Democrat Mary Peltola beats Sarah Palin in Alaska special election
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was defeated by Democrat Mary Peltola in a special election for the state’s lone House seat Wednesday night — making the Democrat the first Native Alaskan to be elected to Congress.
Palin — who rose to national fame in 2008 as the running mate of the GOP’s presidential candidate, the late Sen. John McCain — was hoping to make a political comeback since her stint as governor ended in 2009.
Despite an endorsement from former President Donald Trump, she narrowly lost to Peltola, a former state lawmaker, in the state’s first ranked-choice election spurred by the death of Rep. Don Young.
Peltola took 51.5% of the vote compared to Palin’s 48.5% after multiple rounds of ranked-choice votes were tallied.
Republican Nick Begich finished third and was eliminated. A large portion of his votes went to Palin, who was marked as the second choice by several Begich supporters. Those votes, however, were not enough to overcome Peltola’s lead.
Peltola is likely to be sworn into office the week of Sept. 12, when the House reconvenes after the summer recess.
She will serve the remainder of Young’s term, which ends in January, before she will need to fight for the seat again.
Peltola will likely face off against Palin and Begich a second time in November for a full term. All three have already begun campaigning.
With Post wires
