. Ranked ballots on the other hand gave us enough information to tell that Begich was indeed the most preferred candidate regardless of what first place vote totals were.

        • Ranked ballots ARE the problem.
          If you want an election system where a candidate must exceed a certain percentage of the vote, do that. But, have an actual run off election at a later date. “Instant run off” IS the reason why most folks abhor RCV.
          .
          In a sane election system, I vote for Candidate A. But, Candidates B & C are the top vote getters, although neither exceed the threshold to win. And, I would not have ranked either of those two candidates had the clownshow named RCV been in place.
          .
          So, a Run off election is scheduled, and I have the time to evaluate the two remaining candidates and decide who I would like to see get the office.
          .
          The stupidity of RCV removes my ability to properly evaluate candidates. And, please do not tell me that people will do that before the RCV election. They will not. That is not how people work. It is just as ridiculous as saying a D will not vote for an R in the primary to skew the general election ballot. Wishful thinking at best.

          • Determining who is the most preferred candidate from rankings does not require instant runoff. The ranked ballots should never be counted using an instant runoff process. That’s how Peltola was elected via a spoiler scenario. Using a pairwise comparison process would have given seat to Begich.

            A strategy of a D voting for an R in a completely open process will backfire. D’s will get burned if they do that. They may end up with no D’s at all and four R’s to choose from in the 2nd-round election.

  16. “………they perform better by offering the public only one candidate from their side of the aisle……..”
    So why are Republicans too stupid to realize that this is true for them, too?

  17. Let’s make this happen.
    Get all four Republicans to be the highest vote receivers in the jungle primary. No dems, no independents on the Nov. ballot.
    .
    Nothing will get RCV and jungle primaries killed by the leftists faster.

      • In other words, they will cheat to benefit the leftists.
        For someone who is a huge supporter of RCV, I am surprised to see you say that. Thanks for confirming to all that you see RCV as a way to ensure leftists win.

        • Raising the number to 7 or 8 is not cheating, it’s just a different version of the same voting system. It would actually allow more independents and third party candidates to get ballot access, so is a more democratic system.

          I do not support instant runoff version of RCV. I have been fighting against its use for more than 15 years. I support using other voting methods like approval or score voting, and I support abolishment of sore loser laws and opening up the general election to more choices for voters.

  18. I do not agree with Nick on this issue and my reasoning is that whoever stays in must be assured they are going to beat the other candidate (democrat) at 51%. In today’s election world that is not always easy. The only way to truly ensure 51 happening is for the Republicans to actually play the system and “rank the red!” Of course Republicans would actually have to think strategically, but most will only vote for one, and lose their vote if it goes to round two. Then you have the rhinos of the party, and many will rank Peltola either one or two because they could not stand a strong conservative in the race.
    So, as usual, Republicans will ignore the game being played and do what they want regardless of outcome! I vote both stay in, Republicans rank the red, and we beat her! Having been in politics for over 30 years in AK anything else is a huge gamble!

  19. “Palin beat Begich – not once, but twice……..”
    Not twice, but thrice. And not even close all three times.

  20. Wait…how does someone from out of state get into OUR elections??? Is that a misprint? WTF is going on?

    • In federal elections, you can run from anywhere. Like Hillary Clinton did for Senate for New York. If you win, you have to move to the district. – sd

    • ‘https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/01/12/how-to-turn-red-state-blue-purple-alaska-politics-2018-216304/

  21. I voted for Nick, And I do have my concerns, we all know Mark is all Democrat, so I bet suppers are fun at his house.
    but I feel he is the only one that can get Peltola out. which is going to be a hard task.
    I voted on the 20th what a bunch of BS my wife is not a republican, and she got to vote for the guy she liked which me as a republican choice the other guy. again what a bunch of crap. If this continues, it will not be worth being a republican
    all I get any more is “give us you money please” in 80 e-mails a day. hell, you could be voting for Hitler and not even know it. Sad times we live in.

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