By ALEX GIMARC
The results for Alaska’s first rank choice election were announced on Aug. 31, with Mary Peltola being the first Democrat elected to represent Alaska in the U.S. House of Representatives for nearly half a century.
A look at the numbers is instructive. From the Division of Elections results:
After round 1, Peltola held around a 17,000-vote lead over second-place Sarah Palin, and a 22,000-vote lead over Nick Begich III. Around 40% of all voters voted for Peltola, the Democrat, while 60% voted for a pair of Republican candidates.
In the second ranked-choice round, Nick Begich was the first candidate out, with his votes going to whomever was marked second on their ballots. Once that total was computed, the total was shrunk by the 11,222 votes Begich got in the initial round when voters didn’t make a second choice. This dropped the total by 6%. Remember that ranked choice voting is a subtraction problem, which is precisely what we saw Wednesday.
On the Begich ballots, 27,042 were transferred to Palin, around 50% of the total. Another 15,445, around 29% went to Peltola. Finally, 11,222 ballots were exhausted (didn’t have a second vote), or around 21% of the total.
In the end, after the ranked-choice round, Peltola won by 5,219, just under 3% of the remaining 177,193 vote. There were 3,743 blank and overvoted ballots in the ranked-choice round. I do not know how this total was folded into the final number.
What happened? We learned several lessons. First and foremost is that a single, bullet vote for a single candidate is a fool’s errand. Like I and others pointed out previously, a bullet vote is the functional equivalent of half a vote for whomever is left. Anyone telling you otherwise is at best woefully under-informed.
Second and perhaps more importantly is that there are a LOT of Republicans out there still mad at Palin for her role in removing Sen. Ted Stevens from office in 2008, when she demanded he resign following a fraudulent prosecution. They are still mad at her for endorsing Bill Walker for governor rather than incumbent Gob. Sean Parnell in 2014.
These actions stand out before any discussion about the breathtaking expansion of state government while she was governor and raising taxes on the oil and natural gas producers sky high.
Clearly, Sarah has some fence mending to do between now and November. Like all lifestyle choices, it remains to be seen if she understands how this new world works sufficiently to do that. My guess is not, based on her initial response.
Sarah’s first response to the loss? Demand Nick Begich drop out of the race for Congress. This is unhelpful, coming from a woman who has been instrumental in making sure Republicans don’t win statewide races over the last 14 years.
Sarah could have done what Begich did during debates, push rank the red on the second and third choices. She chose to be cute, refusing to answer the question while showing a ballot with no second or third choices marked. Instead, she told voters to only vote for her.
She helped turn three statewide elections since 2008 to democrats, U.S. Senate, Governor, and now U.S. House. Will there be a fourth?
Intentionally doing this is hardly the stuff of conservatism. As of this writing, it is roughly nine weeks until November. Sarah and her supporters have some work and “splainin” to do if they want to elect someone other than a Democrat to Congress. We will see if they are up to it.
Alex Gimarc lives in Anchorage since retiring from the military in 1997. His interests include science and technology, environment, energy, economics, military affairs, fishing and disabilities policies. His weekly column “Interesting Items” is a summary of news stories with substantive Alaska-themed topics. He was a small business owner and Information Technology professional.
This system needs to go at the first possible date not one day longer.
Truth.
And a recall for Murkowski immediately afterwards so she can face a proper Republican primary challenge, instead of allowing her to sabotage Alaska for the next six years. I’m pro-Kelley as much as the next, but after experiencing the RCV Peltola – Palin ‘appetizer’ – I’ve got no illusions about what the main course in November is going to taste like.
The problem is Murkowski is likely to break 50% on the first round. Look at the primary results. Obviously most of the Democrat vote went for Murkowski, and I am sure a measurable percentage of the Republican vote did too. There is no reason why the registered Democrat got 20% of the vote Murkowski got, unless most Dems voted Murkowski.
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If Kelly can pull it out, and I hope she can, it will be a battle to convince the Republicans who voted Murkowski to change their vote.
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Then again, the State of Alaska will deserve it if Chesbro gets elected.
