Following the Aug. 18 Alaska primary election, gubernatorial candidate Dave Bronson has said he wants to wait until all the ballots are tabulated before making a final decision on his campaign.
Bronson is currently the fourth highest vote-getter in the governor’s contest with 8.4% of the vote. He trails leading Democrats Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins (21.6%) and Tom Begich (20%), as well as Republican Bernadette Wilson (10.4%).
If he maintains his fourth place standing, Bronson will advance to the general election. He can, however, withdraw, which would then allow the fifth place finisher to move up and advance to the November contest.
Wilson made headlines last year when she called on all her fellow Republican candidates to join her in vowing to drop out of the race if they did not finish as the top GOP vote-getter in the primary.
Wilson maintains that it will be easier for a Republican to win, if there are not multiple GOP names on the final November ballot, which will be done using ranked-choice voting.
Bronson’s Aug. 19 statement did not indicate which direction he was leaning.
“I could not be more proud of the campaign we have run, the incredible team that has stood beside me, and the grassroots support we have received from Alaskans in communities across our great state,” he said. “I am deeply grateful to every Alaskan who placed their trust in me, every volunteer who gave their time, and every supporter who helped carry our message. It has been an honor to earn your support.”
He noted that there are still thousands of Alaskans whose votes have not yet been counted.
“And every one of those votes deserves to be counted,” Bronson added. “From day one, my goal in this race has been bigger than any one campaign: ensuring Alaska elects a Republican governor in November.”
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The race for the third and fourth place finishers remains fairly close. Other candidates in the running include former Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor (7.4%) and former Alaska legislator Click Bishop (7.1%).
“The results remain extremely close, with thousands of ballots still outstanding,” Bronson concluded. “We owe it to those voters to let the process play out. Once the final tabulation of early votes are reported next Tuesday and we have the full picture of where this race stands, our campaign will make the decision that best advances that goal and gives Republicans the strongest path to victory in November.”
