By PAM MELIN
Aug. 25, 2026 – Let’s take a quick walk down memory lane, because there’s a story from 2024 that many Alaskans don’t even know happened.
And right now, they need to know.
The Valley Republican Women of Alaska endorsed Nick Begich III over Nancy Dahlstrom because we believed he was the candidate who could beat Mary Peltola. We saw his work ethic, his policy depth and his determination. We called Republican women’s clubs across Alaska and asked them to join us.
Some did. Some were apprehensive until after the primary. One told us Nick couldn’t win. But we kept going.
Then Republican district leaders joined with the clubs and the magic happened. An official consolidated resolution circulated across Alaska supporting Nick Begich with over 17 District Chairs, seven Region Reps and seven club chairs signing on. This happened even though Nancy Dahlstrom already had President Donald Trump’s endorsement.
That resolution made the difference. I had the honor of helping get it in front of President Trump.
That effort helped build momentum around something Republicans desperately needed: One candidate. One direction. A path to win.
We didn’t wait for leadership. We were the leadership. Then voters gave us clarity.
Nick finished the primary at 26.6% to Nancy’s 19.9%. Nancy had qualified for the general election, but she made the decision to withdraw anyway, saying the best thing she could do to defeat Peltola was end her campaign. That selfless act on her part deserves massive respect.
President Trump ultimately endorsed Nick, and Nick won. He led Peltola on first-choice votes, 48.41% to 46.37%, and finished the ranked-choice tabulation at 51.22% to 48.78%.
So here’s my question: Why does everyone want to drag Republicans back to the failure of 2022, when Peltola won, while barely mentioning what we got right in 2024?
We’re hearing it again: “Rank the red. Rank two. Just rank.”
But 2024 taught us something much bigger: Consolidate.
Today we have a massive field in the governor’s race, and somehow voters are being handed responsibility for fixing it.
No. Voters didn’t create this field. Candidates did. And blaming voters who don’t want to rank multiple Republicans isn’t a strategy.
Democrats understand the stakes too. The two leading Democratic gubernatorial candidates currently account for roughly 42% of the primary vote, while Republican support is scattered across a much larger field. (Alaska Story) That should get everyone’s attention.
People have preferred candidates. We get that. Organizations have endorsements. Campaigns have interests. And yes, egos are involved. But eventually, we have to decide whether we’re trying to preserve everybody’s political interests or win the governor’s race.
We faced this choice before. In 2024, grassroots Republicans organized, challenged conventional wisdom and created momentum behind one candidate. Nancy Dahlstrom demonstrated the humility to step aside. President Trump ultimately got behind Nick. And Nick Begich won.
So don’t tell voters this race is theirs to lose because they won’t rank enough candidates. This race is ours to win. We already have the blueprint.
We just have to have the courage to use it.
Pam Melin is a Mat-Su Valley resident who is politically active as president of Valley Republican Women of Alaska.
Suzanne Downing: ‘Rank the Red’ message makes no sense to nearly two-thirds of Alaska voters
Suzanne Downing: Republicans are being told to ‘rank the red.’ Democrats know better than to ‘rank the blue.’
2 thoughts on “Pam Melin: Remember 2024? Alaska already proved consolidation works”
there you have it republican voters. no need to worry about who you will vote for. Pam Melin will pick your candidate. sorry Dave save your money.
No Leo all Pam is saying is treat the primary as you would a normal Republican primary like everywhere else in America. Person with the most votes win.
The entire intent of Rank Choice Voting is to create the current system that allows decoy candidates on the General Election Ballot.
If the conservative candidates step aside as did the Lt Governor did in 2024, the choice will be clear.
The true Stateswoman event was when Bernadette Wilson made the pledge to back the Republican top vote getter.
As a side bar, there is no such thing as the perfect Political candidate. So stop your crying.
That said have you really looked into JKT’s Bio or sing any of songs by Begich? Both of the Democrat candidates should scare the Hell out of all Alaskans.