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When I saw the Slack notification preview, “Matt, I’m literally crying right now,” I must admit my first reaction was “Oh no, what happened…”
Matt, I’m literally crying right now. I just read the Baby & Caregiver Attendance policy that Automattic will fly your baby and whoever is caring for them to be with you at a meetup while you’re breastfeeding.
Everyone talks about closing the gap for women in the workforce after kids. This is the first time I’ve seen a company actually pay for the answer.
I don’t think you hear this enough, so I want to say it plainly: thank you, THANK YOU. Forever grateful.
Stephanie Ospina also posted about it on LinkedIn. This benefit isn’t even on our public benefits page! From our Field Guide post revisions I found it was added in 2018 by Ingrid Miller of our Human Wrangling team, and it’s a great example of the care and effort they put into shaping what we call the Automattic Operating System.
Voters line up on Aug. 17, 2026, at the early voting station set up in Anchorage’s Midtown Mall. Voters reported waiting about an hour to cast their primary election ballots. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
This article is developing and will be updated.
Early tallies from Tuesday’s statewide primary election showed overwhelming support for a ballot measure that will restrict the amount of money that political candidates can accept from groups and individuals.
With 324 of 403 precincts reporting by 12 a.m. Wednesday morning, Ballot Measure 1 had the support of 71.9% of participating voters.
That’s only slightly less than the 73% margin that a similar ballot measure received in 2006.
The limits imposed by that 2006 measure remained in place until 2021, when a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Alaska’s limits on campaign contributions were so tight that they violated the First Amendment.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration declined to appeal that decision, and the state’s 2022, 2024 and 2026 elections have taken place without limits on the amount of money that candidates may accept.
A poorly funded group called Citizens Against Money in Politics gathered thousands of signatures to put a measure on the ballot. The Alaska Legislature passed a substantially similar bill this year, but Dunleavy vetoed it, clearing the way for the measure to appear on the August primary ballot.
Vote-counting is expected to continue through Aug. 28, the deadline for mailed absentee ballots to reach the Alaska Division of Elections.
Barring legal challenge, the measure would take effect after this year’s elections.
When enacted, the new law would prohibit political donors from giving a candidate more than $2,000 per election. Groups would be allowed to give no more than $4,000 per candidate per election.
Both limits would be adjusted for inflation every 10 years, and they will only apply to state-level elections — for governor, state House and state Senate.
Candidates themselves would still be allowed to spend as much of their own money as they want on their own campaign.
Federal elections — those for President, U.S. Senate and U.S. House — operate under different limits in federal law.
The measure does not affect the amount of money that can be spent by groups operating independently of candidates’ campaigns.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that limiting those groups amounts to restricting their free speech.
Also this year, the Supreme Court ruled that political parties may spend unlimited amounts of money in conjunction with candidates for federal office. That decision does not directly affect state candidates but could implicate them in the future.
U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III, a Republican running for re-election, waves to a passing motorists on Aug. 18, 2026. Next to him is Julie Sullivan, the wife of U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, another Republican running for re-election. Supporters of both incumbents were holding signs at the intersection of Northern Lights Boulevard and the Seward Highway in Midtown Anchorage. Tom Begich, a Democrat and Nick Begich’s uncle, is running for governor and was rallying that morning at the same intersection, but on the other side of the street. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
This article is developing and will be updated.
Early vote counting in Alaska’s statewide, top-four primary election showed no surprises in the state’s two federal races.
For U.S. Senate, Republican incumbent Dan S. Sullivan and Democratic challenger Mary Peltola led a 16-candidate field with 324 of 403 precincts reporting results as of 12 a.m. Wednesday morning.
Peltola had 47.8% of the votes counted to that point, while Sullivan had 43.3%. Republican challenger Dan J. Sullivan of Petersburg was in third with 2.5%, and Democratic candidate David Leslie was in fourth with 1.1%, only slightly ahead of Republican Gerald Heikes.
