Erin Andrews has been through more than enough heartbreak on her journey to motherhood.
But the Fox Sports broadcaster isn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.
Andrews, 48, revealed that she and husband Jarret Stoll are still hoping to welcome a second child, despite years of fertility struggles and a devastating surrogate miscarriage.
Erin Andrews attends the 2024 Fox Upfront at The Ritz-Carlton Nomad on May 13, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images)
“It’s a lot harder at 48 than I ever thought it would be,” Andrews admitted during a recent interview (viaPenn Live).
Still, anyone expecting Andrews to quietly accept defeat clearly doesn’t know her very well.
“For some reason, I don’t take ‘no’ or bad visits very well,” she said. “I said to my doctor the other day, ‘I’m not done.’”
Andrews and Stoll, a former NHL player, became parents to son Mack in July 2023 after a lengthy fertility journey that included IVF and ultimately surrogacy.
The couple’s dream of giving Mack a sibling suffered a devastating blow in May 2025, when they learned that their surrogate had miscarried.
Andrews subsequently spoke openly about the loss, refusing to sugarcoat an experience that so many couples endure privately.
“I’m not going to freaking candy-coat this anymore,” she previously said of her decision to be candid about her fertility struggles (via Us Weekly).
Now, she insists she isn’t finished trying.
“I’m very, very interested in continuing this whole thing and seeing what I can do,” Andrews said.
The broadcaster acknowledged that she’s faced plenty of difficult chapters in her life before — and she’s managed to come through them.
“Listen, I feel like I’ve been through a lot before, and I’ve come out on the other side,” she said. “So I’m ready to rewrite a little history with this too.”
For Erin, that history includes another major battle.
September marks 10 years since Andrews was diagnosed with cervical cancer after a routine screening in 2016. She underwent two surgeries and was declared cancer-free in 2017.
The experience also dramatically changed her perspective on her health and her future family.
Andrews has since become an advocate for early cancer detection, while also reaching a significant milestone in her own follow-up care: She now sees her oncologist annually rather than every six months.
And having Mack has only made taking care of herself more important.
“Everything takes on a different meaning when you have this little, 3-year-old bundle of joy,” she said. “You’ve got to take care of yourself. You need to take care of him. You need to take care of your mental health even more because it’s a lot.”
As for the possibility of another baby? Erin isn’t putting a deadline on her dream.
Can’t make it to Munich for Oktoberfest this year? During German Week, Aldi will have everything you need to host your own (minus lederhosen and a band).
Mashed – Fast Food, Celebrity Chefs, Grocery, Reviews
Clicks that feel stuck have a name: INP. Learn what Interaction to Next Paint measures, how to test it on your WordPress site, and the fixes that work!
Who would vandalize Dolly Parton’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star?
The American cultural icon passed away on August 25 at the age of 80.
Though she was almost universally beloved and thus almost universally mourned, someone has vandalized her star in Hollywood.
Repairs are already underway. But who did this?
Cultural icon Dolly Parton attends the 51st Academy of Country Music Awards on April 3, 2016. (Photo Credit: David Becker/Getty Images)
Who vandalized Dolly Parton’s Hollywood star?
For the past week, fans have been leaving items in tribute at Dolly Parton’s Hollywood Walk of Fame star to express their love and their grief.
All over the world, people have been mourning the icon — for her music, her acting, her philanthropy, and for being a fundamentally good person.
Hollywood Walk of Fame producer Ana Martinez reported that the star, at 6710-1712 Hollywood Boulevard, appears to have been vandalized, NBC Los Angeles reports.
It appears that the star has been defaced with a series of scratches.
Though flowers and other items were present out of love, it is unclear what could motivate someone to attack a symbol of Dolly’s indelible legacy.
Dolly Parton’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was recently vandalised, with her name being scratched off.
One would hope that the marks, which appear to be scratches, are some sort of accident.
Days of intense foot traffic can sometimes lead to damage to sites that people intended to honor and respect. That can apply to memorials, Hollywood stars, or even Stonehenge.
Foot traffic is almost always destructive. In some places, like boats, specific types of shoes tend to leave permanent damage.
It is preferable to believe that the marks are tragic accidents than the alternatives.
Did someone try to take part of her star as a keepsake? That … seems unlikely, given the evidence. Did someone lash out at the star out of misplaced anger or jealousy? We do not know, unfortunately.
Dolly Parton was one of the most gifted songwriters of the past century, and she had the Grammy Awards to prove it.
