Who Is Gerald Heikes? Trump Wants Alaska Votes Given to Dan Sullivan
Summary
President Donald Trump called for votes cast for Gerald Heikes and Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. in Alaska’s unresolved U.S. Senate race to be added to incumbent Republican Dan Sullivan’s total. Alaska uses ranked-choice voting, which transfers ballots according to voters’ next choices; an election-law expert said state law does not allow the blanket transfer Trump proposed.Key Facts
- Unofficial results showed Democrat Mary Peltola with 102,962 votes, or 48.2 percent, and Dan Sullivan with 102,325 votes, or 47.9 percent.
- Heikes had 4,846 first-choice votes, while Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. had 3,600.
- Neither Peltola nor Dan Sullivan had more than 50 percent of first-choice votes in the latest results reported.
- Under Alaska’s ranked-choice system, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated if no one has a majority, and ballots transfer according to voters’ next-ranked choices.
- Some ballots for Heikes or Daniel J. Sullivan Jr. could transfer to Dan Sullivan, while others could go to Peltola or stop counting if voters ranked no remaining candidate.
- The ranked-choice tabulation was scheduled for November 18.
- University of Washington law professor Jeff Feldman said Alaska law clearly sets the vote-counting procedure and does not permit officials to assign all votes from the two candidates to Dan Sullivan.
- Gerald Heikes is a Palmer, Alaska, resident, minister and drywall contractor who has previously run for governor, U.S. Senate and U.S. House.
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