The figures indicate Palin gained ground on Peltola in the second round – but not by enough to win. Palin’s net gain was lessened by the number of Begich voters who would rather see Mary P appointed instead of a deeply flawed and in-name-only ‘publican.
In that light, your conclusion might be flawed. You say that a lot of Republicans are still mad at Sarah. Undoubtedly true. But a contributing factor is the bipartisanship of many Alaskan voters; that is, just because they ranked Begich on top doesn’t automatically make a voter a Republican.
A lot of us see past the red/blue label and form our decisions using wider criteria.
The author is spot on in his analysis. However, wlmleitch has a very important point. For all Begich voters who either didn’t rank Palin second or worse ranked the democrat candidate second, they are either faux conservatives, closet democrats, or entirely ignorant. Lots of blame to go around.
Also, RCV is a scam and needs to be repealed ASAP.
“……they are either faux conservatives, closet democrats, or entirely ignorant. ……”
Or all of the above. You forgot the RINO title to add to that.
Mary Peltola seems to be a very sweet lady. Congrats to all who got who they preferred, although I have no idea whatsoever what a sweet lady is going to do for Alaska in the snake pit known as Washington DC.
Peltola bears watching. My initial thoughts are that she would automatically side with Pelosi. If she’s clever, she will not. These two months mean nothing. Democrats already have a majority in the house. Better to play moderate and pick up voters.
Meanwhile we have the interesting votes for Begich. Why would any Republican vote (Begich), then vote Democrat (Peltola) second rather than simply NOT put in a second vote? Are these really the independents? Very curious.
The Democrats have Millions to Spend on her Campaign. Anything to Hurt TRUMP—HURT SARAH.
There is another explanation that supports your concept. Palin never did the work necessary to earn second round consideration.
Neither Sarah, or anyone else, is owed a vote. It must be earned.
This article should win a Pulitzer award. It is informative and spot on. So-called “Republican” Sarah Palin has done more to elect Democrats than the chair of the Akaska Democratic Party. Sad, but true.
Polls consistently show that Oalin’s supporters tend to be the least educated in the electorate. That shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. She can’t win. If you want a Republican to represent you, vote Begich.
I voted for Sarah and only her. What would have voting Nick as my second choice accomplished?
Nothing, unless Sarah came in third, in which case your second pick would have prevented Peltola from winning.
I won’t waste my time voting Sarah 2nd after I give Begich my initial vote. I’m fine with Peltola winning because her seat in Congress is not going to matter anyway, with a wave of new Republicans coming into office. The message to Sarah will be “get lost.” We are done with you. I will never support that two-faced b*tch.
Unfortunately, Ted, the “red wave” to overtake the house and senate is turning into a trickle. Mary P won and she is our representative. Hopefully, this one seat that “is not going to matter” isn’t the one that gives us something like ACA/Obamacare, like when our senate seat went to Mark Begich. ACA passed by one vote…
Agree with Ted. Alaska is trying to go purple.
Wouldn’t get too worked up over this Sarah Palin crap. The US House is going Republican with or without Palin. I’m voting for Begich ONLY. Never Palin. And, voting for Tshibaka.
The Democrats thank you for your service.
Nancy Pelosi thanks you for sending her another vote for everything she desires!
With all due respect Tim, thanks to overturning Roe that red wave is dispersing quickly. We’ve got to do what’s best for the party or we’ll get more of Biden’s dictatorial behavior. Palin or Begich needs to drop out, otherwise rank the red. The green new deal that just passed, taxpayers paying college loans they didn’t take, increased IRS, FBI going after political opponents and suppressing free speech, it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Apologies, my comment was meant for Ted.
Begich dropping out won’t change a thing. That’s essentially what the second round of RCV showed us. Head-to-head Palin vs Pelota, Pelota won. Sarah just has too many negatives and unfavorables from her 1/2 term as governor.
If you want a Republician in Congress, it has to be Nick Begich. Palin can’t beat Pelota. We just saw that one.
I remember all the good things Palin did in the 90’s and when she was Governor. Most of my friends agreed too. They believed Palin would never vote like a RINO, trusted her and still do. Palin lost (and not by much) because you had 2 repubs running against 1 dem. Heck, I didn’t even choose Begich as my second choice; one and done. I believe come November there will a different outcome. Ya know, when Palin talks about the right to bear arms she is holding an AR; Begich always has a shotgun to go shoot Spring Ducks. That tells me something.