A Country singer, she was internationally beloved by an audience far larger than most Country singers can boast.
Why? Because she was a profoundly good person who accumulated a vast fortune and used that money towards positive ends, from funding vaccine research to helping thousands of children develop a love of reading.
She was a Country star, a movie star, an LGBTQ+ icon, and an American cultural institution unto herself.
In Follow The Money, Ben Portnoy will bring you into a weekly deep dive into the business of college sports. Before we jump in, I thought it would be helpful to briefly explain what we’re doing here. College sports have never experienced a more topsy-turvy era. Longtime traditions and the increased need for commercialization are clashing at every turn. Quarterbacks are signing multi-million dollar deals. Television contracts are popular fodder for fan bases. Even jersey patch deals are becoming mainstream. Each week we’ll capture some of the angst and inherent fluidity of the ecosystem as we look at the off-the-field storylines that are shaping what you’re seeing on Saturdays. With that, let’s get into it. There is no place quite like Baton Rouge. This is a city where football is king, where politics and the Tigers intertwine like PB&J and where power struggles and backroom dealings are the currency of the day. So what better place to begin the 2026 football season than a Louisiana courtroom? For those who haven’t spent the last two weeks locked into PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records) tracking court cases, let’s rehash what’s happening down on the bayou: Yeah, it’s a lot. That said, the LSU situation got me thinking: What if the SEC really did kick the Tigers from the league? And, if it did, what kind of brand value or sponsorship dollars might LSU command on the open market as an independent? “A conference like the SEC is just bigger than a single school,” Rob Temple, CEO of Pivotal Sports & Entertainment, told me. “A team moving out of it may have a change or an impact on its sponsors tied to the school or whatever, but the big money around advertising and distribution of content, all that kind of flows to another place. “But the idea of private equity coming into college sports — just like Americans have gone and become owners in the EPL — if that dynamic ever came into college sports, and you got into valuations of franchises, that’s different. That’s a huge hypothetical.” Independence isn’t anything new in college sports. Notre Dame is the poster child, but others have played this game — BYU in the 2010s and Miami in the 1980s immediately come to mind. Pulling it off these days, however, is increasingly complicated. For one, scheduling is its own challenge. Independent UConn and its administrators have long addressed the issues this poses in trying to piece together a coherent ledger. There’s also a matter of whether LSU would subsequently control its own media rights or whether it’d remain tied to the SEC’s ongoing deal with ESPN. The rights would likely revert to the school, but that’s no guarantee — see Clemson and Florida State’s lawsuits against the ACC in recent years for further proof. Media rights control aside, the most obvious parallel in all of this is Notre Dame, which brings home an annual payout that neighbors the SEC and Big Ten’s media rights distributions in the $75 million range through its NBC deal and arrangement with the ACC. Could LSU fetch that on the open market? That’s less clear. “It’s no knock on LSU; it’s just Notre Dame has been Notre Dame, and they’ve operated independently for so long that to assume LSU would immediately have that same level of independent value is probably unlikely,” one media rights consultant told me. “Do they have a good shot of it? Sure, perhaps in the Southwest, but I think the point is, I don’t know if they have that same level of national recognition and standing to be considered independent.” There’s also the matter of the school’s broader business value. The Athletic conducted a study in July that suggested LSU would be the 11th-most valuable program in the country at around $1.3 billion. That shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. LSU athletics has reported north of $120 million in revenue every year since 2015 and almost $200 million or more since 2022, per the Knight-Newhouse College Athletics Database. It also reported at least $60 million in donor contributions annually since 2022, while corporate sponsorship and licensing dollars have jumped from $3.3 million in 2022 to $5 million in 2025. Pro sports exist in Louisiana, but it’s fall Saturdays at Tiger Stadium that capture the consciousness of the state in a way the Saints and Pelicans can’t quite muster — and why a pending game of chicken between LSU and the SEC has everyone paying attention. “The SEC and Commissioner Sankey are prepared to contest the allegations in the plaintiffs’ petition at Thursday morning’s hearing,” the league wrote in a statement released on Sunday night, “and defend the SEC’s rights as a voluntary association to fulfill its mission to its member institutions.” “This whole thing is ridiculous. Don’t hate the player, hate the game.” — Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry in a statement to Front Office Sports on the ongoing eligibility fight in the state. Duke announced a five-year agreement with Edward Jones, which, at face-value, isn’t going to force eyebrows to raise. That the Blue Devils brass is allowing the company to place its branding on the floor at Cameron Indoor Stadium, however, is noteworthy. “It’s balancing our needs with the history and tradition, evolving with the current landscape and figuring out what is right to do here,” Duke athletics director Nina King told me by phone. “I’m just really excited by how this looks. It’s not like, ‘Oh my goodness, we turned into NASCAR.’” Michigan added signage within the Big House for the first time in recent weeks. Now, Duke is following suit. Such is life in college sports these days.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
