A man serving a 20-year federal prison sentence in New York remains on Alaska’s ballot for the state’s only seat in the U.S. House.
Story Highlights
- Eric Hafner, 35, is in federal prison for threatening police officers, judges and others, charges he pleaded guilty to in 2022.
- He finished fourth in Alaska’s open primary on Tuesday, Aug. 18, with about 3.8% of the vote, enough to make the fall ballot.
- He faces Republican Rep. Nick Begich, independent Bill Hill and Libertarian Jim McDermott in the election on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
- A super PAC backing Hill is running ads that urge Alaska Democrats not to vote for Hafner.
Hafner is on the ballot because Alaska’s primary is open to every candidate and sends the top four finishers to the general election, no matter their party. The Constitution also sets no rule that keeps a prisoner from running for Congress. Hafner has said he is innocent. In a 2024 interview with an Alaska TV station, he said, “I’m innocent of all charges,” and called himself “a threat to the status quo.”
Who Eric Hafner Is
Federal prosecutors in New Jersey, then led by U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger, said Hafner repeatedly threatened elected officials, judges, police officers and private citizens, and called in false bomb threats to a courthouse and other targets. Hafner is held at a federal prison in Otisville, New York, nearly 3,000 miles from Juneau. According to reports, he is not due for release until 2036.
Democrats Campaign Against Their Own Congressional Nominee Who Happens to Be in Federal Prison https://t.co/bw2K1U68n6 #gatewaypundit via @gatewaypundit
— Lord Wolfen 🗽🇺🇸 (@LordWolfen) October 12, 2026
He has no clear ties to Alaska. Reports say he is registered at his mother’s address in South Dakota and uses a New York phone number. He has said he expects to be freed if he wins, pointing to compassionate release, a federal law that lets a judge free a prisoner early for extraordinary reasons.
How a Prisoner Stays on the Ballot
Alaska elects one member of the U.S. House for the whole state. The Constitution lists only three rules for that job: a member must be at least 25, a citizen for seven years, and an inhabitant of the state when elected. Nothing in it bars a person convicted of a felony, even one still behind bars.
Hafner ran for the same seat in 2024. The Alaska Democratic Party sued to take him off that ballot, arguing in part that he did not live in Alaska. The Alaska Supreme Court ruled 4-1 to keep him on. The party chair at the time, Mike Wenstrup, called him “a convicted felon who is running his campaign from a prison cell in New York.”
Democrats Campaign Against the Name With a “D”
Hafner is the only Democrat in the race, but Democrats are not backing him. Wheel Dog, a super PAC, which is a group that can raise and spend unlimited money as long as it does not coordinate with a campaign, is backing Hill with an ad about Hafner’s prison term. “The D by his name? Yeah, it stands for Doing Time,” the ad says. It closes with the words “Alaska Democrats Vote Bill Hill.” Reports say federal campaign filings show the group is funded by Democrats.
The worry for Hill’s side comes from Alaska’s ranked-choice voting. Voters rank the candidates in order. If no one tops 50%, the last-place candidate is dropped, and those ballots move to each voter’s next choice. Democrats fear votes for Hafner could end up helping Begich, who won the seat in 2024. Hill, a commercial fisherman and retired educator, has not said whether he would side with Democrats in Congress. “I guess we’ll find out when the election comes,” he said.
Alaskans vote on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Sources:
westernjournal.com, thegatewaypundit.com