In the U.S. House race, which had 15 candidates, incumbent Republican Rep. Nick Begich III had 46.2% of the votes counted by 12 a.m., while independent challenger Bill Hill had 31.1%. Democrat Matt Schultz, who suspended his campaign in July to back Hill, had 8.1%, and federal inmate Eric Hafner, a Democratic candidate, had 3.8%.
National Democrats have focused on Alaska’s federal races as they attempt to win control of Congress in this year’s midterm elections. National Republicans are also spending heavily to defend the incumbents. Control of the House and Senate depend on a relative handful of seats nationally, and Alaska’s delegation could be a decisive factor.
Vote-counting is expected to continue through Aug. 28, the deadline for mailed absentee ballots to reach the Alaska Division of Elections.
Candidates who finish in the top four may also withdraw from the election until Aug. 31. If a candidate withdraws, their position is taken by the fifth-place finisher. If two candidates withdraw, the sixth-place finisher is also promoted.
While Peltola and Begich appeared to be on course to win the most primary-election votes, primary success doesn’t always mean success in the November general election.
Two years ago, then-incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola earned almost 51% of the vote during that year’s pick-one primary, outpacing all Republican candidates combined. In the general election, the result flipped and Begich III defeated Peltola.
After the polls closed Tuesday night, Sullivan joined supporters at a campaign event at the Alaska Aviation Museum in Anchorage. He expressed gratitude for the support and touted his record in the Senate.
He pointed to shepherding federal funds to Alaska for the U.S. Coast Guard, military, and oil and gas development in the North Slope, as well as supporting tax cuts enacted in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“I am proud of my record as your U.S. Senator,” he said. “When I ran in 2014, I talked about getting big things done, historic things done, for our state, and that’s what we’re doing,” he said.
While Sullivan did not mention President Donald Trump by name, he praised the success of Republican policies.
“D.C. Democrats don’t have an agenda or a vision for Alaska. They have a target on Alaska, and we’re not going to let them do it,” he said.
Sullivan criticized campaign spending from outside of Alaska to support his main challenger, Peltola.
“My opponent, the Democrat, she’s got unlimited money from Lower 48 billionaires and millionaires, and, you know, who the hell ever,” he said. “We don’t have that money, right? But we got you, and we’re going to win the general election with you.”
Across town, Peltola supporters gathered at a campaign event at a downtown Anchorage brewery, where she arrived just after 9 p.m. to applause from the crowd. She began by acknowledging she worked well with her opponent, Sullivan, when she served as Alaska’s sole U.S. House Representative, but said he was no longer working for Alaskans.
She cited his support of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, which fired federal employees, and his votes to defund public media and support the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which will cut nearly $1 trillion in Medicaid over the next decade.
“We have tens of thousands of Alaskans who can no longer afford health insurance, and we are getting crushed by corporate greed,” she said. “Dan Sullivan, every single vote, votes along with corporate greed. He is there for every fat cat in the nation.”
Peltola criticized the overrepresentation of millionaires and billionaires in Congress. “Half of Congress does not reflect their electorate. This has to change. We’ve got to get working people, regular people, in worrying about regular people,” she said.
She thanked her supporters and some 10,000 volunteers for her campaign and said the focus now is on the general election.
“I am so glad that the primary is now behind us. It’s a real campaign now. We are really in this,” she said. “There’s still 77 days left till November 3, and we are now in 5th gear overdrive.”
Gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins hoists a campaign sign on the morning of Aug. 18, 2026, Alaska’s primary election day. Kreiss-Tomkins and his supporters spent part of the morning at the intersection of Northern Lights Boulevard and Minnesota Drive in West Anchorage. (Photo by Yereth Rosen/Alaska Beacon)
This article is developing and will be updated.
Democratic governor candidates Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins and Tom Begich, and Republican candidates Bernadette Wilson and Dave Bronson led in early vote counting for Alaska’s Tuesday primary election for governor.
Seventeen people, including two Democrats, 12 Republicans and three independents, are seeking to replace Gov. Mike Dunleavy, who is term-limited and unable to run again this year.
As of 12 a.m. Wednesday, with 324 of 402 precincts reporting results from election day, Kreiss-Tomkins had 21.8% of the vote, Begich had 20%, Wilson had 10.6% and Bronson had 8.5%.
