Preliminary ranked-choice voting tallies released on November 13, 2026, show Ballot Measure 2 trailing 53% to 47% in partial returns, while Democrat Mary Peltola holds a razor-thin lead over Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. Alaska’s Division of Elections updated its digital cast vote record on November 12, covering roughly 250,000 ballots alongside 257,000 reported first-choice ballots—about 88% of estimated statewide turnout, with hand-counted ballots from rural areas still excluded.
FairVote published an analysis of the preliminary tallies on November 13, noting that Alaskans voted on November 3 in ranked-choice elections for Congress, governor, and State Legislature. In the governor’s race, Democrat Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins leads Bernadette Wilson 56% to 44% in the preliminary ranked-choice simulation; CNN has projected Kreiss-Tomkins as the winner because he holds over 50% of reported first-choice votes. In the U.S. House race, incumbent Republican Nick Begich leads Bill Hill 53% to 47% in the simulated runoff. In the U.S. Senate contest, Peltola edges Sullivan 50.5% to 49.5%, though her margin narrows by 0.3 points after backup rankings are tallied.
Decision Desk HQ has projected that Ballot Measure 2 failed to pass. Alaska accepts mailed absentee ballots for up to 15 days after Election Day because tens of thousands of residents live in villages reachable only by boat or plane, and late-arriving ballots have historically favored Democratic candidates. State election officials plan to run the official ranked-choice tabulation next Wednesday. FairVote data showed that 31,526 voters in the governor’s race, 13,693 in the House race, and 5,480 in the Senate contest who ranked lower-performing candidates first still marked one of the top two contenders later on their ballots.
