Democrat Mary Peltola defeats Sarah Palin in Alaska special election...WOW!

[mystery-ak]

 Democrat Mary Peltola defeats Sarah Palin in Alaska special election
by Caroline Vakil - 08/31/22 8:16 PM ET

Former Alaska state Rep. Mary Peltola (D) was projected to defeat former Gov. Sarah Palin (R) to win the special election to fill the remainder of the late Rep. Don Young’s (R-Alaska) term in the House, a stunning upset that makes her the first Alaska Native in Congress.

Peltola, a Yup’ik Eskimo, will also be the first Democrat to hold the seat in decades. The last time a member of her party was was elected to represent the state’s at-large congressional district was in 1971.

Her apparent victory came after votes were tabulated late Wednesday as part of the state’s new ranked-choice voting system.

Prior to her congressional run to fill Young’s seat, Peltola represented the southwestern Bethel region as a state lawmaker for a decade and has also served on the Bethel City Council and Orutsararmiut Native Council Tribal Court.

Peltola also ran in the primary for the same seat but whose term would begin in 2023. She advanced in the primary as she was one of the top four vote-getters in Alaska’s open primary system.

Other candidates who also advanced in that primary included not just Palin but also Nick Begich (R), the former co–chair for Young’s 2020 reelection campaign.

In the general election, which is slated for November, the state will also use ranked choice voting, where the candidate to receive more than 50 percent of the vote prevails in the election.

But if no one gets more than half of the votes, the candidate with the fewest votes gets knocked out and any voters who chose that eliminated candidate as their first pick has their second choice votes applied to the applicable candidates. The process continues until one candidate receives more than half of the votes.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3608000-democrat-mary-peltola-defeats-sarah-palin-in-alaska-special-election/

[Right_in_Virginia]

Dave Wasserman
@Redistrict
·14m

Final margin: Peltola (D) defeats Palin (R) 51.5%-48.5% in the final round of ranked-choice. This is a huge victory and pickup for Dems, driven more by Palin’s unpopularity than national trends. #AKAL

[mystery-ak]

Dave Wasserman
@Redistrict
·14m

Final margin: Peltola (D) defeats Palin (R) 51.5%-48.5% in the final round of ranked-choice. This is a huge victory and pickup for Dems, driven more by Palin’s unpopularity than national trends. #AKAL

I had a feeling this would happen...Palin is yesterdays news...never a fan.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Tom Cotton
@TomCottonAR

Ranked-choice voting is a scam to rig elections.

60% of Alaska voters voted for a Republican, but thanks to a convoluted process and ballot exhaustion—which disenfranchises voters—a Democrat “won.”

[Right_in_Virginia]

Ryan James Girdusky
@RyanGirdusky
·19m

Two specials in a single week.

You can blame it on Palin or Rank Choice Voting or Molinaro… the problem is the NRCC. They’ve done a horrible job because
@tomemmer is spending his time trying to run for whip.

He needs to step down.

[mystery-ak]

Tom Cotton
@TomCottonAR

Ranked-choice voting is a scam to rig elections.

60% of Alaska voters voted for a Republican, but thanks to a convoluted process and ballot exhaustion—which disenfranchises voters—a Democrat “won.”

That figures...I guess this is how Murkowski is going to win too!

[Right_in_Virginia]

“RANKED-CHOICE VOTING IS A DISASTER"

One person. One vote. That’s how American elections work. Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) threatens to undo this very principle—discounting votes, diminishing voter confidence, and threatening prompt election results.

The end result? A drop in voter confidence that lingers long after Election Day. Experiences with RCV in Maine and New York City should serve as cautionary tales, encouraging voters and policymakers to reject RCV in their communities.

Learn more about why RCV suppresses voter choice below, by reading our one-pager, and by delving into even further detail in our latest research paper.”

More:  https://thefga.org/ranked-choice-voting-is-a-disaster/

[Hoodat]

That figures...I guess this is how Murkowski is going to win too!

