Alaska Senate Race

Tim Scott declines straight answer on Alaska Senate outcome as ballot confusion probe heats up

Sen. Tim Scott refused a yes-or-no answer on accepting Alaska Senate results if Democrat Mary Peltola wins, pointing instead to a ballot scheme under federal investigation.

On NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, the South Carolina Republican faced repeated questions from Kristen Welker about the Alaska contest between incumbent Sen. Dan Sullivan and Peltola. Welker wanted a clean pledge: if Peltola wins and the race is certified, would Scott accept it?

Scott did not give that answer. He said the real Dan Sullivan will win, then turned straight to the legal fight over a same-name candidate on the ballot and the Department of Justice response that followed.

The Hill reported the exchange as Scott declined a straightforward commitment on the hypothetical outcome and instead highlighted what he called an illegal effort to confuse voters.

Read about it...

Because Alaska utilizes a ranked-choice voting system, the final redistribution of lower-ranked candidate votes will be critical if no candidate clears 50% on the first ballot. We will know late tomorrow night.