Alaska US Senate hopeful drops bid, backs fellow Republican

By MARK THIESSEN
Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A little-known candidate for the U.S. Senate race in Alaska suspended his campaign Monday, hoping not to divide the Republican vote during the general election, when ranked choice voting will be used. Buzz Kelley said Democrat Mary Peltola was able to win a special election for the state’s House seat when Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich divided the vote. He said he didn’t want that to happen again, so he’s dropping his bid and backing Kelly Tshibaka. The other two candidates in the race are incumbent U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who had the most votes in the primary, and Democrat Pat Chesbro.