Independent congressional candidate Al Gross has withdrawn from the race to replace late Republican Rep. Don Young.
“Trust that I am making the right decision,” Gross wrote on his campaign website Tuesday. “Unfortunately, Alaska and America are stuck right now, and Monica and I have decided it is just too hard to run as a nonpartisan candidate in this race.”
A separate, abridged statement from the Gross campaign was shared by the Anchorage Daily News.
Breaking: pic.twitter.com/enxwOtWAhF
— Anchorage Daily News (@adndotcom) June 21, 2022
“There are two outstanding Alaska Native women in this race who would both serve our state well, and I encourage my supporters to stay engaged and consider giving their first-place vote to whichever of them best matches their own values,” he also said.
The special election is set to fill the state’s single House seat left vacant by Young’s death. Young, 88, passed away suddenly March 18 on a commercial flight from Los Angeles to Seattle. (RELATED: Rep. Don Young Dead)
The race recently narrowed when Gross, Sarah Palin, Nick Begich and Mary Peltola advanced to the August special election. Palin led the special primary election by nine points at 28.2%, with Begich at 19.2%, Gross at 12.7% and Peltola at 8.9%, according to results reported by NBC News. (RELATED: Sarah Palin Leads Primary Opponents In First Round Of Alaska Primary)
Like Young, both Palin and Begich are Republicans. Gross’s withdrawal minimizes the possibility that Alaska’s seat will slip out of the GOP’s control.
Special elections are sometimes seen as predictors of general elections. Republican Mayra Flores recently flipped a historically blue district in Texas after defeating Democrat Dan Sanchez and two other candidates June 14.
Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (L), introduces Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump during a Town Hall at the Racine Civic Centre Memorial Hall, April 2, 2016. REUTERS/Kamil Krzaczynski TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Palin, the former governor of Alaska, received an endorsement from former President Donald Trump after she announced her candidacy. Trump’s endorsement has carried mixed results.