Episode 47: Can Mary Peltola flip Alaska? Can Ashley Hinson hold Iowa?

The midterms are almost two weeks away. With so many pivotal races on the board, the Decision Desk HQ Podcast chatted with two reporters about what’s happening in a pair of key states: Alaska and Iowa.In the first part of the episode, Decision Desk HQ Chief Elections Analyst Geoffrey Skelley speaks with James Brooks, state political reporter for the Alaska Beacon. They dug into Alaska’s high-profile Senate race between Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and former Rep. Mary Peltola, the leading Democrat, which will play a major role in deciding which party controls the Senate. They also chatted about Alaska’s under-discussed contest for governor, where former state Rep. Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins might be the first Democrat to win that office since 1998.In the second half, Geoffrey spoke with Brianne Pfannenstiel, the chief politics reporter at the Des Moines Register. They looked at Iowa’s much-watched Senate election between Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson and Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek, which is practically a pure toss-up in DDHQ’s forecast. Then they examined Iowa’s gubernatorial race, where Democratic state Auditor Rob Sand holds a lead and could become the first Democrat to win the governorship since 2006.

---► Geoffrey Skelley on X: https://x.com/geoffreyvs► James Brooks on X: https://x.com/AK_OK► Brianne Pfannenstiel on X: https://x.com/brianneDMR► Alaska Beacon: https://alaskabeacon.com► Des Moines Register: https://desmoinesregister.com---► DDHQ VOTES: https://votes.decisiondeskhq.com/► DDHQ Substack: https://decisiondeskhq.substack.com/► Join DDHQ’s Discord: https://discord.com/invite/ddhq---CHAPTERS00:00 Intro to episode02:16 Introducing James Brooks and Alaska09:19 Alaska Senate: Dan Sullivan a slight underdog?15:07 Peltola stories: Nice Mary vs. Moody Mary?22:16 Ranked-choice voting and the OTHER Dan Sullivan28:55 Alaska Governor: 1 Democrat vs. 3 Republican41:10 Introducing Brianne Pfannenstiel and Iowa49:55 Iowa Senate: Turek & Hinson position themselves1:00:32 Iowa Governor: Why Rob Sand is favored1:05:04 Zach Lahn, the unexpected GOP nominee1:10:51 Three competitive House races in Iowa

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