A surprise blow to Democrats nationally, an Alaska Republican has dropped out of the multi-way House race.

Alaska Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom has suspended her campaign for Congress, potentially dealing a blow to Democratic hopes of maintaining a key red-state seat in the U.S. House.

In a three-way race, Dahlstrom, an incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola, and Republican Nick Begich III, who is from a prominent political family in Alaska, competed for the seat.

Dahlstrom initially did not support Begich, but later announced her withdrawal from the race and stated that her primary motivation was to see Peltola lose.

Dahlstrom stated that he joined the race to give Alaskans better representation than what they have received from Mary Peltola in Washington.

She stated that the best way to achieve her goal at present is to withdraw her name from the general election ballot and end her campaign.

In Alaska, elections are different from most other states because the candidate who receives the most votes does not necessarily win the election.

In the first general election race Peltola won, the focus was on succeeding five-decade Republican Rep. Don Young, who passed away in office in 2022 at 88.

Sarah Palin and Dan Begich were defeated by Peltola, who ran as a Republican.

Despite receiving more votes than the two GOP candidates, Peltola was declared the winner in the ranked choice vote tallying process.

In the traditional electoral system, Alaska consistently votes for Republicans, with a Cook Political Report rating of R+9. Currently, the U.S. House is controlled by Republicans by a margin of 220-211, with four vacancies. A less contentious race in Alaska could provide Republicans with more space to maneuver.

Kelly Tshibaka, a Republican who lost to Sen. Lisa Murkowski in a ranked-choice election, has criticized the system as "baiting the water for political negativity." On the other hand, supporters of the system argue that it helps to reduce partisanship and support more moderate candidates.

Dahlstrom, whose uncle Mark was a Democratic senator and grandfather, Nick Sr., was Young's Democratic predecessor before disappearing in a 1972 plane crash, ran a "strong campaign" and was thanked for her public service by Young.

"Today, we move forward as a team to replace Mary Peltola, who has shown through her alignment with the left that she is not the moderate she claimed to be. I am excited to continue traveling Alaska and earning your support as we take Alaska's incredible story to our nation's capital," Begich stated.

"North, to the Future," he added.

Planet Chronicle Digital reached out to Peltola and her campaign for comment.