阿拉斯加的朱诺-阿拉斯加的选民正面临着选举与他们见过的任何一次都不一样，有48名候选人参加竞选，以接替这个占据该州唯一的美国众议院席位长达49年的人。

虽然本周特别初选中的一些候选人知名度很高，包括萨拉·佩林还有圣诞老人——是的，圣诞老人——很多都是相对不知名的人或政治新手——钓鱼向导、承包商、因涉嫌威胁联邦土地管理者而入狱的金矿工人。

大量的候选人和短时间内举行选举美国共和党众议员唐·杨(Don Young月18日去世后，一些选民不知所措，争先恐后地了解更多关于他们的选择。这将是2020年选民批准的系统下的第一次选举，该系统结束了党内初选，这意味着所有候选人都在同一张一页的选票上。

赢得最多选票的四名候选人将进入8月份的特别选举，届时将采用排名选择投票。这场比赛的获胜者将担任杨的剩余任期，到明年1月结束。今年晚些时候的另一轮选举将决定谁将在明年1月开始的两年任期中任职。

来自瓦西拉的总承包商马克斯·萨姆纳作为共和党人竞选该席位，他说他对自己的出价“和其他知道他们不会赢的人一样认真。”他说他有兴趣成为新选举程序下的“第一个实验”的一部分，并说他曾竞选国会议员。

我不同意政府由职业政客管理。我认为这应该是一对夫妇的条款，你就出局了，”他说。

他说，他投票给自己，并要求其他人这样做，但不是竞选。他说，他还支持另一名共和党人，州参议员乔希·瑞瓦克，他是杨连任竞选的联合主席，并得到了杨遗孀的支持。

总共有16名共和党候选人，包括前阿拉斯加州州长佩林;尼克·贝吉奇，一个出身于著名民主党政治家庭的商人;前州议员约翰·科格希尔;泰拉·斯威尼(Tara Sweeney)也是杨竞选团队的联合主席，她得到了一个代表该州有影响力的阿拉斯加土著地区公司领导人的团体的支持。

22岁的候选人中有将近一半是无党派人士。其中包括整形外科医生艾尔·格罗斯(Al Gross)，他在州民主党的支持下于2020年竞选参议员，并自称为“独立、进步、民主的社会主义者”，他的法定姓名是圣诞老人，在北极社区市议会任职。

格罗斯在接受《安克雷奇每日新闻》采访时，没有承诺如果当选将与民主党人进行党团会议，这激怒了一些民主党人。他已经说过他会的。阿拉斯加民主党敦促选民从六名参选的民主党人中选择一人。

在过去20年中，民主党人最接近击败杨的一次是在2008年，当时杨赢得了50%的选票，伊桑·伯克维茨赢得了45%。

阿拉斯加民主党执行董事林赛·卡瓦诺(Lindsay Kavanaugh)说，“阿拉斯加人倾向于投票维持现状，衡量可行性，投票给你知道的魔鬼，我真的认为在这个新系统下，特别是在排名选择投票的情况下，我们有机会改变这种动态”。

瑞瓦克发布了一段视频，他在视频中称自己正在“向圣诞老人和他的“马克思主义幻想发起战争”。瑞瓦克的竞选团队说这个视频是为了轻松，但是克劳斯说他不是在开玩笑。

克劳斯说:“我75岁了，我想明智地使用我的时间和精力。”

克劳斯的候选资格，尤其是他对堕胎权利的支持，引起了朱诺号独立选民桑迪·希克斯的注意。上个月，她在脸书的一个社区网页上寻求关于在哪里找到候选人信息的建议。评论者分享了新闻网站的链接，包括一个张贴候选人调查的网站。