With you know who coming out of retirement for the Rams, it’s already a wrap for the Super Bowl … or is it? The Bears? Must-see TV. The GOAT of this generation? He’s coming back with a vengeance. Oh, and Joe Burrow is talking big. There will inevitably be significant storylines this NFL season that we can’t predict. But we do have an idea of the narratives that will have the biggest impact on how we view this year.Here are the top 13: Aaron Donald’s return after two years in retirement is the cherry on the top for the Rams, who’ve built one of the most talented rosters in NFL history. They’ve revamped their defense in a significant way by adding Donald, Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett (trade), former All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie (trade) and cornerback Jaylen Watson (free agency). And that’s on top of their top-ranked offense from a year ago that returns all 11 starters, including league MVP Matthew Stafford. The Rams are the heavy favorite to win Super Bowl LXI. Anything less than a Lombardi Trophy would mark a major disappointment. But it’s certainly no lock: Over the past 30 years, the preseason Super Bowl favorite has entered the season with +500 or shorter odds 20 times. They’ve gone 0-for-20. Mahomes is coming off the first major injury of his career — and his first time missing the postseason. He suffered a torn ACL in a Week 15 loss to the Chargers that eliminated the Chiefs from playoff contention. This generation’s most accomplished player, Mahomes intends to return to the postseason. With offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy back, the return of a healthy Rashee Rice as WR1 and the addition of Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III in the backfield, Kansas City could have its most dynamic offense in years around the three-time Super Bowl MVP. Released by the Cardinals in the spring after seven seasons, Murray signed a one-year deal at the veteran’s minimum with the Vikings and beat out 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy to become QB1. If the former No. 1 overall pick regains Pro Bowl form, Minnesota becomes a dark-horse contender to win the NFC North and one of the better teams in the conference. The Bears returned to national prominence in 2025 in Ben Johnson’s first season as head coach — 11 regular-season victories, an NFC North title and the franchise’s first playoff win since 2010. Second-year Bears quarterback Caleb Williams led Chicago to seven comeback victories after trailing in the final two minutes of regulation, the most since the 1970 NFL/AFL merger. But will the Bears keep ascending in 2026? Or will they come down to earth? Reliance on late-game heroics isn’t a formula for sustained success. The Bears rebuilt their secondary this offseason but are already facing major injury concerns. Their marquee free-agent acquisition, safety Coby Bryant, will miss four to six months after undergoing knee surgery. The A.J. Brown shadow is gone, with the star receiver traded to the Patriots in the offseason. But the Eagles will have to replace his production and adjust to significant coaching changes, including yet another new offensive coordinator and the loss of legendary offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, who stepped down. First-time OC Sean Mannion will have to improve an offense that regressed last season from the unit that helped the franchise win Super Bowl LIX. Last season, the Eagles dropped from seventh to 19th in scoring and from eighth to 24th in total offense. Even with Mahomes and the Chiefs out of the playoffs last season, neither Allen nor Jackson could take advantage. Allen’s Bills suffered an overtime loss to the Broncos in the AFC divisional round, while Jackson’s Ravens failed to even make the playoffs. So the pressure continues to ramp up on the MVP quarterbacks, both entering their ninth season, to make a Super Bowl. The stakes are particularly high in Baltimore, considering that Jackson has no guaranteed money left in his contract after next season. Injuries have become an annual concern for the Niners, a perennial contender under coach Kyle Shanahan. San Francisco is hopeful that it will have tight end George Kittle (Achilles) and edge rusher Nick Bosa (ACL) for Week 1 in Australia, but their statuses remain uncertain. The team had 23 players sidelined in its final training camp practice. Despite having one of the league’s oldest rosters, the 49ers should have one of the best teams in the NFL. But injuries can derail their hopes of a deep postseason run. With quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receivers CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens, the Cowboys had one of the NFL’s elite offenses last season. But they were held back by a porous defense — ranked last in points allowed and third-worst in yards allowed — leading Dallas to miss the playoffs for a second straight year. The Cowboys, though, poured significant