Mary Peltola of Bethel, Alaska has won the temporary seat for Congress. She appears to have won by about 3 percent.
Peltola received over 91,000 votes and Sarah Palin received over 85,000 votes. Peltola appears to have 51.47%, Palin 48.53%. Results have not as of this writing been posted by the Division of Elections and are not final until certified.
The Division of Elections ran the count for the second choice made by voters who picked Nick Begich first for the seat, and assigned them to Peltola and Palin, according to how voters had indicated. The results were announced by a blurry and sometimes hard to hear livestream on Facebook almost immediately after 4 pm on Wednesday, when the second choices from Begich’s ballots were redistributed to their respective candidates.
- – 50.3% of Begich second votes went to Palin.
- – 28.7% of Begich second votes went to Peltola.
- – 20.9% of the voters did not rank another candidate.
Alaska adopted a complicated ranked choice voting method in 2020, via Ballot Measure 2, a scheme pushed with out-of-state liberal billionaire dollars; it passed by a small margin. The special general election to replace the late Congressman Don Young is the first time it has been used in the state.
There were over 11,222 “exhausted” ballots in the final count. Those were voters who chose no one on the ballot after Begich.
Peltola is the first Alaska Native to serve in the one congressional seat that Alaska has. She will fill out the remaining term of Young, until the regular election decides who will serve in the seat for the two years starting in January. Peltola, who served in the Alaska Legislature under the name Mary Sattler from 1999-2009, has the least amount of funding in the race and had only received 10% of the vote during the jungle primary election on June 11, when there were 48 people on the ballot.
She is also the first Democrat to hold the seat since Nick Begich I died in a plane crash in October of 1972. And she will be the first woman.
For Palin, it’s a serious blow for her political comeback. She had been endorsed by former President Donald Trump but could not convince enough voters to put her first or second on their ballots. The conservatives — Begich and Palin — had 60% of the vote combined at the end of the primary, but it was Peltola who managed to get enough second place votes to put her ahead.
Thank you Mike Porcaro and your promotion of rank ranked choice voting. Breaking Reagan’s 11th commandment by attacking fellow Republican Sarah Palin was a bad idea, aye, MRA?
Sarah Palin is not a Republican. She is a self-serving, self-promoting POS. She made history alright. She just turned the most solid Republican Seat in Congress— Blue. She cost the seat as she cannot muster 50% of the Alaska electorate. She is a despised, crappy Governor, quitter, and now proven loser and needs to drop out of the race. The math shows she was the spoiler. All Palin Voters need to vote for Begich in November because he can get over 50% of the Alaska electorate and will put Alaska, and not Sarah first. Next time around, vote Begich ranked first and we will regain Don Youngs seat.
No she didn’t. Rank choice voting did. Of we still had a GOP primary Begich would have been the winner.
Spoilers don’t get the most GOP votes. Had it just been Palin against Peltola or Begich angainst Peltola Peltola wouldn’t have won.
Too many GOP opted to vote for only one candidate instead of Begich OR Palin as well. Don’t make that mistake I’m not.
All politicans are self serving and sf promoting, I’d rather have than Peltola.
Mike Porcaro will support any topic, company, or campaign that pays him (Porcaro Communications) what he wants. Don’t for a second assume or believe that he is principled, upright, balanced, and/or selfless.
I have no issue with Porcaro making money. He did often say he was working for RCV. No issue there.
My issue is his constant hyping the concept acted as in kind campaign support for it. Plus his three hours a weekday to shape the narrative to his opinion. This is a very ethical gray area. In a less corrupt state it might merit investigation.
Since his company was involved in promoting RCV, he should have not discussed it on his show.
“Masked Avenger,” you have “no issue with Mike Porcaro making money” through his company promoting ranked choice voting, which is destroying the state of Alaska, and was designed to help Lisa Murkowski maintain her seat? You have no problem with that?
And Porcaro’s company also runs ads for Lisa in which Mike Porcaro is the voice, lying, telling Alaskans over and over how principled and great Lisa Murkowski is.
