Democrat Mary Peltola has defeated Republican Sarah Palin in Alaska’s special election to fill the seat of late GOP congressman Don Young.
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
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) September 1, 2022
In the first round of voting, the results were 40.2 percent for Peltola, 31.3 percent for Palin, and 28.5 percent for Republican Nick Begich. Although 60 percent of Alaska voters cast ballots for GOP candidates as their first choice, under Alaska’s new ranked-choice-voting method, Begich was eliminated after the first round of voting and Begich votes that indicated a preferred second choice were allocated among Peltola and Palin.
In the second round, Begich voters broke 50 percent for Palin to 29 percent for Peltola, but 21 percent of Begich voters didn’t choose either Peltola or Palin.
In the end, it was enough for Peltola to defeat the former Alaska governor and 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate 51.5 percent to 48.5 percent.
If I'm reading the blurry screen correctly, Peltola (D) was aided by a huge "exhaustion" rate among Begich voters. Begich's ballots broke down:
Palin (R) 50.3%
Peltola (D) 28.8%
No second choice (exhaust): 20.9%In the end, Palin was so disliked #AKAL wasn't even that close.
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) September 1, 2022