Peltola widens her lead in Alaska, Boebert loses election in Colorado

Alaska: Peltola's lead grows

Democrat Mary Peltola has widened her lead over incumbent Republican Senator Dan Sullivan in the Alaska Senate race to 10,412 votes — a day earlier it stood at 5,800, Anadolu reports citing The Associated Press. With roughly 96% of ballots counted, Peltola has 138,240 votes (49.84%) and Sullivan has 127,828 (46.09%). The latest update added about 22,500 ballots to the count.

The namesake and ranked-choice voting

A peculiarity of the race is a third candidate, Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a namesake of the incumbent senator who received 4,560 votes. Even combining the votes of both Sullivans (132,388), Peltola leads them by 5,852 votes. Trump accused Democrats of vote rigging, claiming they had put forward Sullivan Jr. to confuse voters — the outlet presents these claims as statements by the president, not as established fact.

What comes next

The Associated Press has not yet declared a winner: Peltola falls just short of the majority needed for an outright victory under the ranked-choice voting system. If no candidate receives more than 50% of first-choice votes, the state will conduct a recount on November 18, redistributing the votes of eliminated candidates according to voters' subsequent preferences. A Peltola victory would give Democrats 56 seats in the 100-seat Senate and make her the first Alaska Native elected to the U.S. Senate. Sullivan, a Trump ally, is seeking a third term; last month the president traveled to Alaska to campaign for him. Alaska voters also rejected a proposal to eliminate the open primary and ranked-choice voting system — the second time in two years.

Colorado and other results

In Colorado, according to the Associated Press, retired Navy Rear Admiral Eileen Laubacher defeated three-term Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert in the 4th District: 48.8% to 47.9% with about 99% of votes counted. This is a notable shift in a conservative district that Trump won in 2024 by more than 18 percentage points. Boebert conceded and congratulated her rival, saying: 'We suffered a collective failure.' In addition, former Alaska legislator Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins is projected to win the gubernatorial election with roughly 50.8% of the vote, which would avoid a recount if the majority holds. The results reflect Democratic successes in the November 3 elections, when the party won control of both chambers of Congress; several contested House races remain unresolved.