If you want Begich voters to pick Palin second, it’s not wise to alienate them.
They tend to alienate themselves, and with fervor. See Ted’s response above. It appears that politics has nothing to do with it. It’s pure hatred.
Ron, your comment tells me something too. It tells me that you have a poor memory. Sarah won her election for Guv in 2006 , ( not the 90’s, that was Tony and Wally) Sarah promptly flew south in 2009 to chase the big bucks since being guv was hard.
Hang in there though, Mary will beat Sarah by even more votes next time.
The voters sent a bigger message to the left. We’re so dysfunctional we can’t govern. Even a person no one has ever heard of can beat us.
Truth is, voters sent Palin and Begich both a lesson. We don’t like or trust either of you.
More like democrats are better at gaming the system. After all, this was THEIR scheme.
“…….After all, this was THEIR scheme.”
No, it was created and sold by RINOs like Scott Kendall specifically to defeat the closed Republican primary, which Lisa Murkowski had lost once and was increasingly in danger of losing. You can thank RINOs for this loss as well.
From what I remember, 15 of the 17 members of the steering committee were Democrat activists. Two were team Murkowski.
Just keep in mind that Ranked Voting is simply a tactic you use on your political enemies, and has nothing to do with a ‘cleaner election’.
Democrats will push it here in a red state, because it benefits left leaning voters.
Democrats fought and stopped it in California – because in California, ranked voting benefits the conservative minority and hobbles progressives.
My guess is a lot of the posters here (and columnists) that are yelling at either Palin or Begich are either hopeless partisan Rs that are ‘too slow’ to figure out they are acting exactly as the backers of the RCV Initiative intended. Or, equally likely – simply Democrat shills trying to continue the food fight to secure the November re-vote.
It isn’t very complicated.
Does not mean it is not working for one political party over another.
Complication is not necessary. In fact, the simpler, the more effective.
Well said!
“…….There were 3,743 blank and overvoted ballots in the rank choice round. I do not know how this total was folded into the final number……..”
Fewer than I anticipated, even with it unknown how many were intentionally blank.
“…..a single, bullet vote for a single candidate is a fool’s errand………”
Obviously not if you were a Peltola supporter.
Spot on!
Like most Sarah Haters you give her way to much Destructive credit. You use the same old Dan Fagan Dialog—-Sarah is the Fifth Horse Rider in The Revelation senarios.. She didn’t quit—She was forced to resign—You know that, but quit and Quitter are more flammable.,and so you use them as propaganda. ENDORSEMENTS: She Endorsed Walker—So did a lot of other people—funny we never hear about them–Dan Fagan might have voted for him—He was no big fan of Sean,. Neither was I. I believed the coverup stories of the Guard Sexual Abuse Scandal. So to say SHE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR HIS WIN—Well your hair is on FIRE, you might want to put it out. Senator Steven’s was WRONGFULLY Convicted,. Sarah did not cause his loss—-New Speaker of the House and the FBI caused the phony conviction —-That’s why he lost. Nicklll said he voted for his Uncle Mark in that election—did Sarah cause him to do that too..If endorsements are so POWERFUL—NICK Should have won. BUT OHH NOOO, It was SARAH FAULT. THE RINOS found her to be TOOO TOXIC, so they voted for Mary. So that means Toxic Sarah should QUIT. QUIT. QUIT. for the GREATER GOOD, and merge her voters with NICKIII MARY VOTERS. Your Brain is on Fire—Burned out from Sarah Hating, I gotta stop Suzanne. Thanks for letting me write this. Please don’t delete it, please just consider it a JOURNALISTIC COUNTERPOINT. Thank you again for all that you do her—The Good, The Bad, And the Ugly.
Sarah will never love you the way you love her. Never.
INFANTILE
BS, Sarge. Palin got a whiff of national celebrity in 2008 and suddenly she lost interest in Alaska. Quitter!
Naomi—what a beautiful name. You just called Sarah a Quitter, are you part of the New Chorus that wants her to STEP DOWN, and Quit.
