Peltola widens narrow Alaska Senate lead over Sullivan as counting continues

Alaska's still too-close-to-call Senate race is expected to deliver another batch of ballot results Tuesday night after Monday's latest ballot drop expanded Democratic nominee Mary Peltola's lead over incumbent Republican Sen.Dan Sullivan to 2,517 first-choice votes.Still current as of Tuesday midday ET, Peltola stands at 48.6% (106,321 votes) to Sullivan’s 47.5% (103,804) in the ranked-choice voting system that will kick in if neither candidate gets across the 50% threshold.The controversial race, punctuated by the "Decoy Dan" scheme exposed by The New York Times, has Republican Gerald Heikes at 2.2% (4,865) and independent Daniel J.

Sullivan Jr.at 1.7% (3,651 votes).

Roughly 75–76% of the expected vote is in, with tens of thousands of early, absentee and questioned ballots still to be counted.ALASKA SENATE FIGHT HEATS UP AS SULLIVAN MOVES TO BLOCK PELTOLA LAWSUIT OVER REJECTED ABSENTEE BALLOT RECORDS"After every vote is counted, it is clear that Mary Peltola will be elected Alaska’s next United States Senator," Peltola campaign manager Cheryl Bruce wrote in a statement Tuesday morning after that past tranche of votes."Mary won today’s votes by a margin of 68-30, reflecting major support in key areas from Anchorage and Chevak.This overwhelming margin further strengthens Mary’s path to victory, and Mary is looking forward to continuing her relentless fight to lower costs and put Alaska first in the United States Senate after all votes are counted."The Monday drop added nearly 5,000 ballots and marked a shift from the razor-thin 637-vote Peltola edge that had held for days after Election Day.The incumbent Sullivan and President Donald Trump have both suggested if Peltola does not get to 50% of the vote and ranked-choice voting (RCV) goes to rounds two or three that the Republican would absorb secondary voting strength in the system.DOJ FACES ‘HEAVY LIFT’ IN ALASKA ELECTION APPEAL AS SEPARATE CRIMINAL PROBE CONTINUESUnder Alaska’s system, if no cand...