No.  This is how Chesbro is going to win.

[HikerGuy83]

Pelosi picks up a seat for two months as Alaska sends a democrat to fill vacant seat.

Hope this doesn't stay for the election in November.

Palin will again be on the ballot.

[Mod5]

Merged.

[catfish1957]

I had a feeling this would happen...Palin is yesterdays news...never a fan.

Trump couldn't even help her limp over the finish line.

Those cheesy reality shows making AK look bad backfired.

[Smokin Joe]

Trump couldn't even help her limp over the finish line.

Those cheesy reality shows making AK look bad backfired.

Cheesy reality shows and movies make any place look bad. I was watching The Bygone on Freevee, supposed to  be about human trafficking of American Indian women in North Dakota's oilfields... 

Then an armadillo wandered across the frame.

I laughed my ass off and watched something else.

*(There are no armadillos in North Dakota--not even close to this far north)

[cato potatoe]

It sounds like Palin holds a minority fervent base of support.  About 50% of Begich voters gave her their second choice, and the remainder either went to the dem or nobody.  She has failed twice and needs to go away.

[mystery-ak]

Democrat Defeats Sarah Palin Despite Not Earning a Majority of Votes in Alaska’s Ranked Choice System

Jordan Dixon-Hamilton 31 Aug 2022

Democrat Mary Peltola defeated former U.S. vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin (R) in Alaska’s special election to fill its lone vacant congressional seat, despite not receiving more than 50 percent of the initial vote.

The special election to fill Don Young’s seat was the first election Alaska voters held since ending the two-party primary system in 2020.

Alaska voters approved Ballot Measure 2 by a margin of roughly 4,000 votes in 2020, bringing the state to a ranked-choice voting system whereby voters pick the top four candidates and rank them in order of one through four.

The special election’s results came 15 days after the state held its election on August 16, in line with the state’s deadline for election officials to receive absentee ballots from outside the country. After no candidate received more than 50 percent of the first round of votes, Alaska election officials went to ranked-choice tabulations.

https://twitter.com/joelpollak/status/1565153450739900420

more
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/08/31/democrat-defeats-sarah-palin-despite-not-earning-majority-votes-alaska/

[mystery-ak]

Sarah Palin Lost, Whining About It Is Not a Strategy
By Bonchie | Sep 01, 2022 8:45 AM ET

The vast majority of the time, RedState readers and I agree. I’m going to go ahead and predict that this article will be an exception.

Last night, Sarah Palin lost her congressional bid in Alaska to a progressive Democrat. Does that mean Republicans are in trouble for November? No, it does not. In fact, the GOP expanded its vote share over 2020 in the district. You can safely ignore the hot takes about how this shows a blue wave is on the way. They come from people who either fundamentally don’t understand Alaska’s system or are purposely misleading others for partisan reasons.

Back to Palin, most of the blame on the right is being placed on Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system. A huge number of Republicans ended up either leaving their second-choice blank or they put the Democrat as their second choice. Ultimately, Palin did not have the topline votes to win.

And while it’s easy to cry-bag about the system, it is the system that exists. I’ve said the same thing about mail-in voting. Republicans can either learn to use it to their advantage, or they can keep losing races they should win.

That brings me to some faulty assumptions. Namely, the idea that Palin is entitled to all Republican second-choice votes and that she would have won without ranked-choice voting. If Republicans were willing to vote for a Democrat or not put a second choice in the RCV system, why would anyone assume those same voters would have shown up at the polls to vote for Palin in a regular system? No matter how much some on the right complain, that’s not how voting works. If Palin did not present herself in a way that was viable to those people, then she did not earn their vote, and if she is unable to constitute a majority out of the current GOP pool of voters in Alaska, she can’t win.

more
https://redstate.com/bonchie/2022/09/01/sarah-palin-lost-whining-about-it-is-not-a-strategy-n621027

[catfish1957]

Sarah Palin Lost, Whining About It Is Not a Strategy

One thing about conservatives, is that we have incredible memories.