You have no problem that Mike Porcaro allows himself to be “love of money” motivated, instead of doing what’s right no matter what, which is what a man of integrity would do? Mike then acts like he’s our buddy three hours a day on his show, with he and Crash making everything a joke, even sometimes using same-sex humor.
They promote and celebrate Dave Stieren too, who also makes everything a joke, covering for Dunleavy’s standing small; though, he stood tall next while standing next to Anne Zink, who cost many lives while masking state workers, refusing to follow the science, including never telling the truth about high enough levels of vitamin D being the main solution for not getting seriously ill from Covid.
Most Alaskans are vitamin D deficient, but Dunleavy and Zink say nothing, including Porcaro’s Dr. Kiessling, who is also a Big Pharma shill.
Porcaro and Crash wouldn’t even let callers say anything about the solutions for Covid other than what Zink and Kiessling authorize.
Porcaro did a complete blackout on anyone who would question what Big Pharma was doing to us, and who would tell us the truth about what works.
Dan Fagan let Dr. Iona Farr speak many times, who only lost one Covid patient out of over 700, unlike our hospitals which lost a high percent, using the treatments that often did more harm than good, and refusing to use what would have saved almost all who did die from Covid, including fast acting vitamin D, calcifediol.
Pecaro let Stieren mock vitamin D on Monday. Both are willfully ignorant on what could have solved Covid, and helps solve many people’s depression also.
Because they’re “love of money” driven. And maybe they’re also too concerned how they look to Alaskans, including the establishment.
Stieren’s radio show was terrible. I couldn’t stand listening to it. He’s subversive, and harms Alaska.
Dan Fagan, on the other hand allows people to say and hear the truth.
Fagan is truth driven; Porcaro is “love of money” driven.
Dan Fagan is a gem who is the greatest factor in being a force for good here, along with Must Read Alaska.
Post mortem on the Special Election:
.
Donald Trump miscalculated his bets on Sarah Palin. As a VP candidate in 2008, her status was elevated far beyond her abilities and capabilities. She was NOT QUALIFIED. Trump misread the tea leaves, thinking that her national celebrity would carry over 14 years later and put some big chips on the table for 2024. But Trump, and many Republicans from outside of Alaska, do not understand the liability that Sarah Palin carries in the 49th state. Trump may carry half or more of the electorate on a national level, but Sarah Palin carries only about one third among Alaska voters. She’s a political pariah for 2/3 of the state. And those that would never vote for her actually hate her on the same level that the Democrats hate Donald Trump. Kind of a PDD (Palin Derangement Disorder). And for good reason. Sarah Palin is shallow, has a very limited vocabulary, is not trustworthy, and has relationship problems with every member of her family. (Note that Todd Palin’s parents openly and actively campaigned for Nick Begich). In essence, Sarah Palin is finished as being electable to state wide office in Alaska and should strongly consider withdrawing from any future politics, at least here in Alaska. It would be her gift to Alaska.
Sarah Palin leaves no gifts to Alaska. All she leaves behind is a giant FU.
.
Sarah…….?
Wow! Mike has that much power? What happened to personal responsibility? Maybe, just maybe Palin isn’t liked?
Yet another destructive legacy from Sarah Palin’s legacy
The Begich family made this disaster possible through this confusing rank choice voting. Alaska is not a Democrat state, yet with a split conservative vote we now have a temporary Democrat who will join with Biden in trying to ban firearms, embrace open borders, and all the other things Biden and the Democrats are doing to destroy our economy- and country.
Disaster.
Don’t blame it on Begich. Chock it up to the usual. Low information voters are on both sides.
I voted Begich 1, Sarah 2 and left 3 blank.
And rank choice voting should be illegal.
Palin doesn’t even live in Alaska anymore.
I blame Begich. His entire campaign was to destroy Palin. As a result, enough voted out of emotion to rank Peltola 2nd
Either Sarah or Nick pulls out of the real race, and endorses the other, or Alaska adds National Park alongside of Welfare state. Whose it gonna be, Sarah or Nick? We are being set up
Mark Begich wrote an oped in the Wall Street Journal together with Sean Parnell to oppose ranked choice voting!
