Republican candidate Nick Begich defeated incumbent Democratic rival Rep. Mary Peltola in Alaska’s U.S. House race on Wednesday, providing Republicans with a small victory as they seek to bolster their narrow House majority.
The Associated Press called the race in favor of Begich shortly after 9 p.m. ET, with 99 percent of the votes counted.
Begich received 51.3 percent of the vote following two rounds of ranked-choice tabulations, while Peltola received 48.7 percent of the vote, according to the AP.
The Alaska Division of Elections completed the ranked-choice tabulations—which allows voters to rank candidates on the ballot in order of preference—after both Begich and Peltola failed to garner a majority of first-choice votes on Nov. 5….