Alaska court rejects Democratic Party’s bid to kick incarcerated candidate off ballot

The Alaska Democratic Party’s lawsuit to remove an imprisoned congressional candidate from November’s ballot was rejected by the Alaska Supreme Court.

The court ruled Thursday that Democrat Eric Hafner, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence in New York, can stay on the ballot in his bid for the state’s sole House seat.

The Alaska Democratic Party responded by blasting the decision in a statement on X.

“We are extremely disappointed by the Alaska Supreme Court ruling, allowing Eric Hafner to remain on the ballot,” it said on Thursday.

In what is shaping up to be one of the country’s tightest congressional battles, Hafner’s long-shot Democratic candidacy could detract from incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola’s (D-AK) odds of winning reelection.

Peltola’s front-runner challenger is Republican Nick Begich, who enjoys the backing of the state GOP.

The latest polling touted by the National Republican Congressional Committee showed the two in a dead heat. Hafner remaining on the ballot as a Democratic candidate, despite coming in sixth place during the August primary, could take away critical votes Peltola needs to stave off Begich’s challenge. Hafner will likely win only a sliver of support on Election Day, but even a handful of votes could make the difference.

The Alaska Democratic Party has thrown its full weight behind Peltola as she fights to win reelection. It sued the state’s election officials earlier this month in an effort to remove Hafner from the ballot. Democrats slammed the court’s ruling after it rejected the party’s argument that Hafner shouldn’t be allowed to run as a candidate in a state in which he’s never lived.

Democrats worried the court set a “dangerous precedent” that is “embarrassing” for Alaska as they criticized Hafner, “who does not live in Alaska and has never lived in Alaska, is incarcerated in New York for making bomb threats against elected officials.”

We are extremely disappointed by the Alaska Supreme Court ruling, allowing Eric Hafner to remain on the ballot.

Hafner, who does not live in Alaska and has never lived in Alaska, is incarcerated in New York for making bomb threats against elected officials. pic.twitter.com/cnRGWuCBQt

Hafner still has 15 years left to serve in prison for threatening New Jersey officials.

During an interview earlier this month with a local Alaskan radio station, Hafner shed some light on why he was waging a race in a state he’s never stepped foot in.

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“Ultimately, if I’m elected, I expect to be released immediately at that point,” he told KBRD. "There’s a federal statute under compassionate release that says you could be released for extraordinary compelling reasons.”

The incarcerated Democrat has run in congressional races twice before. Claims that Hawaii is “illegally occupied by the Americans” formed the basis of his race in the state’s 2nd Congressional District in 2016. During his congressional race in Oregon two years later, he stated his occupation as an “Antifa & and Black Lives Matter Activist” and a “Hawaiian sovereignty activist” on state documents .