Dan Fagan used to be a big Fan of Parnell until a couple years after he left office. No way Fagan voted for Bill Walker.
I quit listening to Fagan when he dumped on Track when he joined the Army.. Before that, and much earlier Bill Kenai Gas Walker and Dan would joyfully talk about the feasibility of a gas line. I used the word “might”, in my earlier statement.
Before blaming everyone for their losses, Re-CONSIDER one point. Mary was for abortion.. Many RINO Republicans(?)NOT hardcore conservative people voted for her, due to her stance on Abortion. We have many mediocre(RINO) Republicans that voted for her liberal/Democratic views on the Abortion. Being in Congress she’ll be siding with the liberal “nuts” to bring back abortion. (over turning our Supreme Court historic vote).
If you take the results at face value (a big IF), there is one reason, and one only, that Peltola won. One-third of Begich voters voted for the liberal Democrat doubling Nancy Pelosi’s Majority. It’s not anybody’s fault but the Republicans who suicide voted, and ranked Peltola second. I’m sick and tired of Gimarc, Ruedrich, and their ilk burning down the house every time the candidate they don’t want wins, and then blaming everyone but the people who burned down the house.
It’s possible they thought Nick Begich was Mark Begich.
Nobody with an IQ above 10 believes the voting system.
We would like to send a message to the Alaska GOP to get their crap together. But that’s clearly impossible.
Wise summary and Analysis Gimarc. The Poison of Palin has made her Unelectable, and the results of the Special Election proved it. She either changes or the Voters change, but don’t bet on it. She is type cast and has already contaminated the Alaska Voter well by her very own and multiple actions that have deemed her unworthy and unwise to vote for. Damaged goods.
Other sources support your analysis:
Newsweek Sept 2, 2022
Nick Begich Could Flip Alaska Back to Red But Needs GOP to Ditch Palin
‘https://www.newsweek.com/nick-begich-could-flip-alaska-back-red-needs-gop-ditch-palin-1739394
National Review Sept. 2, 2022
Sarah Palin Instructed Supporters Not to Rank Candidates
‘https://www.nationalreview.com/news/sarah-palin-instructed-supporters-not-to-rank-candidates-alaskas-gop-candidates-point-fingers-after-special-election-loss/
She won’t listen.
Similarly people were mad at Nick Begich for supporting his Democrat Uncle Mark. Alaska needs a bridge builder in DC with our lone Representative and the lone candidate who supports the Alaska Constitution right to privacy Mary Peltola
A “uniter”? Like Furher Joe?
Funny how it’s always the left who “unites” and “builds bridges”. While driving society off a cliff.
“……the Alaska Constitution right to privacy…….”
‘Privacy’ and abortion are as different as a Republican and a RINO.
Rast. Most times I vote for the lesser of two yucks, like Hilary. Sometimes there’s a candidate that’s ok but with a lot of buts.
But now we have Peltola who I fully support in every way! I’ll drag my antisocial butt of the couch to volunteer for her. She’s the real deal. I trust her.
Lucinda, I long for the day you drag your antisocial butt off the couch to pitch Petola on my porch.
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Yet… I think it may not happen. Despite how often you give lectures, your antisocial butt will likely show up at my residence.
We now have a Congressman with support of only 40% of the voters. And this to Rank(ed) Choice system was created to save democracy. We’ve been sold a bridge. I’d like to sarcastically thank Sarah Palin on both sides of this: Super Supporters for not ranking Nick Begich and Super Palin Haters for not ranking Palin 2nd.
What happened to the small amount of write in votes? I.e. wrote in Tara Sweeney first, Begich 2nd, Palin 3rd. Did this vote count? They never showed a third round result
I will have those in a story shortly. – sd
According to the Division of Elections, your vote was cast for Begich in the second (and determining) round. This assumes of course that your ballot was not invalidated in some way. There is no third round in a three-way race. There is no fourth round in a four-way race.
It’s funny to watch Palinheads. They will deny to their dying breath she is a very, possibly fatally flawed candidate.
Over 40% of Begich (another flawed candidate) found Sarah so unacceptable they chose someone else. Or refused to make a second choice.