resources into that side of the ball this offseason. Five of their seven draft picks were defensive players, including first-rounders Caleb Downs, an All-American safety out of Ohio State, and Malachi Lawrence, a star defensive end from UCF. Dallas also added a slew of veterans — safety Jalen Thompson, cornerback Cobie Durant and edge rushers Rashan Gary and Von Miller among them. On paper, the Cowboys have one of the more complete teams in the NFC. Owning one of the NFL’s most lethal offenses, the Bengals are viewed as a major AFC contender for the first time in years after the upgrades they’ve made on defense. Cincinnati traded the 10th pick in the draft to the Giants for star defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II, and also added edge rusher Boye Mafe, defensive tackle Jonathan Allen and safety Bryan Cook in free agency. Quarterback Joe Burrow says this year’s Bengals team reminds him of his legendary 2019 LSU team, which went 15-0 and won the CFP national championship. The three-time Pro Bowler is “trying to manifest” a return to the Super Bowl. If Cincinnati returns to prominence in 2026, the AFC landscape becomes significantly more competitive at the top. A future first-ballot Hall of Famer, Rodgers will spend his 22nd and final NFL season with new Steelers coach Mike McCarthy, who was his coach in Green Bay for 13 years. Rodgers will have a deeper cast of wide receivers around him than he had a year ago — the Steelers traded for Michael Pittman Jr. and drafted Germie Bernard in the second round — as Pittsburgh begins the post-Mike Tomlin era and aims for its first playoff victory since 2016. Since putting together one of the best rookie quarterback seasons in NFL history in 2023, Stroud has regressed in consecutive years. His uninspiring playoff run last season, including a four-interception performance in the Texans’ division-round loss to the Patriots, has thrust his future in Houston into question. The franchise picked up the fifth-year option in his rookie contract, which will pay him $25.9 million fully guaranteed in 2027, but a long-term deal doesn’t appear to be imminent. Texans general manager Nick Caserio said Tuesday that if a deal isn’t reached before Week 1, all contract talks will pause until next offseason. An improved Stroud would make the Texans one of the top Super Bowl contenders, as they already have one of the NFL’s most feared defenses. New Browns coach Todd Monken named veteran Deshaun Watson the starting quarterback for Week 1 over second-year pro Shedeur Sanders following a months-long competition. But the 30-year-old Watson, who’s appeared in just 19 games for Cleveland since signing a five-year, fully-guaranteed $230 million deal with the franchise in 2022 due to suspension and injuries, has long been a shell of himself. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Browns turn to Sanders at some point this season. Cleveland currently holds two first-round picks in the 2027 draft (one was acquired in the Myles Garrett trade), so the team is positioned to land a quarterback of the future next spring. Mayfield will play out the final year of his contract, as the former No. 1 overall pick and the Bucs failed to reach agreement on a multi-year extension before his self-imposed training camp deadline. Apart from being a rare situation — established starting-level quarterbacks and their teams typically stay multiple years ahead of contract expiration — it also represents a big gamble for both sides. Mayfield risks injury or a downward trajectory before he can get a big-money deal next offseason, while Tampa risks Mayfield playing himself out of its price range and hitting free agency. The Bucs could franchise-tag him next spring to prevent that from happening, but that would limit their salary cap flexibility for 2027.Latest Sports News from FOX Sports
The first leaves begin to take their fall colors on the trees in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
By: James Brooks, Alaska Beacon
The first leaves begin to take their fall colors on the trees in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026. (James Brooks photo/Alaska Beacon)
Final results from Alaska’s August primary election indicate existing coalition majorities in the state House and Senate are likely to continue after November’s general election and could even grow.
Alaska is the only state in the country where the state House and Senate are both controlled by coalitions of Democrats, independents and Republicans, something that forces bipartisan and multipartisan negotiations and compromises.
In Monday’s certified primary results, coalition-leaning candidates led 24 of 40 state House races. The current coalition majority includes 21 lawmakers — two Republicans, 16 Democrats and three independents.
In the state Senate, 10 of 20 seats are up for election this year. Coalition members or coalition-inclined candidates lead in seven of those races. Seven other coalition members are not up for election this year.
“I think you have a chance for one of the strongest coalitions in a very long time,” said Andrew Halcro, a former state legislator and moderate Republican who commentates on Alaska politics via a popular podcast.
Any majority group that controls the House and Senate dictates the agenda — who chairs committees, what bills advance and which ones do not.
Five people signed up to replace him, including current Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham. Edgmon was the top finisher in the primary, with 37.9% of the vote.
