Democratic candidate Carol Hafner has her sights set on unseating Republican Rep. Don Young, the longest-serving member of Congress who has represented Alaska for 45 years. Hafner is running on a progressive platform that includes Medicare for All, protecting the environment, legalizing cannabis at the federal level, and bringing broadband internet access to everyone in the state.
If she wants to face off against Young in November, the 64-year-old retiree needs to defeat three other candidates in Tuesday's primary. Her bid has caught national attention, but not for the reasons you might think. Hafner doesn't live in Alaska. In fact, she's never even visited the state.
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We know what you might be wondering: Can she run for Congress in a state she's never even been to? Technically, yes.
According to the U.S. Constitution, people in Congress must be a resident of the state they represent "when elected" and meet the age and citizenship requirements. That's it. Therefore, nothing is stopping Hafner from being on the ballot Tuesday.
She knows that she will have to move to Alaska for the general election and she's cool with that, telling HuffPo she would "love to have that land in my lap."
On August 21, 2018 vote Carol "Kitty" Hafner Democrat for Alaska U.S. Representative in the Democratic Party Primary Election! Retire Don Young, and replace him with a progressive woman! Checkout the sample ballot below! #Alaska #Democrats #BlueWave2018 pic.twitter.com/bP1TFIDeW8
— Carol Hafner for Congress (@VoteHafner) July 5, 2018
Hafner first popped on the national radar last month, after the Associated Press reported on her candidacy. According to AP, Anchorage Democratic Party leader Julie Olsen found Hafner's bid suspicious because she was using the same New Jersey address as Eric Hafner, an Oregon congressional candidate who lost his primary earlier this year. Eric is her son. He also ran as a Republican in Hawaii in 2016, per the AP. Eric Hafner has never lived in either state.
Carol Hafner maintains her candidacy is legit, despite the more than 4,000 miles between her and the people she would like to represent.
Though Hafner's congressional bid is unconventional, it's not the first time a candidate has run for Congress in a state that they don't live in. In the 2014 midterm election, a man in New York ran against then-Democratic Sen. Mark Begich in Alaska. He lost. That same year, a man in Arizona ran to represent Wyoming in Congress and won the Democratic primary because he was running unopposed. He lost the general election.
In Hafner's case, she's facing some pretty tough odds Tuesday. After all, she hasn't campaigned in person. The question now is: Will voters care?