Tuesday, August 18, 2026
(https://www.nativenews.net/tuesday-august-18-2026/)
Photo: Bill Hill (Athabascan), Independent candidate for Alaska’s at-large congressional district. (Courtesy Bill Hill campaign)
Tuesday is primary day in Wyoming, Florida, and Alaska, which uses ranked-choice voting (RCV).
The top four vote getters in each race, regardless of party, move on to the general election in November.
That makes voters turnout a key issue, especially in remote parts of the state, where Alaska Natives have seen numbers fade over the past 20 years.
As Rhonda McBride (https://www.knba.org/people/rhonda-mcbride) from our flagship station KNBA reports, there are hopes Tuesday’s election will show signs of a turnaround.
One encouraging sign for Alaska Native voter turnout is the number of Native candidates running for office this year.
“It’s notable that we have a high-profile Native candidate in each big race.”
Michelle Sparck is the Alaska director for Get Out the Native Vote. She says this marks the first time in years that there is an all-Native ticket for Alaska governor – with Meda DeWitt, a Tlingit and her running mate, Chris Steere, an Iñupiat.
And there is national attention focused on former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola (Yup’ik/D-AK), the first Alaska Native member of Congress.
Peltola’s bid for the U.S. Senate is one the state’s most closely watched races – a battle that could determine control of the country’s most powerful legislative body.
Polls show a tight race between Peltola and incumbent U.S. Sen. Dan S. Sullivan (R-AK).
The primary election could offer the clearest picture yet of where this race really stands.
There is also Bill Hill (Athabascan), a longtime school superintendent and Bristol Bay fisherman.
He is challenging incumbent U.S. Rep. Nick Begich (R-AK), who in 2024 unseated Peltola.
Hill is an Independent and a relative political unknown, but his grassroots campaign has gained traction and polls show he is closing the gap with his opponent.
Sparck says Get Out the Native Vote remains strictly nonpartisan and does not back candidates, but she is hoping the wealth of Native candidates will energize Native voters.
Sparck says the real work in getting out the Native vote might be compared to cultivating a garden that has long been neglected.
The mission for Sparck and her volunteers has been to travel from village to village, to revive the voting culture of the 1980’s, when voter turnout ran as higher than 70-80%, the era of the super voter.
“They are today’s elders.”
Spark says turnout has fallen below 20%, but she hopes sharing the story of those earlier generations will inspire a new wave of super voters.
A marker along the Southern border near the Tohono O’odham Nation between the U.S. and Mexico in June 2026. (Photo: Gabriel Pietrorazio)
A federal judge is denying calls for a preliminary injunction by the Tohono O’odham Nation to halt border wall construction along a 60-foot stretch of land bordering the tribal reservation.
KJZZ’s Gabriel Pietrorazio (https://www.kjzz.org/people/gabriel-pietrorazio) has details.
Judge Richard Leon in D.C. ruled last week that an injunction is “unwarranted”, writing he expects the U.S. to follow through on consulting with the Tohono O’odham Nation.
Historically, that has not been the case, according to Tohono O’odham Chairman Verlon Jose. He points to the destruction of the 1,000-year-old Las Playas Intaglio, as the latest example.
“We were assured that the border wall construction would not impact it, but despite that warning and assurances, federal contractors just bladed right through it, causing permanent damage to this O’odham and American treasure. You can’t rebuild it.”
Still, the judge noted that the feds’ interests in ensuring public safety and enforcing immigration laws “outweigh any surviving irreparable harms.”
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Check out today’s Native America Calling episode
Tuesday, August 18, 2026 — Are Native voters in line with the Democratic Party’s shift to the left? (https://www.nativeamericacalling.com/tuesday-august-18-2026-are-native-voters-in-line-with-the-democratic-partys-shift-to-the-left/)
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