她的候选名单上还有格罗斯;前立法委员、民主党人玛丽·佩尔托拉;还有独立人士杰夫·洛温费尔斯，一位有法律背景的园艺专家，包括前助理司法部长。

希克斯说:“我觉得我更喜欢，你知道，不是48个人，而是3到4个人。”。

大约100，000张选票已经被送回，这主要是一次邮寄选举。这超过了2016年常规初选的88，817人，当时投票率仅为17%。谁也说不准发给注册选民的选票中有多少会被退回。

在大约165个社区有机会进行现场投票或提前投票，其中许多是农村地区，那里的邮政服务可能不稳定。州选举部门和宣传团体一直在努力教育选民新的选举程序，包括提醒他们在这一轮选举中只能选择一名候选人。

该司的网上候选人名单包括候选人网站的联系信息和链接。共和党候选人约翰·t·卡拉汉有一个网站，上面有一句通常被认为是内战将军威廉·特库赛·谢尔曼的名言:“如果被提名，我不会参加竞选。如果当选，我不会任职。”

自由主义者克里斯·拜说，他的候选人资格始于他和其他人对国会的抱怨，并相互挑战竞选。他决定放手一搏。他是少数几个候选人之一，包括贝吉奇和民主党人克里斯托弗·康斯坦特，他们在杨去世前就开始竞选众议院。

拜，谁说他辞去了他的工作与军队运行，称自己是一个“正常的纨绔子弟。”他说他在零售业工作，是一名钓鱼向导，国会需要像他这样的人。

“我相信典型的阿拉斯加人能比训练有素或专业的政治家做出更好的决定，”他说。

Coghill的已故父亲曾深度参与阿拉斯加的政治，他说，他对有这么多候选人感到“抱歉”，“因为这使一场非常混乱的选举更加混乱。”

他说，在这场竞选中，知名度很重要。

“我的名字至少得到了认可，有时很受尊重，有时不那么好——但至少为人所知，”科格希尔说。

作为民主党人参加竞选的州议员亚当·沃尔(Adam Wool)表示，这次选举让他想起了几年前英国的一次在线投票，当时人们被问及该国新的极地考察船应该叫什么名字。失控的获奖建议:船夫麦克船脸。

“这次选举有点像这样，有一群我们不认识的人，还有一些名字很有趣的人和名人类型的候选人，比如萨拉·佩林，”他说，并补充说，他不希望选举变成人们为了“震惊价值”而做出选择的选举

他说:“我不希望(选民)用摇摆不定的态度面对阿拉斯加的选举。”。

Alaska's unusual House primary draws Palin, Santa, 46 others

JUNEAU, Alaska --Alaska voters are facing anelectionunlike any they’ve seen, with 48 candidates running to succeed the man who had held the state's only U.S. House seat for 49 years.

While some of the candidates in this week's special primary have name recognition, includingSarah Palinand Santa Claus — yes, Santa Claus — many are relative unknowns or political novices — a fishing guide, a contractor, a gold miner who went to prison for allegedly threatening federal land managers.

The huge number of candidates and the short timeline for holding theelectionafter Republican U.S. Rep. Don Young's death on March 18 has some voters overwhelmed and scrambling to learn more about their options. This will be the first election under a system approved by voters in 2020 that ends party primaries, meaning all candidates are on the same one-page ballot.

The four candidates who win the most votes will advance to an August special election, in which ranked choice voting will be used. The winner of that contest will serve the remainder of Young's term, which ends in January. A separate set of elections later this year will decide who serves a two-year term beginning in January.

Max Sumner, a general contractor from Wasilla running for the seat as a Republican, said he's as serious about his bid "as anyone else that knows they aren't going to win.” He said he was interested in being part of the “first experiment” under the new elections process and in saying he had run for Congress.

“I don’t agree with the government being run by career politicians. I think it should be like a couple terms and you’re out,” he said.

He said he voted for himself and is asking others to do so but isn't campaigning. He said he's also pulling for another Republican in the race, Josh Revak, a state senator who was co-chair of Young's reelection campaign and has been endorsed by Young's widow.