This really should be telling Palinheads something. It should be telling Sarah something. But ego is involved, so it probably won’t.
When Mary takes her seat for her full term, the Palinheads will to a degree rightly blame the Begich camp. But they will work even harder to deny Queen Sarah and her court also played a roll in this debacle.
“……This really should be telling Palinheads something……..”
After the Trump saga (which isn’t even close to being finished), and previously with the Palin/McCain/Schmidt saga, there’s really nothing more to learn. Both of our national parties are fracturing, but both are hanging on desperately in the hope that “the other guys” die first. Unfortunately, that’s the story worldwide at the same time. It appears that we’re all going to die together.
And most folks, with no clue, are simply going to go down heavy in hatred and building more as they expire.
We are in the biggest political realignment in history. Much bigger than the death of Whigs and rise of the Republicans.
Wow Reggie. That was fantastic.
The question the Nick people won’t answer:
November general, I vote Sarah number 1 then Nick number 2, Tara Sweeney 3, nobody 4.
Tara Sweeney is out first, her few votes get scattered to Peltola, Palin and Begich.
Nick finishes 3rd, votes go to Palin and Peltola.
Now, round 3 of RCV between Palin and Peltola.
What did my second and third place votes do? Umm, nothing.
If Nick’s best hope is to finish 3rd and then hope for some miracle from 2nd and 3rd place votes from Sweeney, he’s dead in the water. If his sole mission is to deliver second place votes to Sarah, then he needs to get out of the way.
Nick has finished 2nd, 3rd and 3rd and has no momentum. He cannot finish better than 3rd and can only serve as a vote splitting spoiler.
I get there are some folks out there not happy with Sarah. Fine. You can cross your arms and hold your breath and refuse to vote for here but all that will do is send a Pelosi/Biden dutiful soldier to DC. Remember those 6 agonizing years when the other Begich was Senator? Same story.
Bottom line: Nick can’t win. The sooner he is honest with you about that and withdraws, the better.
You asked “What did my second and third place votes do?” and then concluded “nothing.” Correct. But that is because you wrote the entire story and declared no other possibility. If your candidate survives to be one of the final two, your second, third and fourth vote picks are never seen. However…
Being so sure of your candidate’s invincibility is often a fool’s errand. Republicans seem to think that because Trump won Alaska the state is incapable of picking a Democrat. Obviously, that is not true. There is a lesson for voters like you, Jim. Play by the rules. Rank the red if you don’t want to see a Democrat in office. Or refuse to rank the red and reap what you sow.
I keep asking this question and nobody will answer:
Do you think Sarah is owed the 2nd place vote? Or does she actually have to earn it?
I do agree Begich should drop out. Numbers alone say he can’t win. But neither of them will drop. Too much ego.
You might be right, but the same can be said of Palin. Begich voters who ranked Peltola 2nd will just rank her 1st if Begich is not on the ballot. Maybe some of those who refused to rank will select Palin if Begich is not there . . . but probably not enough. The only way to shift the outcome is for more Begich/Palin voters to rank the other 2nd or one of them to turn out a decent number of voters who stayed home in the primary. Begich and Palin both need to focus on highlighting Peltola’s positions and tying them to the madness currently running DC rather than attacking each other. And if they can bring themselves to do it–not looking very likely–then get together and publicly ask their supporters to vote the other 2nd.
Well said Jim!
Agree. Nick Begich, regardless of all the corporate backings he received, will not be able to do any better than 3rd. Whether people like Palin or not, she is a true conservative and we know where she stands on important issues we believe in. Begich claims to be a republican yet we cant find any evidence to back that up. We hear nothing about his stances on issues and everything about his dislike of Palin. Until Begich can back up his talk about his conservatism then he will never be the 1st choice of the true conservative voters of this state
I’ve seen the data that indicates 28% of RINO Begich voters ranked Peltola second, but haven’t seen anything about who Peltola voters ranked second. If it was Begich, I smell a con! RCV needs to go, but it probably won’t, as this is what the establishment wants. It’s pretty obvious that the Right Wing & the Left Wing are both part of the same bird. We are totally screwed.
