Imprisoned Alaska Democrat Eric Hafner is on the House ballot again

Eric Hafner, a Democrat serving a 20-year federal prison sentence, has advanced to Alaska's general-election ballot for U.S. House for a second time. Newsweek reported Thursday that he has never lived in Alaska ¹. Republicans accuse Democrats of helping a second unusual candidate onto an Alaska ballot, and Democrats are pointing to Hafner's case in response ¹.

The other candidate is Daniel J. Sullivan Jr., a retired teacher who shares a name with Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan ¹. President Trump and others denounce his candidacy, and GOP Gov. Mike Dunleavy has ordered an investigation into whether recruiting candidates for the Senate race broke Alaska law ¹.

Who Hafner is

Hafner pleaded guilty in 2022 to making threatening communications and conveying false information about the use of an explosive device. He was sentenced in December 2023 to 240 months in prison ¹. Prosecutors said he threatened officials, judges, police officers and their families from 2016 to 2018 and made false bomb threats ¹.

He is serving his sentence in New York, and his candidate information lists a mailing address in Box Elder, South Dakota ¹². Hafner has disputed his conviction. He told an Alaska public radio station in 2024 that he is innocent ¹.

From Channel GOPPeltola: Tariffs doubled Alaska air taxi's parts billMary Peltola · 141 plays · captioned, with the source named

In the August primary he got 6,175 votes, or 3.8 percent, according to certified results. That is up from 467 votes in 2024 ¹. Democrat Matt Schultz got 13,149 votes but had withdrawn before the primary, so he did not advance ¹. Hafner is now the only registered Democrat in the race. The others are Republican Rep. Nick Begich, nonpartisan Bill Hill and Libertarian Jim McDermott ¹.

The 2024 fight

In 2024 Hafner finished sixth in the primary with 0.43 percent. He reached the ballot only after two Republicans who had placed ahead of him withdrew ¹. The Alaska Democratic Party sued in September 2024 to remove him. It alleged the withdrawals had been "orchestrated by the Alaska Republican Party" so that only one Republican would be on the ballot ¹.

The Alaska Republican Party joined the case on the other side and argued Hafner should stay on. It told the Alaska Supreme Court that nothing in state law set a minimum number of primary votes to advance ¹. Courts left him on the ballot ¹.

Newsweek reported that the legal issues differ from the Sullivan case. Courts restored Sullivan Jr. because the state lacked a legal basis for the "good faith" candidacy requirement it had used ¹. Newsweek said it had contacted Hafner, the state GOP and Mary Peltola's Senate campaign. The excerpt provided does not include any reply ¹.

What happens next

Hafner's return revives a constitutional question. The Constitution says a House member must be an inhabitant of the state "when elected" ¹. In 2024 a judge ruled that he could run whether or not he could take office if elected ¹. Hafner said then that he would seek release and move to Alaska if he won ¹.

The Justice Department has also issued new grand jury subpoenas in a criminal investigation of the circumstances around Sullivan Jr.'s candidacy, the Associated Press reported Thursday, citing a person briefed on it. The recipients and targets were not immediately clear ¹.

That matters because both parties now accuse each other of gaming Alaska's ballot, and the record shows both sides have fought over who gets on it. Hafner's mother, Carol Hafner, also sought a place on the Senate ballot this year but did not advance ¹². Voters decide the races Tuesday, Nov. 3.

The Record

1. Jan 1, 2022Hafner pleaded guilty to making threatening communications and conveying false information about the use of an explosive device (year only given in source) ¹.
2. Sep 1, 2024The Alaska Democratic Party sued the Division of Elections to remove Hafner from the 2024 U.S. House ballot (September; no day given in source) ¹.
3. Jun 1, 2026Alaska's News Source reported that Hafner had filed again for Alaska's U.S. House seat as a Democrat, and that his mother filed for the U.S. Senate ².
4. Oct 29, 2026Newsweek reported Hafner is again on the general-election ballot after receiving 6,175 primary votes, or 3.8 percent ¹.

Sources

1. Newsweek, “Who Is Eric Hafner? Democrat on Alaska Ballot Accused of Being GOP Ploy” (2026-10-29). newsweek.com/eric-hafner-alaska-democrat-gop-ballot-mary-pel
2. Alaska's News Source, “Family affair: Federal inmate and mother run for Alaska congressional seats” (2026-06-01). alaskasnewssource.com/2026/06/01/family-affair-federal-inmat

Found an error? Tell the newsroom. Corrections are noted at the top of the story.