In all, there are 16 Republican candidates including Palin, a former Alaska governor; Nick Begich, a businessman from a political family of prominent Democrats; former state lawmaker John Coghill; and Tara Sweeney, who also was a co-chair of Young's campaign and who has been endorsed by a group representing leaders of the state's influential Alaska Native regional corporations.

Nearly half the candidates running, 22, are independents. That includes Al Gross, an orthopedic surgeon who ran for Senate in 2020 with support from the state Democratic party, and a self-described “independent, progressive, democratic socialist” whose legal name is Santa Claus and who serves on the city council for the community of North Pole.

Gross angered some Democrats when in an interview with the Anchorage Daily News he didn't commit to caucusing with Democrats if elected. He has since said he would. The Alaska Democratic party has urged voters to pick from one of the six Democrats running.

The closest a Democrat came to beating Young in the last 20 years was in 2008, when Young won 50% of the vote and Ethan Berkowitz 45%.

“Alaskans have this propensity to vote for status quo, gauge viability, vote for the devil you know, and I really think under this new system, especially with ranked choice voting, we have an opportunity to change" that dynamic, said Lindsay Kavanaugh, the Alaska Democratic party's executive director.

Revak released a video in which he says he's “waging a war on Santa” and his “Marxist fantasies.” Revak's campaign said the video was meant to be light-hearted, but Claus said he isn't running as a joke.

“I’m 75, and I want to spend my time and energy wisely,” Claus said.

Claus' candidacy and particularly his support of abortion rights caught the attention of voter Sandi Hicks, a Juneau independent. She last month sought advice on a community Facebook page about where to find candidate information. Commenters shared links to news sites, including one that posted candidate surveys.

Others on her short list include Gross; Democrat Mary Peltola, a former legislator; and independent Jeff Lowenfels, a gardening expert with a legal background, including as a former assistant attorney general.

“I’m feeling like I’m more comfortable about, you know, instead of 48 people, I’m down to three or four people,” Hicks said.

Around 100,000 ballots already have been returned in what is primarily a by-mail election. That is more than the 88,817 cast in the 2016 regular primary, when turnout was just 17%. It's anyone's guess how many of the ballots sent to registered voters will be returned.

There are opportunities for in-person or early voting in around 165 communities, many of them rural, where mail service can be spotty. The state Division of Elections and advocacy groups have been working to educate voters on the new elections process, including reminding them they only pick one candidate this go-round.

The division's online candidate list includes contact information and links to candidate websites, for those who have them. One candidate, Republican John T. Callahan, has a website simply featuring a quote often attributed to Civil War General William Tecumseh Sherman: “If nominated, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve.”

Libertarian Chris Bye said his candidacy began with him and others complaining about Congress and challenging each other to run. He decided to go for it. He is one of the few candidates, including Begich and Democrat Christopher Constant, who began running for the House before Young's death.

Bye, who said he quit his job with the military to run, calls himself a “normal dude.” He said he works in retail and as a fishing guide and that Congress needs people like him.

“I believe that typical Alaskans can make better decisions than groomed or professional politicians, period,” he said.

Coghill, whose late father was heavily involved in Alaska politics, said he's “sorry” there are so many candidates “because it makes it more confusing (in) a very confusing election."

Name recognition in this race is important, he said.

“My name is at least recognized, sometimes well respected, sometimes not so well — but at least known,” Coghill said.

Adam Wool, a state lawmaker running as a Democrat in the race, said the election reminds him of the online poll in Britain years ago in which people were asked what the country's new polar research vessel should be called. The runaway winning suggestion: Boaty McBoatface.

“This election has a little bit of that going for it, with a bunch of people that we don’t know and people with funny names and celebrity-type candidates, like Sarah Palin,” he said, adding that he doesn't want the election to turn into one where people make choices for “shock value.”

“I don't want (voters) to Boaty McBoatface the Alaskan election," he said.