KENT NISHIMURA/Getty Images via AFP
Eric Hafner’s candidacy for the post of representative of Alaska may affect the balance of the House (US Congress, illustration photo).
USA – In American history, election candidates have already campaigned behind bars. This is especially the case with Eugene V. Debbs, who ran for president in 1918, even though he had been sentenced to 10 years in prison for sedition. In 2024, an unknown prisoner is running for a seat in the House of Representatives. And its presence on the ballot could have significant implications for the US Congress.
The story of this unlikely candidacy was told by New York Times in an article published this Tuesday, October 15, as well as many other American media in recent weeks. Eric Hafner, 33, is in prison for threatening public officials in New Jersey, where he grew up. He is imprisoned in New York and has never set foot in Alaska.
However, it was in this state that he presented himself. He faces incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola, a Democrat, who was born in this state located on the western tip of Canada, and Republican Nick Begich III, described by the US daily as a man who comes from a political dynasty known in Anchorage, the capital. of Alaska. The eventual candidate John Wayne Howe comes from a third minority party.
The election will take place on President’s Day, November 5. On this date, one-third of the members of the Senate and the entire House of Representatives are renewed. Eric Hafner will be on the ballot because of an anomaly in Alaska that allows voters to create a list of candidates they prefer.
Shift the majority in the House of Representatives
In the primary election that took place in August, unknown Eric Hafner received 467 votes and came in 6th out of 12 candidates. To qualify for the November 5 election, you had to place in the first four places. Luck smiled on the prisoner: two Republican candidates withdrew from the race in favor of Nick Begich III. Bingo for Eric Hafner, who is therefore the fourth qualified candidate.
The Democrats, on the other hand, are not at all enthusiastic. They support Mary Peltola and hope that she will retain her seat, also the only representative seat for Alaska in the House (the number of elected representatives in this lower house depends on the population of the state). Except that Eric Hafner risks siphoning off some of the Democrats’ votes and could cause the latter to lose their seat. And even influence the balance of the House of Representatives if the Democrats are just one vote short of an absolute majority.
“The chances of Eric Hafner influencing this election are legitimate and real. It’s a very close race where every vote will count.”thus emphasizes to New York Times Matt Shuckerow, a Republican Party strategist based in Alaska. According to him, the convict could collect 1 to 3% of the votes. “It could cost (Mary Peltola) the election”he thinks.
He has previously run in Hawaii and Oregon
The publicity that Eric Hafner receives in the media also risks creating confusion among voters, who may simply forget that a candidate has the support of the Democratic Party. The latter even tried to eliminate Eric Hafner from the race by turning to the courts. A failure.
Like any self-respecting candidate, the prisoner is campaigning from New York with the help of his mother — who also ran unsuccessfully for the seat in 2018 — and using his phone time to contact reporters. He specifically declared that New York Times that he “didn’t care if Mary Peltola wasn’t re-elected”.
He also said that his goal was not to disrupt the election, but to ensure that Alaska aligns with his strong ideas about the climate, the conservation of natural resources and the rights of indigenous peoples. Asked about his commitment to live in the state if he’s ever elected, Eric Hofner doesn’t see a problem despite a sentence that runs until 2036. He believes he can request his early release and settle in Alaska .
Eric Hofner is not his first attempt at politics. THE New York Times says he ran for at least two elections to become a member of Congress: for Hawaii in 2016 as a Republican and in Oregon in 2018 as a Democrat.
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