JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — President-elect Donald Trump promised repeatedly during his campaign to expand oil drilling in the U.S., which is good news for political leaders in Alaska, where oil is the economic lifeblood and many felt the Biden administration has obstructed efforts to boost the state’s diminished production.

Republican Nick Begich III declared victory Saturday in the race for Alaska's lone U.S. House seat over incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola. In the latest count of ballots posted Saturday, he maintained his lead over Peltola by more than two percentage points,

The top four candidates on the general election ballot included a Democrat serving a 20-year prison sentence in New York.

Republican Nick Begich has ousted incumbent Democrat Rep. Mary Peltola to win Alaska’s lone House seat, Decision Desk HQ projects. That marks 220 seats for Republicans, surpassing the 218 needed to control the chamber.

Statewide, an estimated 30,000-35,000 absentee, questioned and early votes remain to be counted. Atqasuk was the last precinct to report results from Election Day itself. Carol Beecher, director of the Division of Elections, said workers also added scanned ballots from the town of Coffman Cove, in Southeast Alaska.

Arthur Sammy Heckman Sr. has agreed to plead guilty to a felony charge of unlawful interference with an election after illegally canceling a local 2023 election and hiding the results of a 2022 election while serving as acting mayor of Pilot Station.

Alaska elections officials added more than 8,500 ballots to the statewide count Wednesday afternoon, but the new ballots didn’t change the leaders of any races. More significantly, the Alaska Division of Elections reported almost 5,

Republican U.S. House candidate Nick Begich III moved closer to defeating Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola after 46,000 additional Alaska ballots were counted by Wednesday. Begich was ahead by 10,133 votes before Tuesday’s ballot count. He now leads by 9,435 votes, or just over 3%.

Alaska voters were deciding a hard-fought race for the state’s only U.S. House seat that could help decide control of that chamber.

Alaska elections officials are set to release additional election results on Tuesday from tens of thousands of voters, which could shape the results of several tight races, including Alaska's U.S. House race.

GOP challenger Nick Begich led in first round of the state’s unusual ranked choice balloting, but was unable to get a majority, meaning another tabulation will be required.

View live results of the Alaska presidential election. See maps of county-by-county presidential election results in the race between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.