The first candidate outside the top four was Republican Treg Taylor, with 7.5%, followed by Republican Click Bishop, with 7%.
Ballot-counting is expected to continue through Aug. 28, the deadline for mailed absentee ballots to reach the Alaska Division of Elections.
Candidates who finish in the top four have until Aug. 31 to decide whether they will remain in the race or withdraw. In 2022 and 2024, several high-finishing candidates have withdrawn from statewide races in order to consolidate party support, and the leading governor candidates have said that they are considering their options.
Kreiss-Tomkins, 37, would be the youngest governor in Alaska history if elected in November and has campaigned as a progressive Democrat.
“Today, Alaskans took the first huge step in choosing a new direction for our state,” he said in a written statement Tuesday night.
Begich, a former state senator, has likewise run as a progressive Democrat. He is the son of former Democratic U.S. Rep. Nick Begich, brother of former Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Begich and the uncle of current Republican U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III.
Wilson, a businesswoman from Anchorage, has been active in statewide Republican politics for decades but never before as a candidate. An opponent of the state’s existing open-primary/ranked-choice general election system, she has offered a platform similar to that of incumbent Gov. Dunleavy.
Bronson is a former mayor of Anchorage whose sole term was marred by repeated controversies and scandals before he was voted out of office. He has likewise offered a platform similar to Dunleavy.
While the two Democratic candidates are almost certain to finish with the highest vote tally in the primary, success in the primary doesn’t always signify a win in November.
Two years ago, incumbent Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola earned almost 51% of the vote during that year’s pick-one primary for U.S. House, outpacing all Republican candidates combined. In the general election, the result flipped and Republican challenger Nick Begich III defeated Peltola.
On Tuesday, the combined vote total of Begich and Kreiss-Tomkins appeared on track to be less than 50% of all votes cast.
Voter turnout appeared to be high; with only 60% of precincts reporting results, participation was already above the 2024 primary and inching toward the near-record turnout of 2022, when the primary coincided with a special election to fill out the term of U.S. Rep. Don Young, who had died in the spring.
As of Tuesday morning, voters had returned only 47% of the 21,266 absentee ballots that were sent out, indicating that thousands more ballots are likely to be added to the tally in coming days.
In the 2024 primary, 86% of absentee ballots were returned, and in the 2022 primary, almost 98% were returned.
Ahead of the election, President Donald Trump had sought to ban states from counting absentee ballots received after election day.
The Dunleavy administration did not oppose the Trump order in court, but other states did, and the U.S. Supreme Court has blocked the president’s move for now.
In addition to the absentee ballots, there were 25,407 early votes, cast in person at 10 locations on the Railbelt, in Juneau and in Nome, between Aug. 3 and Aug. 17.
Only early votes cast through Aug. 13 were included in the election day count; ballots cast during the final five days of early voting are sequestered by the division to prevent double voting.
While the number of Alaskans casting ballots at early voting centers set a primary-election record, most votes this year came on election day, at more than 400 polling places spread across the state.
In Anchorage, candidates stood on street corners, waving signs alongside supporters — and competed for space with their opponents.
At one point, Begich — a Democrat — stood on a corner opposite from U.S. Rep. Nick Begich III, his nephew and a Republican.
Voters walk across the map of Alaska on the floor of the Alaska State Library, Archives and Museum on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2024. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)
At least two polling stations in rural Alaska opened late for the Tuesday statewide primary election, the Alaska Division of Elections confirmed late Tuesday, and observers independently reported other sites also opened late.
The problem was most acute in the southwestern village of Nunapitchuk, where bad weather grounded flights and kept elections workers from opening a polling place until 5 p.m. That gave local voters only three hours to vote before the scheduled 8 p.m. close.
Nunapitchuk has 343 registered voters, mostly independents.
In the North Slope village of Point Lay, polls opened at 8 a.m., one hour later than scheduled.
Michelle Sparck is director of Get Out The Native Vote and has been working for months to help recruit local poll workers.
