JUNEAU — Christopher Constant plans to withdraw as a candidate for the August primary for Alaska’s U.S. House seat and support fellow Democrat Mary Peltola, a spokesperson for Constant said Thursday.
Spokesperson Aubrey Wieber said he wasn’t sure when Constant would file the paperwork to withdraw. The deadline to do so is June 25.
Peltola currently sits in fourth place in last Saturday’s special primary, several thousand votes ahead of Republican Tara Sweeney.
State elections officials are still tallying ballots, with the next count planned for Friday.
The top four vote-getters in the special primary advance to an August special election. Three candidates have already advanced: Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begich and independent Al Gross.
Constant, an Anchorage Assembly member, was among the 48 candidates running in the special primary for the seat left vacant by the death of Republican Rep. Don Young. The special election winner will serve the remainder of Young’s term, which ends in January.
The August primary and November general election will determine who will serve a two-year term, beginning in January. The leading candidates in the special primary are among the 31 who have filed for the August primary.
Constant in a statement said he did not do as well as he’d hoped and he has committed to backing Peltola.
