JUNE, Alaska — Alaska voters were deciding Tuesday in a tight race for the state’s only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives that could help decide control of that chamber. They were also choosing whether to repeal the state’s system of open primaries and ranked general elections, just four years after deciding to experiment with it.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola sought to fend off GOP efforts to retake the seat held for 49 years by Republican Rep. Don Young, who died in 2022. Peltola’s main opponent was Republican Nick Begich, who comes from a family of prominent Democrats. They were among the opponents he defeated two years ago in special and regular elections in which Peltola, a Yup’ik, became the first Alaska Native elected to Congress.

Along with the repeal initiative, the ballot measure also included a measure that would raise the state’s minimum wage and mandate paid sick leave for many employees; This measure was opposed by groups including various chambers of commerce and the seafood processors association.

Fifty of the 60 seats in the Legislative Assembly are also up for election, while control of the state House and Senate will also be seized. The closely divided Parliament has struggled to organize after the last three election cycles. In Alaska, lawmakers are not always organized by party.

In Alaska’s key House race, Peltola sought to distance himself from presidential politics by refusing to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris and ignoring any weight an endorsement from her might carry in a state where he was last the Democratic presidential nominee in 1964. willing to work across party lines and played his part in getting the Biden administration to approve the massive Willow oil project in Alaska, which has broad political support.

Begich, whose grandfather, the late Democrat Nick Begich, was seated before Young, was supported by former President Donald Trump after his performance in the primaries.

Trump’s first choice, Republican Governor Nancy Dahlstrom, bowed to pressure from Republicans who wanted to unite behind a candidate after finishing third in the primaries and withdrew. Alaska’s open primaries allow the top four vote-getters to advance. The top four-place Republican, Matthew Salisbury, also resigned, leaving behind Alaska Independence Party candidate John Wayne Howe and Eric Hafner, a Democrat with no apparent ties to the state who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for threatening officials and others in New York. Jersey is on the ballot.

Begich, the founder of a software development company, sought to portray Peltola as ineffective in stopping actions that limit resource development in a dependent state of his, including the Biden administration’s decision to cancel leases for oil and gas development in the Arctic. National Wildlife Refuge.

Alaska is one of only two states to have adopted ranked-choice voting and would be the first to eliminate it if the ballot initiative is successful. In 2020, Alaskans narrowly voted to cancel party primaries in favor of open primaries and ranked general elections. Most registered voters in Alaska are not affiliated with a party, and the new system was designed as a way to give voters more options and bring moderation to the election process. But critics called it confusing.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a moderate Republican and Trump critic who has been at odds with party leaders, appeared in an ad supporting open primaries and ranked-choice voting.

Opponents of the system managed to get enough signatures to put the repeal measure on the ballot, resisting a months-long legal battle to keep it on the ballot. Begich was among those who supported repealing the law, and the state Republican Party also endorsed the repeal effort.