Moments ago, The Alaska Board of Elections tabulated the winner of the special election to replace deceased Congressman Don Young (R). The rankings after the initial vote 15 days ago:
1st Place Bertola (D)
2nd Place Palin (R)
3rd Place Begich (R)
In the ranked choice tabulation, Begich was eliminated and his 2nd choice votes divided among the two remaining. Bertola emerged victorious with 51% of the votes.
The people are running in the general election for the new term beginning in Jan. plus one other person who came out of the primary in a distant 4th.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
BY: ParkHill
IN: Trumpflation is Here
BY: Genghis
IN: Why DNI Tulsi Gabbard Should Scare The Hell Out Of You
BY: Genghis
IN: You’re Gonna Need an Actual Opinion on Ukraine, Gabe
BY: JohnInDenver
IN: Trumpflation is Here
BY: SSG_Dan
IN: Wednesday Open Thread
BY: kwtree
IN: Jeffco GOP Sure Knows How To Pick ‘Em
BY: harrydoby
IN: You’re Gonna Need an Actual Opinion on Ukraine, Gabe
BY: Conserv. Head Banger
IN: Jeffco GOP Sure Knows How To Pick ‘Em
BY: spaceman2021
IN: Trumpflation is Here
BY: unnamed
IN: Obligatory Lauren Boebert/Kid Rock Gossip Thread
Subscribe to our monthly newsletter to stay in the loop with regular updates!
One correction: the Democrat's name was Peltola. That's what I get for trusting my memory
I liked the AP's headline slightly better: Peltola beats Palin, wins Alaska House special election
The 2020 election, like everyone since 1964, had Alaskans giving their votes to the Republican by 10%
Popular vote…..189,951…..153,778…..Percentage…..52.83%…..42.77%
In the 2022 Special election, with Ranked Choice voting
Round 1
Candidate …..Votes …..Percentage
Begich, Nick….. 53,756 …..28.52%
Palin, Sarah …….58,945 …..31.28%
Peltola, Mary S..75,761 …..40.20%
Total ……………188,462
Round 2
Candidate …..Votes ……….Percentage
Begich, Nick …………0………0.00% [exhausted: 11,222]
Palin, Sarah …...85,987 …..48.53% [+27,042]
Peltola, Mary S..91,206 ….51.47% [+15,445]
So, some combo of (1) disapproval of Palin, (2) rejection of Trump's endorsement, and (3) 11,222 people unwilling to make a second choice between Palin & Peltola out of dislike of both or confusion on how to vote winds up with a Democrat winning by 3%, and almost 9% better. Count all the votes cast (adding the exhausted) and Peltola is still 5.7% ahead of Biden.
Red wave apparently doesn't work with a Trumpy candidate like Palin.
Everyone claims Peltola won due to IRV, but she would have won by a larger margin if they counted the votes the old way. So IRV had nothing to do with this victory.
That's hard to say. If we used the "old way" Begich would not have been in the general election. His supporters from the primary might have looked at their choices, a Dem or the Dim Bulb, and not voted at all. If that happened in any sizeable numbers, it would have been a very different dynamic. Beltola might have still won, but we'll never really know for sure.