Late Tuesday, she said polls in the North Slope village of Wainwright didn’t open until 4 p.m. due to staffing issues, and Anaktuvuk Pass in the central Brooks Range had similar problems, with the city mayor temporarily stepping in.
The Division of Elections did not respond to a question seeking to verify Sparck’s report.
Tuesday’s issues followed a warning from the Alaska Federation of Natives and other groups.
The groups issued a public letter saying they were “deeply concerned by reports of significant vacancies among election workers in rural Alaska precincts, as well as reports that some election workers have waited for months to receive per diem following required election training.”
The letter called for the Division of Elections to take additional steps to ensure that rural polling locations were open on time before the primary.
Earlier this year, the Alaska Legislature passed a bipartisan, bicameral election reform bill that would have mandated some actions to improve rural voting access.
Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed that bill, and the Legislature failed to override the veto after two Republicans from Southeast Alaska reversed themselves and voted to sustain the veto after voting to pass the bill.
Even with late openings in places across the state, the Division of Elections appeared to perform better in rural Alaska than it did in the 2024 and 2022 primaries.
Two years ago, polling stations failed to open at all in Wales and Kaktovik for the primary election, and polling places in several other locations failed to open on time.
In 2022, polling places in the southwest villages of Tununak and Atmautluak failed to open for the primary election, and a lack of poll workers meant two other communities could only vote by absentee ballot.
One of the longest-running ‘Yellowstone’ spinoff rumors just got a very definitive update from Taylor Sheridan. Continue reading…The Boot – Country Music News, Music Videos and Songs
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Million-dollar fundraising advantages and even endorsements from President Donald Trump did little to sway Florida voters Tuesday as they rattled the state’s parties by opposing candidates backed by the establishment.
Newly minted Democratic socialist Angie Nixon scored a massive upset — and notched a win for progressives — by beating retired Lt. Col. Alex Vindman, who had a huge fundraising edge. And, in another major development, two candidates endorsed by Trump, scandal-plagued Rep. Cory Mills and former administration official Catalina Lauf, lost their bids for Congress.
Taken together, the results show Democratic and Republican voters in solidly red Florida are hungry for change amid dissatisfaction with the economy, an ongoing war in Iran and restlessness over the status quo.
“People are frustrated, frankly, with both parties,” said Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia, who is a former legislator and chair of the Republican Party of Florida. “They’re frustrated with people not delivering. … They want people to deliver for Floridians. They want people to deliver for Americans.”
National Democrats scrutinized states throughout the country during the primary season, looking for every opportunity they could find to pick up seats and flip the upper chamber come November. The one thing they may not have been betting on: A progressive who sorely lagged in fundraising scoring an upset in Florida. But that’s just what they got with Nixon’s win.
A state lawmaker and Jacksonville community organizer who recently joined the Democratic Socialists of America — but notably did not have DSA’s endorsement — Nixon ended up handily winning with more than 55 percent of the vote, surprising the state as she’s now positioned to campaign against GOP Sen. Ashley Moody, the former state attorney general appointed to the Senate by Gov. Ron DeSantis to replace Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
On Tuesday night, Nixon told supporters who gathered to hear her victory speech in Jacksonville that her win sent “shockwaves” to the Washington establishment.
“And they better get ready,” Nixon said. “When we realize that we are each other, we are not each other’s enemies, and that we are all struggling.”
In the state Legislature, Nixon was an adversary of DeSantis and his fellow Republicans, as she notably opposed Florida’s rare mid-decade redistricting push by railing on the newly drawn maps on the House floor in a pink jumpsuit and shouting through a pink megaphone. Nixon campaigned on progressive policies like free childcare and freezing rent nationally, helping her score support from national progressives like Democratic Reps. Maxwell Frost of Florida, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts.
Vindman had a prominent profile as a National Security Council whistleblower who testified in Trump’s first impeachment trial and secured a massive fundraising advantage surpassing $20 million largely from small-dollar donors. Nixon, meanwhile, didn’t scratch $1 million. But being outgunned proved not to be a factor for Nixon.
State Rep. Anna Eskamani, a progressive Democrat from Orlando, said Nixon’s campaign centered around the needs of the working class, from affordability to health care. Those concerns generated enough momentum for Nixon’s campaign to overcome the millions of dollars spent by Vindman.
