Kadin Mills
ICT

WASHINGTON — This week, there were nine Indigenous political candidates running for elected office including U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, Yup’ik, who is fighting to maintain her seat as Alaska’s sole representative for the state’s one at-large congressional district. Republicans in the state hope to take advantage of the state’s new ranked-choice voting system to consolidate power to defeat her.

Peltola, who is the first Alaska Native to be elected to the House, won 50.4 percent of the vote in the state’s primary election. She will advance to the Nov. 5 election, fighting to retain her seat against at least two Republican challengers.

Voters in Wyoming and Florida also went to the polls on Tuesday, Aug. 20, to cast their ballots in the state’s primary election. There was only one Indigenous candidate running for office in Wyoming.

Ivan Posey, Eastern Shoshone, is running as a Democrat against Republican incumbent Sarah Penn, hoping to overtake her to represent Wyoming’s district 33 in the state House of Representatives. He ran uncontested and will continue to the general election.

There were no Indigenous candidates running for office in the Florida primary elections, according to a database managed by ICT and Advance Native Political Leadership.

There were eight Indigenous candidates in Alaska running for elected office in Tuesday’s primary elections. Among them is the incumbent Rep. Peltola. The other seven are running for seats in the state legislature.

Another five candidates are running for local offices, and they will make their first appearance on the ballot in the general election on Nov. 5.

State Legislature

There are six Indigenous candidates running for seats in the Alaska House of Representatives. All six of them will advance to the general election.

Three of them are incumbents who won clear majorities in their primary races:

  • Maxine Dibert, Koyukon Athabascan, state House district 31, Democrat
  • Bryce Edgmon, Yup’ik, state House district 37, Independent/undeclared
  • Neal Foster, Iñupiat, state House district 39, Democrat

Another three candidates are non-incumbents fighting for a seat in the House chambers:

  • Grant Echohawk, Pawnee Nation, state House district 1, Democrat
  • Heather Gottshall, Orutsararmiut Native Council, state House district 13, Republican
  • Nellie Jimmie, Yup’ik, Ojibwa and Lakota, state House district 38, Democrat

There is one Indigenous candidate running for reelection to the state’s Senate, Democrat Donald Olson, Iñupiat, who represents district T. Olson ran uncontested and will be on the November ticket. 

Local Government

Five Indigenous candidates are running for offices in Alaska’s nonpartisan local elections. All but one, Kathleen Sherman, Iñupiat, are incumbents. These candidates were not in Tuesday’s primary. Instead, these five candidates will be on the ballot in the November election:

  • Amber Frommherz, Diné, Juneau School District Board of Education
  • Kathleen Sherman, Iñupiat, Kotzebue City Council seat D
  • Elmer Armstrong, Iñupiat, Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly seat A
  • Walter Sampson, Iñupiat, Northwest Arctic Borough Assembly seat K
  • John Osenga, Qutekcak, Seward City Council

Alaskan voters will also make a decision on two ballot measures in the general election. One would reverse a 2020 ballot measure that narrowly passed, implementing ranked-choice voting and top-four, nonpartisan primaries. The state’s voting system was challenged in its superior court, but was upheld in July 2021.

The second ballot measure would institute a $15 minimum wage and would require employers provide paid sick leave.

This story will be updated with results. Continue to visit ictnews.org for updates on these races.

The database is not complete and ICT encourages people to email political correspondent Pauly Denetclaw at pauly@ictnews.org and political reporting intern Kadin Mills at kadin@ictnews.org to add a past or current 2024 candidate to the database.

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