Fishing, I’ll have that story about Tuesday, when I think the information will be released. – sd
Hmm, wouldn’t all of the voting information be released at the same time? Things are getting smelly!
“…is that there are a LOT of Republicans out there still mad at Palin for …”
Nice job Guys! Better to have a socialist representing us in Congress rather then let a politician that made a few decisions you do not like get the job.
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Way to cut off your nose to spite your face.
Please tell me… Is there a politician that ALWAYS makes the decisions you agree with? Please name them.
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If you demand 100% allegiance to your political philosophy in order to vote for a candidate, there are none. Stay home.
If you abhor someone so much that you would rather have the opposite party representing you, please change your party affiliation.
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But, nope. Anti-Palin is what placed Petola in the position. Why, if you are voting Republican first, why would you choose to vote Democrat second? Oh… the archangel Gabriel is not available, Satan is fine then.
My comment from yesterday got deleted?
She owns the sight. We are guests. If you misbehave, you will be shown the door. Yes she has her own agenda and biases—-just like she allows us to a certain degree freedom , in fact she allows us a lot of freedom to express ourselves contrary to her philosophy. We are guests.
The upcoming, general election is for keeps, and it’s Sarah’s to take! This past election was only the first foray for everybody into the new political landscape–lessons learned!
Sarah gains nothing by becoming “politically obliging.” She ain’t that kind of gal–she’s no patsy. Playing a goody-goody might get her a pat on the ass and an “atta girl” from the Begich camp, but it only will compromise her campaign.
If Begich thinks Sarah will lose to Peltola in November, he should back away and let the women square off against each other, and then run in 2024.
But the boys in Begich’s clan, however, have nothing but sugarplums dancing in their heads: they want the lollipops, the gumdrops, and the gobstoppers that they figure they’ll be “earning” at the congressional confectionery! And Begich’s sweet tooth has gotten the best of him, so we known that he’s going run a “pleasantly mean” campaign and be a good bad boy! Have at it, Willy Wanka! Take your best bite!
BCC, trouble is Sarah has a 61% negative rating with voters. You might want to rethink your statement since without Nick in the race Sarah gets thrashed by her friend ” Mary” even worse.
In the end Sarah gets another Democrat elected, Walker, Mark Begich and now Mary.
MAGA! Not.
MRA, Begich, and Palin need to tag team against Peltola. Quit writing anti Palin articles and go after Peltola and Biden
The war is in DC. We gotta drain the swamp and clean house of the DC Elite. The career politicians that are destroying this country. Yes, she has made mistakes in the past but the intentions were gonna benefit Alaskans. Backfired yes but who has got the connections and the star-power to help right the ship in DC? Who is gonna work hand in hand with with what’s left of the patriots in our country? Who can get on national tv any time she wants and convey concerns of the citizens of our country? Who is gonna call out all that’s wrong with what’s going on in this country. I’ll give you a hint, it ain’t NB3 and it ain’t that nobody from bethel.
Wonder what the next anti Palin article is going to be about? And by whom?
Maybe Rank Choice Voting is GOOD. We have never seen the DIVIDE more clearly. The Republican Party has been split for almost 50 years. Hammond / Hickel, ### Sturgelusi / Hickel, ### Clark? / Coghil, ### Frank / Sarah ### Walker/ Parnell. Usually we had to wait 4 Years to see the results of our actions—this time it is 2 MONTHS. Both sides are dug in. There is no right or wrong here—-Each person’s vote is as Sacred as another’s..If there is any change in November, it will be because of turnout, or change of heart when the Mary voters see what they have done. I’m VOTING FOR SARAH, and I Will Vote Nick as Second Choice. None of these people are SPOILERS, they are representing the people who share their beliefs so don’t ask any of them to step down– You Quitter Critters should know better.
Begich voters gave the election to Peltola.
Their Palin Derangement Syndrome gave the House seat to a Democrat.
Most Begich voters I spoke to were RINO establishment types – the same type of “conservative” that would vote for Jeb, McCain, or Romney over Trump.
Sarah, like Trump, is a Populist – not a conservative.
Think about it…
Curious: do you think Sarah is owed votes, or does she have to earn them?
Sarah needs to drop out. She has too many negatives. We need one republican candidate and this time it’s Nick.