“It really just speaks to saying that money doesn’t determine everything,” Eskamani said. “They’re tired of health care not being affordable and one job not being enough.”
Some Florida Republicans celebrated Nixon’s victory, believing a progressive will be easier for the GOP to overcome in November.
“It was a wild night in Florida politics,” GOP Rep. Randy Fine said at the victory party for Rep. Byron Donalds after he won his own crowded primary. “I mean, the Nixon win is the greatest gift ever. She’s crazy and should be in jail for the stuff she pulled on the House floor.”
But Fernand Amandi, a Democratic strategist for both David Jolly, who won the Democratic primary for governor, said that Nixon’s win shows frustration with longtime GOP control in Florida.
“It tells me that Democrats are uniting behind a message that holds a Republican Party that has total control over Florida government for 30 years responsible for the cost-of-living crisis that Floridians from all walks of life are suffering through,” Amandi said. “It doesn’t matter which wing of the party — they are uniting behind the message.”
On the Republican side, Trump’s endorsement didn’t prove to be the deciding factor in two races. In Florida’s 19th District, Trump’s endorsed candidate, Lauf, a former adviser at the U.S. Department of Commerce during the president’s first term, lost to Jim Schwartzel, a media executive and owner of a conservative talk radio station, by about 7 points.
It was a crowded field, with several former congressmen, including former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn and New York Rep. Chris Collins also running.
In Florida’s 7th District, Mills fell short of his bid to hold on to his seat, even with the president’s early backing. Instead, former television anchor Ryan Elijah defeated him by about 12 percentage points.
Under investigation by the House and shunned by some of his GOP colleagues in Congress, pressure has been building on Mills for weeks and only intensified recently as Republicans like DeSantis and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna came out against him. Mills has remained adamant that he has done nothing wrong amid a long line of incidents — including a restraining order placed on him at the request of a former girlfriend — and had defied calls from other Republicans to step down from his central Florida congressional seat.
Mills hoped Trump’s endorsement would put him over the line with voters, but it wasn’t enough. Elijah, who outraised Mills and other GOP contenders, tried to make the case during the campaign that a Mills win would make the seat an easier target for Democrats.
During his victory speech Tuesday night, Elijah highlighted the support he got from rank-and-file House Republicans, particularly Rep. Mike Haridopolos, with whom he said he has had a long relationship. And he noted the risk those GOP members took in balking against a Trump-endorsed candidate.
“To have those leaders jump on board with us a couple weeks ago, against an incumbent and against a presidential endorsement, and they did that anyway.” Elijah said. “That is courage right there, and I applaud them for that.”
Politics
President Donald Trump just suffered another endorsement loss, this time in deep-red Wyoming.
Republican state Sen. Eric Barlow defeated Trump-backed Superintendent of Public Instruction Megan Degenfelder in the gubernatorial primary on Tuesday.
It’s another blow to Trump’s once-stellar primary endorsement record, which has shown vulnerabilities in recent weeks. Former MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell lost his primary for governor in Minnesota last week, as did a Trump-endorsed Michigan congressional candidate who fell to an opponent who had already dropped out. Two other Trump-backed candidates fell in Florida Tuesday: Rep. Cory Mills and House candidate Catalina Lauf.
Trump’s endorsement power has seemed to particularly wane in governor’s races. Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, Iowa Rep. Randy Feenstra and South Carolina Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette all fell in their primaries this year despite the president’s support.
Barlow, a fourth generation Wyomingite rancher, centered his campaign on protecting public lands, funding public schools and expanding rural health care access. Degenfelder leaned heavily on her Trump endorsement, and her campaign as well as outside groups supporting her ran repeated attack ads casting Barlow as too liberal to lead the state.
But Barlow was able to overcome those attacks and Trump’s endorsement on Tuesday.
Politics
This versatile staple from Sam’s Club is one of the best frozen foods of 2026, at least according to customers. Here’s why they love it so much.
Mashed – Fast Food, Celebrity Chefs, Grocery, Reviews
