Claman increases lead in House District 21 race

Workers at the Division of Elections scan early, question, and absentee ballots. Hillman/KSKA
Workers at the Division of Elections scan early, question, and absentee ballots. Hillman/KSKA

Democrat Matt Claman has pulled further ahead of his opponent, Republican Anand Dubey, in the House District 21 race. The Division of Elections started counting absentee and question ballots Tuesday afternoon. Workers won’t finish this batch of ballots until early evening, but they have counted all of the reviewed ballots for House District 21. The West Anchorage race was too close to call on election night. Claman was only ahead by 35 votes.

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An additional 942 ballots from the district were counted Tuesday. New numbers put Claman ahead by 86 votes and give him 50.39% of the vote.

Claman observed the process at the Division of Elecitons in midtown. He said he’s not calling it yet.

“Until all the votes are in, it’s an open question. But it’s looking better.”

It’s unclear how many more votes from the district still need to be counted. The division is still opening and verifying ballots. They’ll continue counting the district on Friday.

Anne Hillman is the healthy communities editor at Alaska Public Media and a host of Hometown, Alaska. Reach her at ahillman@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Anne here.

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