Alaska Supreme Court issued explanation about allowing inmate to run for House

The Supreme Court in the state of Alaska has boiled its decision on the campaign of a convicted felon down to just one word, according to the Alaska Beacon.

Last year, the state supreme court issued a headline-grabbing 4-1 decision, saying that Alaska’s U.S. House ballots would allow the felon to attempt to obtain the seat.

Eric Hafner, also known as Inmate 00932-005, campaigned from the Otisville Federal Correctional Institution in New York, which is about 4,000 miles from Alaska.

The 33-year-old candidate is serving 20 years for threatening a public official in New Jersey, where he is from. But in a shocking turn of events, he launched a campaign to be the very thing he threatened: a public official.

More explanation

According to the state’s high court, their decision came down to the word “fifth.”

A 22-page opinion that explained the court’s decision cited Alaska residents’ approval of 2020’s Ballot Measure 2, in which primary elections were opened to ranked choice voting.

The top four vote-getters would be allowed to be in the primary, regardless of party, and if one of those candidates were to withdraw between the primary and general election, they would be replaced.

The measure said that the Alaska Division of Elections was tasked with replacing the candidate who dropped out “with the candidate who received the fifth most votes in the primary election.”

The 2024 contest

In the 2024 election, it turned out that two Republican candidates withdrew their candidacy after the primary, and attempted to throw their support behind fellow Republican Republican Nick Begich III, who went on to win the election.

Because of that switch-up, the candidate who got sixth place, which just so happened to be Hafner, or Inmate 00932-005 if you prefer, was put on the ballot in 2024.

Hafner had never lived in Alaska at the time he was a candidate, and if he were elected, he would have been ineligible to take on the office because of his lack of residency.

Democrat backlash

The case took an interesting turn because, despite the fact that Hafner is a Democrat and running as such, Democrats sued to remove him from the ballot.

The party feared splitting the vote between Hafner and then-incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola, and argued that the measure allowed the Division of Elections to promote the fifth finisher to the ballot, but did not offer any further allowance for the would-be candidate.

Last year, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that an imprisoned felon in New York could remain on Alaska’s U.S. House ballot despite a lawsuit challenging his eligibility. Last week, the court issued an opinion explaining its decision. via @AlaskaBeacon https://t.co/BPnQKuzLd8

— Anchorage Daily News (@adndotcom) July 28, 2025