Judge allows a man serving a 20-year prison sentence to remain on Alaska ballot

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A man who is serving a 20-year prison sentence can remain on Alaska’s ranked choice general election ballot in the race for the state’s only U.S. House seat, a judge ruled Tuesday.

State Superior Court Judge Ian Wheeles in Anchorage rejected a request by the Alaska Democratic Party to remove Eric Hafner from the November ballot. Hafner, who has no apparent ties to Alaska, pleaded guilty in 2022 to charges of making threats against police officers, judges and others in New Jersey. He is running as a Democrat in a closely watched race headlined by Democratic U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola and Republican Nick Begich.

Attorneys for the Alaska Democratic Party said state elections officials erred in placing Hafner on the ballot and that he did not meet the requirements to serve in Congress. They also said his being on the ballot would complicate the party’s efforts to get Peltola reelected.

It will “confuse voters by presenting them with a candidate, putatively a Democrat, who Plaintiffs do not support and who would not be entitled to serve if elected,” party attorneys David Fox and Thomas Amodio said in a court filing.

Alaska has an open primary system, which allows the top four vote-getters regardless of party to advance to the ranked vote general election.

Hafner originally finished sixth in the primary, with just 467 votes, but was placed on the general election ballot after two Republicans, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom and Matthew Salisbury, who placed third and fourth, respectively, withdrew. Peltola, Begich and Dahlstrom were the most prominent candidates in the race, receiving a combined total of 97.4% of the vote.

Begich, who supports the effort to repeal Alaska’s open primary and ranked vote general election system, had urged conservatives to unite to give them the best chance at beating Peltola in November.

John Wayne Howe, a member of the Alaskan Independence Party who originally finished fifth in the primary, also qualified for the November ballot.

House members are constitutionally required to be at least 25 years old, a U.S. citizen for at least seven years and an inhabitant of the state in which they’re running when elected. Four of the 12 candidates in Alaska’s House primary, including Hafner, listed out-of-state campaign addresses.

Hafner’s declaration of candidacy, filed with the state Division of Elections, lists a federal prison in New York as his current mailing address.

Becky Bohrer, The Associated Press