Nick needs to be a gentleman and drop out…..
Sarah got way more votes than Begich. Math says Begich should drop out.
I’m guessing you don’t like Sarah. Have you ever said “I don’t like her because she’s a QUITTER” NOW the Quitter Critters want Sarah to QUIT.. Maybe you should ask Nick to step down and QUIT since he lags in election polls, and can’t educate his own people..how to vote REPUBLICAN.
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Lots of silly bickering. No matter if you back palin or begich, the solution is simple, put the other one second. This is a no brainer if you are conservative, republican or not.
All that was learned is rank choice was designed by cheaters to facilitate cheating.
Wells. It’s pretty easy to make that claim,but do you know of any cheating going on?
So, i she get’s elected, and somebody sues her…
Is she gonna throw in and run off?
All depends on whether those lawsuits were specifically indented to bankrupt her.
The frivolous lawsuits that drove her from the Governor’s office were all filed with the intent of costing her money in defense. Not a single one was realistically going to stick. But, even if the lawsuit is frivolous, you have to defend yourself against it, and that can cost five to six digits.
Do we know that backgrounds of the Members of the Republican groups who backed Begich?
How do the individual members lean?
Palin is the Republican Hillary Clinton – Toxic and too conceited to see she will never win.
The woman is a POS ….. and dumb as a rock, besides being a liberal.
My question. How did Begich get a pass from Republicans without a background check? Anyone want to comment on the fact Uncle Mark is one of his business partners? How about Nick Begich’s shell corporations. If he would drop out perhaps Sarah would win.
Last question, where were all of you when this monstrosity passed, by virtue of several thousand illegal votes. That would be due to fact that not one absentee vote out of 137,750 cast in the 2020 election has a legal chain of custody. Now you members of the party of stupid can go back to working harder, getting the vote out, and we will get em next election activities.
I have attended a number of Nick Begich meet and greet events and hosted one myself. These gatherings turnout to be a who’s who of elected Republicans who support Nick. I know a number of them personally and this collective group is the bedrock of conservatism in the Mat-Su. Collectively we have vetted Nick Begich, we know his history and take note of his success in business. His successful U.S. based business reaches globally and employs well over a hundred people enabling fledgling businesses to flourish and thereby provide employment to thousands. To label Nick a “Rino” is a bit of a stretch considering he has never before attempted to obtain public office. Nick Begich has many endorsements from long time established conservatives in Alaska. Palin has no path to victory, with a 63% disapproval in state. If Sarah Palin truly truly loves the state of Alaska and its people as she claims, she would gracefully step aside and allow Nick Begich to trounce Peltola which he would and she cannot. We would then retain the seat that Don Young left us, enhance the possibility of sending Pelosi packing and Sarah Palin could enjoy gaining the respect of and support of many Alaskans that she currently does not have. It’s a two year gig Sarah, have another go at it without RCV.
Why would this business tax raising, Walker supporting, enemy of Ted Stevens, liberal showboat do that?
Not gonna happen.
Howdy Michael, Another Nick Good—Sarah Bad. We tried the Great Compromise, it didn’t work for us. I voted for Sarah #1, Nick #2. RANKED THE RED. Feel like I got stabbed in the back. My response. All those bad COMMENTS ABOUT SARAH above ARE RIGHT BACK AT THOSE WHO SAID THEM.
Alex: I did not comment on this when it was first published. I could see nothing that I disagreed with.
Almost two weeks after initial publication, one of your points stands out more clearly than ever: After her Trump-and-soundbite-and-outside-PAC money campaign that came up short, the ex-Guv has absolutely no idea how to retool her campaign into a winner. Attacking Nick Begich isn’t going to do the trick, IMO. And she has absolutely nothing to offer Begich voters. What is she going to say: “Vote for me because I lack substance.” ?? or maybe: “Let’s forget about all the Donald Trump and stop-the-steal stuff, vote for me.” ?? Those don’t sound like winners to me.
The ex-Guv was able to ride some peculiar political winds into office in 2006. That was her last election victory. A glance at her time as governor shows that she doesn’t have much of a skill set. Reality TV is a good fit.
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