Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola has held Alaska's sole congressional seat since 2022 and is fighting for another term in office.

However, her chances of getting reelected went down this week after a judge confirmed that an imprisoned candidate is eligible to stay on the ballot. 

Rival Democrat is currently serving a 20-year sentence in federal prison

As the Daily Caller explained, the candidate in question is Democrat Eric Hafner, who received a 20-year sentence for threatening public officials.

While Hafner is currently incarcerated at a federal correctional facility located in New York state and has never been an Alaska resident, he nevertheless took sixth place in Alaska's ranked-choice August primary vote.

Despite this, the convict was subsequently elevated to third place after Republican candidates Dahlstrom and Matthew Salisbury ended their campaigns.

Although Hafner only secured 0.4% of the vote last month, the Daily Caller noted that most polls suggest a tight race between Peltola and Republican Nick Begich.

Thus, it is possible that Hafner could flip the election for Begich by siphoning a critical number of Democratic votes away from Peltola.

Democrats argued in court that Hafner's candidacy is unconstitutional

That fact prompted the Alaska Democratic Party to file a lawsuit against the Alaska Division of Elections last week which challenged Hafner's eligibility.

"This is about someone who is incarcerated, an unqualified candidate that shouldn’t have been moved onto the ballot," Alaska Democratic Party executive director Lindsay Kavanaugh told the Alaska Beacon.

Filed in Anchorage Superior Court, the lawsuit maintained that Hafner does not meet conditions laid out in Article I, Section 2, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution.

It states, "No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen."

GOP campaign says situation is "a direct result" of convoluted voting system

However, the Daily Caller reported that Anchorage Superior Court Judge Ian Wheeles moved to dismiss the lawsuit on Tuesday.

Bernadette Wilson serves as a senior advisor for the Begich campaign, and she told the Daily Caller, "The situation that has unfolded is a direct result of ranked choice voting which Nick Begich has consistently spoken out against."

"Fortunately, Alaskans will have the opportunity to undo this convoluted system in November," Wilson went on to assert.