Prisoner serving 20 years for threats to officials makes ballot for US House seat

Eric Hafner was convicted in 2022 of threatening to kill judges, police officers and others and sentenced to serve 20 years in federal prison. He originally came in sixth in Alaska’s ranked choice primary, which allows only the top four vote-getters to advance to the general election.

But Republican Matthew Salisbury withdrew from the race just ahead of Monday’s deadline, and Republican Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom withdrew last month.

That means Hafner will appear on the November general election ballot along with Alaskan Independence Party chairman John Wayne Howe and frontrunners Democratic U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola and Republican Nick Begich.

Peltola finished with the most votes in a field of 12 in the Aug. 20 primary, followed by Begich and Dahlstrom, who was backed by former President Donald Trump. Far behind them were Salisbury and Howe, who combined received just over 1% of the vote and led the remaining candidates. Hafner received just 0.43% of the vote.

There are no state laws prohibiting felons from running for election in Alaska, which means both Hafner and Trump will have a place on the ballot.

But state law does require an elected U.S. representative to reside in the state. Hafner has no apparent ties to Alaska and is serving time at a federal prison in Otisville, New York, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, with a release date set for Oct. 12, 2036. There are no federal prisons in Alaska, so even if the long-shot candidate was elected, he would be unlikely to meet the residency requirement.

This isn’t Hafner’s first attempt to win a congressional seat. He has unsuccessfully ran for office in Hawaii and Oregon, and he’s filed a flurry of failed federal lawsuits in recent years claiming to be a candidate for congressional races in New Mexico, Nevada, Vermont and other states.