JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A man who is serving a 20-year prison sentence can remain on Alaska’s ranked choice general election ballot in the race for the state’s only U.S. House seat, a judge ruled Tuesday.
State Superior Court Judge Ian Wheeles in Anchorage rejected a request by the Alaska Democratic Party to remove Eric Hafner from the November ballot. Hafner, who has no apparent ties to Alaska, pleaded guilty in 2022 to charges of making threats against police officers, judges and others in New Jersey. He is running as a Democrat in a closely watched race headlined by Democratic U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola and Republican Nick Begich.
Attorneys for the Alaska Democratic Party said state elections officials erred in placing Hafner on the ballot and that he did not meet the requirements to serve in Congress. They also said his being on the ballot would complicate the party’s efforts to get Peltola reelected.
It will “confuse voters by presenting them with a candidate, putatively a Democrat, who Plaintiffs do not support and who would not be entitled to serve if elected,” party attorneys David Fox and Thomas Amodio said in a court filing.
Alaska has an open primary system, which allows the top four vote-getters regardless of party to advance to the ranked vote general election.
Hafner originally finished sixth in the primary, with just 467 votes, but was placed on the general election ballot after two Republicans, Lt. Gov. Nancy Dahlstrom and Matthew Salisbury, who placed third and fourth, respectively, withdrew. Peltola, Begich and Dahlstrom were the most prominent candidates in the race, receiving a combined total of 97.4% of the vote.
Begich, who supports the effort to repeal Alaska’s open primary and ranked vote general election system, had urged conservatives to unite to give them the best chance at beating Peltola in November.
John Wayne Howe, a member of the Alaskan Independence Party who originally finished fifth in the primary, also qualified for the November ballot.
House members are constitutionally required to be at least 25 years old, a U.S. citizen for at least seven years and an inhabitant of the state in which they’re running when elected. Four of the 12 candidates in Alaska’s House primary, including Hafner, listed out-of-state campaign addresses.
Hafner’s declaration of candidacy, filed with the state Division of Elections, lists a federal prison in New York as his current mailing address.
The Nesbett Courthouse, where state judges in the Third Judicial District hear cases in downtown Anchorage, Alaska, is shown Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)
NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy" Combs was expected to appear before a federal judge in New York on Tuesday after his indictment on undisclosed criminal charges.
The music mogul was arrested late Monday in Manhattan, roughly six months after federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami.
The indictment detailing the charges was expected to be unsealed Tuesday morning, according to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
Over the past year, Combs has been sued by people who say he subjected them to physical or sexual abuse. He has denied many of those allegations and his lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, said outside the courthouse Tuesday morning that Combs would plead not guilty. Agnifilo said he would “fight like hell” to try and get his client released from custody.
Agnifilo said he didn’t have details on the indictment, but that Combs knew it was coming and had relocated to New York two weeks ago in anticipation. Of Combs, he said, “His spirits are good. He’s confident.”
Combs, 54, was recognized as one of the most influential figures in hip-hop before a flood of allegations that emerged over the past year turned him into an industry pariah.
In November, his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, filed a lawsuit saying he had beaten and raped her for years. She accused Combs of coercing her, and others, into unwanted sex in drug-fueled settings.
The suit was settled in one day but months later CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs punching and kicking Cassie and throwing her on a floor. After the video aired, Combs apologized, saying, “I was disgusted when I did it.”
Combs and his attorneys, however, denied similar allegations made by others in a string of lawsuits.
Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer for Cassie, said in a statement Tuesday that “neither Ms. Ventura nor I have any comment.”
“We appreciate your understanding and if that changes, we will certainly let you know,” he added.
A woman said Combs raped her two decades ago when she was 17. A music producer sued, saying Combs forced him to have sex with prostitutes. Another woman, April Lampros, said Combs subjected her to “terrifying sexual encounters,” starting when she was a college student in 1994.
The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie and Lampros did.
Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, has gotten out of legal trouble before.
In 2001, he was acquitted of charges related to a Manhattan nightclub shooting two years earlier that injured three people. His then-protege, Shyne, was convicted of assault and other charges and served about eight years in prison.
This story has been corrected to show that Combs' age is 54, not 58.
Associated Press writer Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.
FILE - Host Sean "Diddy" Combs presents the revolt black excellence award at the Billboard Music Awards, May 15, 2022, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
Sean 'Diddy' Combs is expected in court after New York indictment
Sean 'Diddy' Combs is expected in court after New York indictment
FILE - Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the LA Premiere of "The Four: Battle For Stardom" at the CBS Radford Studio Center on May 30, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)
