- In August, Peltola made history when she won the special election to succeed longtime GOP Rep.
- Don Young, who passed away in March, and became the first Native Alaskan elected to Congress.
- Young assumed control of the seat in 1973 following Democratic Rep.
Mary Peltola has defeated former governor and GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin to win a full two-year term representing Alaska in the House.
Following her victory in the special election to succeed longtime GOP Rep. Don Young, who passed away in March at the age of 88, Peltola made history in August by being the first Alaska Native to be elected to Congress.
Wednesday night, shortly after learning that she had earned a full term, Peltola tweeted, “WE DID IT!!!
Due to Alaska’s new ranked-choice voting method, where voters rank the candidates in order of preference, the outcome of the Nov. 8 election for the state’s at-large House seat as well as other contests, including the Senate, had been delayed for weeks.
Palin trailed Peltola by more than 20 percentage points after the first round of voting, with Republican Nick Begich, a member of one of Alaska’s most prominent political families, coming in third.
Begich was eliminated in the second round of voting and his supporters’ second-place choices received Begich’s votes because Peltola fell short of winning more than 50% of the vote.
It was a three-way rematch because Begich and Palin also ran in the August special election.
GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy and the Republicans, who won a narrow majority in this month’s midterm elections, will take a hit from Peltola’s triumph. After being held by Young and the GOP for over five decades, it means that a Democrat will have the at-large House seat for the following two years.
Democratic Rep. Nick Begich, the grandfather of this year’s contender with the same name, was thought to have died in a plane crash, therefore Young assumed control of the seat in 1973.
Palin, the late Sen. John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presidential contest, declared that she was the first person to sign a new ballot proposal to overturn Alaska’s ranked-choice voting system before the race had even been called.
After ranked-choice runoff voting, incumbent Republican Lisa Murkowski won re-election to the Senate on Wednesday, defeating a rival Republican supported by former President Donald Trump.
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