Mary Peltola, a Democrat, won the special election that was decided by a ranked-choice voting tabulation on Wednesday. She will now represent Alaska’s sole U.S. House seat. She will be the first member of Alaskan descent to serve in Congress.
Former state lawmaker Peltola defeated 2008 Republican vice presidential contender Sarah Palin by three percentage points, 51.5% to 48.5%, in the final round of voting.
The controversial Sarah Palin, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, is prevented by Peltola’s triumph from making an instant comeback onto the national political arena.
The Alaska special election was held earlier this month, but it took until Wednesday to total up all the mail-in ballots and determine the victor using the new ranked-choice voting system adopted by the state.
The third-place finisher in the race was Republican Nick Begich III, thus voters who had listed him as their first choice (or had written in another candidate) had their ballots switched to the person on their second preference list.
Rep. Don Young, who passed away earlier this year at age 88, was to be replaced by the results of the special election. After Peltola finishes her tenure, she, Palin, and Begich will compete once more in November for the next two-year term.
Together, Peltola and Palin served as state representatives.
Although Palin had harsh words for her fellow Republican Begich, Peltola was spared during the campaign as she was referred to as a “sweetheart.” Peltola did not disparage Palin either.
