Democrat Mary Peltola has widened her lead over Sarah Palin in the Alaska House special election.
Democrat Mary Peltola’s Lead Is Growing
Dave Wasserman of The Cook Political Report tweeted:
New Alaska count: Mary Peltola (D) expands lead over Sarah Palin (R) to 16,347 votes. Depending on how many ballots “exhaust,” Palin probably needs 68-70% of Begich second place votes to prevail. It’s going to be close. #AKAL pic.twitter.com/5NDTB6lo2U
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) August 27, 2022
Alaska Uses Rank Choice Voting So Palin Needs A Huge Haul In The Final Round
As Dave Wasserman pointed out, Palin is getting to the point where she needs nearly 70% of the Begich votes to list her as their second choice. Palin has reached the point in the election where her lack of popularity in Alaska could cost Republicans a House seat that they were widely expected to win.
The original project was that Begich would finish ahead of Palin and be the candidate most likely to keep the seat in Republican hands. Sarah Palin’s name recognition has been enough to get her a stronger than expected placement in the Republican field and with the anti-Palin vote split, Republicans are now stuck having to depend on the least popular candidate in the field to pull enough votes to keep what should have been a safe House seat from flipping to Democrats.
Palin is on the verge of costing Republicans a House seat, as if enough Begich supporters either left their second choice empty or chose Peltola, Democrats will turn Alaska blue.
Mr. Easley is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association