AK-AL: In a major surprise, independent Al Gross announced Monday that he was dropping out of both the special election and regular contest for a two-year term for Alaska's lone House seat, a decision that came a little more than a week after he earned a spot in the Aug. 16 special instant-runoff general election by finishing third with 13% of the vote.
Gross, who was the 2020 Democratic nominee for Senate, urged his supporters to back either former Democratic state Rep. Mary Peltola and Republican Tara Sweeney, a former state Interior Department official who is in fifth place with most ballots counted in the June 11 top-four primary. Gross did not indicate a preference between the two or even mention either by name, saying only that there are "two outstanding Alaska Native women in this race" and urging his supporters to "consider giving their first-place vote to whichever of them best matches their own values."
However, it wasn’t immediately clear if Gross’ departure will actually ensure Sweeney a place in the August contest. A state elections official said her department was “looking into” the matter, while Sweeney’s campaign manager responded to the news late on Monday by saying the candidate had been in an area without cell phone reception and promised that a statement would be "forthcoming once she is back in communication.” (Sweeney was still incommunicado on Tuesday afternoon, per her campaign.) Gross himself explained Tuesday he’d decided to quit because he’d decided “it is just too hard to run as a nonpartisan candidate in this race.”
With most of the votes counted, Sweeney holds a 6-5 edge over North Pole City Council member Santa Claus, a self-described "independent, progressive, democratic socialist" who is not running for the full two-year term, for what might be a suddenly important fifth-place spot. Two Republicans, former reality TV show star Sarah Palin and businessman Nick Begich III, took first and second place in the primary, with the Associated Press calling the fourth spot for Peltola late on Friday.