Almost all of us remember Palin coming to the rescue in McCain's last senate run in '10.

That's enough to give her automatic "repugnant bitch status" as far as I man concerned.

[roamer_1]

One thing about conservatives, is that we have incredible memories.

Almost all of us remember Palin coming to the rescue in McCain's last senate run in '10.

That's enough to give her automatic "repugnant bitch status" as far as I man concerned.

Her landmark moment as governor - Her retroactive windfall profit tax against oil companies - Was all it took for me.

No way in hell I will vote for that.

[Right_in_Virginia]

Wow, knees are jerking like crazy around here .... 

Let's remember we're not supposed to be LIVs and pay attention to Rank Choice Voting before we're all voting this way.

Tom Cotton
@TomCottonAR

Ranked-choice voting is a scam to rig elections.

60% of Alaska voters voted for a Republican, but thanks to a convoluted process and ballot exhaustion—which disenfranchises voters—a Democrat “won.”

“RANKED-CHOICE VOTING IS A DISASTER"

One person. One vote. That’s how American elections work. Ranked-Choice Voting (RCV) threatens to undo this very principle—discounting votes, diminishing voter confidence, and threatening prompt election results.

The end result? A drop in voter confidence that lingers long after Election Day. Experiences with RCV in Maine and New York City should serve as cautionary tales, encouraging voters and policymakers to reject RCV in their communities.

Learn more about why RCV suppresses voter choice below, by reading our one-pager, and by delving into even further detail in our latest research paper.”

More:  https://thefga.org/ranked-choice-voting-is-a-disaster/

[Cyber Liberty]

Pelosi picks up a seat for two months as Alaska sends a democrat to fill vacant seat.

Hope this doesn't stay for the election in November.

Palin will again be on the ballot.

And she will lose again.  She makes friends in AK the same way she made them in AZ.

[Cyber Liberty]

One thing about conservatives, is that we have incredible memories.

Almost all of us remember Palin coming to the rescue in McCain's last senate run in '10.

That's enough to give her automatic "repugnant bitch status" as far as I man concerned.

While her endorsement had zero effect (McStain would have easily won that election), she did manage to make herself an enemy of AZ conservatives because of her slobbering kissing of McStain's butt.

[Cyber Liberty]

Wow, knees are jerking like crazy around here .... 

Let's remember we're not supposed to be LIVs and pay attention to Rank Choice Voting before we're all voting this way.

We are paying attention, Briefers are not Low Information Voters!

In Palin's case, she would lose even if AK had normal elections because she rubs literally EVERYBODY the wrong way.  While being an important issue, Ranked Choice Voting is not the reason Palin's getting drubbed.

[cato potatoe]

And she will lose again.  She makes friends in AK the same way she made them in AZ.

She needs to endorse Begich and drop out of the next election.  If that happens, they probably retain the seat.  I just don't see her doing any better with a larger pool of voters.  Problem is Begich was nasty towards her in first election.  Republicans aren't going to win many ranked choice elections if they don't understand the system.

[rustynail]

Her family is/was just too disfunctional.  She could have been a contender.

[Smokin Joe]

Her family is/was just too disfunctional.  She could have been a contender.

If your family is completely devoid of dysfunction, consider yourself truly blessed. The larger your family is, the more likely dysfunction will creep in somewhere, some time. You address that and move on, as a family. Snapshots do not give the whole picture, and everyone, ultimately,makes their own choices.

[godblessRonaldReagan]

If your family is completely devoid of dysfunction, consider yourself truly blessed. The larger your family is, the more likely dysfunction will creep in somewhere, some time. You address that and move on, as a family. Snapshots do not give the whole picture, and everyone, ultimately,makes their own choices.

Heck, my family puts the fun in dysfunctional!