Preliminary Ranked Choice Voting Results in Alaska’s 2026 Elections

In the gubernatorial, House and Senate races, a majority of voters who ranked a lower-performing candidate first ranked one of the two runners-up on their ballot, giving them a bigger voice in a crowded field.

That includes 26,747 voters for Treg Taylor and Dave Bronson in the governor’s race, 11,003 voters for Eric Hafner and Jim McDermott in the House race and 4,481 voters for Gerald Heikes and Daniel J. Sullivan in the Senate race. Compare this to a multi-candidate race without ranked-choice voting, as in Tuesday’s Ohio Senate race — 222,781 voters (4.9%) cast ballots for the Libertarian or Independent Socialist, and were given no opportunity to weigh in between candidates who actually had a chance of winning.

In the Senate race, 44% of Republican Gerald Heikes voters cast their vote first for Dan S. Sullivan, compared to 16% for Mary Peltola. 33% of voters ranking Daniel J. Sullivan below had their vote for Mary Peltola, compared to 22% for Dan S. Sullivan. The chart below shows a large number of Democratic-leaning voters who rank Daniel J. Sullivan first and Peltola second, suggesting some form of protest voting. Republican-leaning voters who rank Daniel J. Sullivan first are more likely to rank Sen. Dan Sullivan second.

Ballots that placed Daniel J. Sullivan first, broken down by governor’s vote