The other finalists in November’s election will be Republican Darren Deacon (23.9%), Democrat Wassilie Guy (18.9%), and nonpartisan Richard Robb (11.5%). None filed withdrawal paperwork before Monday’s deadline.
The fifth-place finisher was undeclared candidate Wayne Morgan (7.9%). He is eliminated and will not advance to November.
This year, 4,184 people voted in the district, and turnout was up significantly from two years ago, when 2,899 people voted in the primary.
In 2022, during a primary that coincided with a special general election, 4,257 people voted in the district and Hoffman earned 66.2% of the vote in a two-way race against Veterans Party candidate Willy Keppel.
House District 37 – Bristol Bay and the Aleutian Islands
Edgmon’s decision to run for Senate means there is no incumbent in the race to represent House District 37, which covers Bristol Bay and the Aleutians.
Seven candidates registered for the primary, the most of any state House race in Alaska.
The district is a tossup politically — two years ago, 50.8% of participating voters picked Republican Donald Trump for President, but 52.9% voted for Democratic U.S. House candidate Mary Peltola and 72.5% went for Edgmon for U.S. House.
Four years ago, the district went for Peltola and Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the general election.
In the August primary, Republican Brenda Wilson of King Cove had 22.6% of the vote, the most among the seven candidates for state House.
The other three finalists are Democratic candidate Evelynn Trefon (19.8%), nonpartisan Mark Smith (17.5%) and nonpartisan Cade Woods (9.2%).
Democratic candidate Dennis Robinson had 15.1% of the vote but withdrew before Monday’s deadline, as did undeclared candidate Kimberly Johnson, who had 10.7% of the vote. Their withdrawals cleared the way for Woods to be promoted into the fourth spot.
As a result, there will be one Democrat, one Republican and two independents to pick from in November.
House District 23 – Eagle River
Incumbent Republican Rep. Jamie Allard was the top vote-getter in a five-way primary election for the state House seat representing half of Eagle River, earning 39.8% of the vote in a strongly Republican district.
Democratic candidate Jim Arlington advanced to the November election with 31.9% of the vote, followed by Republican Ruby Jones (13.9%) and Democrat Lee Hammermeister (5.8%).
Republican Nick Capozzi finished ahead of Hammermeister with 8.6% of the vote but withdrew before Monday’s deadline. In a statement on Facebook, he said he was withdrawing to fulfill a pre-election pledge to stop his campaign if he was “soundly defeated” in the primary.
Capozzi said he is not endorsing Allard and believes there is “growing dissatisfaction” with her in the district.
“While I sincerely hope District 23 is well represented, I believe the Republican Party should carefully evaluate who is best positioned to earn and maintain the confidence of District 23 voters in future elections,” he wrote.
Incumbent Republican Rep. Garret Nelson of Sutton was appointed by Gov. Mike Dunleavy to represent the district after Dunleavy appointed its former representative, Republican George Rauscher, to the state Senate.
In the August primary, Nelson finished second, behind Republican Steve Menard, who had 39.4% of the vote in a six-way race that was the second most crowded among legislative contests last month.
Nelson had 23.2% of the vote, just ahead of Democratic candidate Kimberly Slone, who had 23.1% of the vote as the sole Democrat in a strongly Republican district.
Nonpartisan candidate Jessica Kusner-Kalarchik was fourth, with 8%.
Libertarian candidate Candice Frisby (4.2%) and undeclared candidate Amber Hansen (2%) were eliminated after finishing fifth and sixth, respectively.
House District 30 – Big Lake
A five-way race for the state House district representing Big Lake, the Denali Borough and the western Matanuska-Susitna Borough resulted in just three candidates advancing to the November election after the two lowest finishers withdrew ahead of Monday’s deadline.
Incumbent Republican Rep. Kevin McCabe had 32.4% of the vote in the heavily Republican district, followed by Democratic candidate Sandra Loomis with 29.2%.
Republican challenger Doug Massie was third, with 20.6%.
Withdrawals leave two more candidates running unopposed
Among Alaska’s 40 state House elections, four incumbents ran unopposed in August and will be unopposed in November, except for write-ins.
After one candidate was disqualified and another withdrew on Monday, two more races will also have candidates running unopposed.
Tagle’s disqualification leaves Democratic incumbent Ted Eischeid as the only candidate for the Anchorage district.
Elsewhere in Anchorage, former Anchorage Assembly member Felix Rivera quit the House District 13 race ahead of Monday’s deadline.
