Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom, a Republican endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has announced her withdrawal from the race for Alaska's sole seat in the U.S. House. Dahlstrom's decision came after she finished in third place during this week's primary election. Her exit leaves Republican Nick Begich as the primary contender against Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, who holds the distinction of being the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress.

In a statement released by her campaign, Dahlstrom stated that her reason for entering the race was to provide better representation to the people of Alaska than what they have received from Rep. Mary Peltola. However, she believes that the best course of action to achieve this goal is to withdraw her name from the general election ballot and end her campaign.

The primary election saw a total of twelve candidates vying for the seat, with the top four vote-getters advancing to the ranked choice general election, regardless of party affiliation. Early results showed Rep. Mary Peltola leading the polls, followed by Nick Begich and Nancy Dahlstrom. It is still too early to determine who will secure the fourth position.

The general election for Alaska's sole U.S. House seat is expected to be highly contested. The Republican party aims to reclaim the seat previously held by the late Republican U.S. Rep. Don Young for an impressive 49 years. Rep. Peltola won the seat through victories in both special and regular elections in 2022.

Elisa Rios, the campaign manager for Rep. Peltola, expressed their pride in surpassing the 50% vote threshold in the primary and anticipates that voters will make the same choice in the November general election. Meanwhile, Nick Begich, who previously ran for the seat in 2022, was endorsed by various local Republican groups. He congratulated Nancy Dahlstrom for running a strong campaign and emphasized the need to replace Rep. Peltola, whom he believes has aligned with the left and not lived up to her claim of being a moderate.

While Dahlstrom did not make a similar pledge to withdraw from the race if she finished behind Begich in the primary, she expressed her intention to hold discussions with Begich, Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, and the state Republican party to analyze the distribution of votes and the requirements for a conservative candidate to succeed.

The National Republican Congressional Committee initially supported Dahlstrom but now considers Nick Begich, who comes from a prominent Alaska Democratic family, to be a "great choice." Committee chairman Richard Hudson thanked Dahlstrom for her selfless decision, which allows Alaskans to unite around a single Republican candidate.

Under Alaskan law, if any of the top four primary candidates withdraw, is disqualified or passes away within 64 days of the general election, the fifth-place finisher advances to the general election ballot. However, as of now, it appears that little-known Republican Matthew Salisbury and Alaska Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe would move forward if the early results hold, as they each received less than 1% of the votes.

The general election is set to take place on November 5, with voters eagerly awaiting the outcome of the race for Alaska's sole U.S. House seat.