There appears to be a counter movement afoot in Alaska — a pro-Trump voter who is not going along with the Trump endorsement of Nancy Dahlstrom for Congress.
First it was the solid-red Mat-Su Valley. Now, for the second time in two days, a major Republican club in Alaska has gone against Monday’s Trump endorsement and instead come out with a strong endorsement of Nick Begich for Congress.
The Republican Women of Fairbanks issued their resolution on Thursday.
The resolution is similar to the one passed by the Valley Republican Women of Alaska on Tuesday, reiterating that the club supports Trump for president and that “Nick Begich is the right choice at the right time for Alaska.”
The trend is also seen in a pair of polls that asked (mainly conservative) Alaskans on Monday who they favored for Congress. In that poll, Nick Begich was favored by 85% of Must Read Alaska readers who took part.
After the Trump endorsement on Monday, MRAK tried a slightly different question: “Seeing as Trump endorsed Nancy Dahlstrom who do you support for Alaska’s congressional pick in August?” The results are 83% for Nick Begich. The poll closed Thursday morning.
Both candidates have their supporters: While Dahlstrom has the Trump endorsement and is endorsed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy and the National Republican Congressional Committee, Begich has the endorsement of the House Freedom Caucus, Sen. Mike Lee, Rep. Byron Donalds, and Rep. Scott Perry, as well as Vivek Ramaswamy, business entrepreneur and former candidate for president.
Now, he has the full-throated support of two of the grassroots women’s clubs that make up the strength of the Alaska Republican Party.
Since 2022, Alaska has had what is called a non-partisan primary, which means candidates from all parties share the same ballot. For the seat now occupied by Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola, there are 12 registered candidates. There are 61 days until the Aug. 20 Alaska primary election.
The final four with the most votes from the primary ballot will continue on to the Nov. 5 general election.