That district is currently represented by Democrat Andy Josephson, who is retiring and isn’t seeking re-election. Rivera’s departure leaves Democrat Lisa Keller as the only option on the ballot in November.
The other four unopposed state House legislators are Reps. Sara Hannan, D-Juneau; Chuck Kopp, R-Anchorage; Genevieve Mina, D-Anchorage; and Will Stapp, R-Fairbanks.
In the Senate, three of 10 races are unopposed: Sens. Bert Stedman, R-Sitka; Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage; and Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, all remain on track to return to the Capitol in January.
In open districts, conservative Republican candidates tended to trail
While Republican candidate Brenda Wilson led all challengers in the primary for House District 37, her performance wasn’t repeated by all Republicans in open state House and Senate seats
In Senate District C, which covers Kodiak, Cordova and parts of the southern Kenai Peninsula, Rep. Louise Stutes, R-Kodiak, earned 49.4% of the vote to replace Sen. Gary Stevens, R-Kodiak.
Stevens is retiring, and the seat has no incumbent. Stutes is a moderate, one of two Republican members of the House’s coalition majority, and is expected to replace Stevens in the Senate’s coalition majority if elected.
Two more conservative Republicans, Heath Smith of Homer (37.8%) and Carrie Harris of Anchor Point (12.9%) finished behind Stutes in second and third.
In Stutes’ House District 5 in Kodiak, nonpartisan candidate Kathy Simpler had 61.4% of the vote against Republican challenger Sheldon Prout in a head-to-head race.
In Anchorage, where Democratic candidate Cliff Groh is attempting a return to the state House in the district covering Government Hill and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, he had 67.2% of the vote against Republican challenger Dan Sager. The seat is currently held by Republican Rep. David Nelson, who is not seeking re-election.
Farther north, in Eagle River, Republican Rep. Dan Saddler is retiring. Republican Ken McCarty, a former legislator himself, led a three-way race to replace Saddler, earning 46.8% of the vote.
One of the other candidates in the race, former Rep. Sharon Jackson, withdrew ahead of Monday’s deadline. That leaves Republican Gina Wall, who earned 33.8% of the primary vote, as McCarty’s sole challenger.
In Fairbanks, Republican Rep. Frank Tomaszewski is running for the state Senate seat being vacated by Republican Robert Myers. Primary results showed him with 60.9% of the vote in a head-to-head race against Democratic challenger William Hunt.
Four incumbents trail in primary, but outcomes could change in November
In Anchorage’s Sand Lake neighborhood, Democratic candidate Denny Wells had 52.7% of the vote in a head-to-head race against Republican incumbent Rep. Mia Costello.
That’s a reversal of the general-election result two years ago, when Costello had 51.5% of the vote in a race against Wells and perennial candidate Dustin Darden, running as a Democrat.
The district has a slight Republican lean — it went for Trump two years ago, but the Republican candidate had less than 50% of the district’s vote for president.
In Homer, Republican Rep. Sarah Vance finished the primary more than 13 percentage points behind nonpartisan challenger Brent Johnson, who earned 56.9% of the vote in a head-to-head race.
Vance has been in office since 2019 and has governed as a Christian conservative, but she appeared to alienate some conservative Republicans this year when she worked across party lines on a bipartisan election reform bill.
In Fairbanks, Rep. Tomaszewski’s wife, Harmony, is the lone Republican candidate in the strongly Republican district being vacated by Tomaszewski. But in final primary election results, Harmony trailed nonpartisan candidate Joy Beth Cottle by 6 percentage points.
The two will appear on the ballot again in November.
In Western Alaska, Rep. Nellie Unangiq Jimmie was the only incumbent Democrat who didn’t finish first in the primary.
With 29% of the vote, she finished second to former Democratic Rep. CJ McCormick, whom she defeated in 2024.
Republican Willy Keppel was third with 24.3% of the vote, followed by nonpartisan candidate Joseph Amik, with 14.7%.
Turnout in the Democratic-leaning district was low by comparison with the rest of the state — fewer than 16% of eligible voters cast ballots in the primary.
Primary success isn’t a guarantee of success in November, even in head-to-head contests: Two years ago, Sen. Scott Kawasaki, D-Fairbanks, received fewer votes in the August primary than his Republican challenger, Leslie Hajdukovich.
Just three months later, Kawasaki reversed that result and remains a member of the Senate today.
Panera’s Bacon Turkey Bravo sandwich is a classic, but even go-to staples can be improved. Here’s how to level up the sandwich with some creative ordering tips.