Nick Begich has been on record opposed to ranked choice voting repeatedly.
Get your facts straight.
All that and only about a third of registered voters accually cast a vote…Likely less than a fifth of citizens who were eligable to vote accually did.
What does that say? To me it says that the vast majority of Alaskan’s believe that it really doesn’t matter.
Alaska’s voter rolls need cleaned up. There are duplicates, people who moved, etc. I bet the actual turn out would be a higher percentage, if the rolls were updated.
Ha. Me, I’d be on the opposite being true….clean up the voter rolls and (mysteriously) participation would drop even more…
Alaska’s Republican home-wrecker strikes again. See my April 5th column on Palin’s effect on this race.
You sound like a Frank Murowski sore LOSER. Lisa Murowski hangs out in Maine with what’s left of the Old Bush’s, and Susan Collins—who owes her political life to them. Then Lisa comes back to Alaska to implement the latest in RINO Trickery RCV—Which was implemented in Maine years ago. It helps to solidify coalition power. Lisa and Susan both owe their Senate Seats to Moderate Republican / Democrat voters. Nick’s 2nd tier voters found it easy to vote for Mary—they are kissing cousins. Sarah ran her own race representing her voters. Your just like a lefty Democrat blaming Sarah what you brought on yourself. If you where so smart, you wouldn’t sound so—–.
Hey Art did you hear that Sarah is writing a new book?
Working title is “Going Vogue.”
How can this possibly be Palin’s fault? Voters got what they voted for, Art. She got significantly more votes than the supposed Republican, and nearly 30% of Begich voters actually chose Peltola for their second choice. Either Palin or Begich could have chosen the Al Gross or Tara Sweeney path to concentrate the conservative vote, but neither did so. Palin Derangement Syndrome, like Trump Derangement Syndrome, only infects those with weak emotional immune systems. Let the emotional voters stew in a Democrat pot for a while………not that they’ll learn anything, but it’s just the natural fate of those who try to elect political leaders based on emotion.
Ah, yes! See your column; read your book. Take a breather, Art! You’re a drag on the Grand Ole Party. After all of your “Sarah bashing,” she still trounced the establishment’s candidate. Ain’t that a vote of confidence for you!
Art for Congress!
We’re doomed.
Last person out turn out the lights.
Well, I guess ranked choice is working out great. We finally have a democrat from AK in the house. It wouldn’t have been possible without ranked choice.
You are completely wrong about that. Without ranked choice, Peltola would have won by a wider margin.
“……..It wouldn’t have been possible without ranked choice.”
Nonsense. Demonrats and RINOs have unlimited tricks up their sleeves. They can shoot the lights out on a snowy election day for half of the state’s voters and elect a corrupt Democrat.
Been there, seen that………
On what basis do you call Peltola corrupt? What a ridiculous statement. If Republicans choose to eat their own young instead of uniting behind a single candidate, don’t blame the democrats. I for one am glad to see a Trump-backed candidate lose. The GOP needs to find out if its going to be hijacked by the cult that is Trump or reclaim its traditional values rather than embrace a man who hates democracy.
Congratulations on defeating Palin, Suzanne. You must be proud.
Lol.
Everyone at MRAK is proud of Suzanne. She poured the search lights on the REAL Sarah Palin, and then turned HER lights out. ???
In my view, Palin was just as bad or worse than any Democrat. So based on that and the majority of alaskans who didn’t vote, it really didn’t matter. People had a choice of choosing the lesser of two evils. That’s all that’s been accomplished here.
Amen
“J” is for jackass. Don’t blame Suzanne! I started out leaning toward Begich, but I couldn’t take his feigned pleasantness any longer and decided to go with Palin, a real “tom cat!”
Look around the country, look at what the nice guys have done and what they are doing! Mr. Begich–he’s just another nice guy. What’s the real scoop on him?
There is another election coming up, and I’ll be voting for Palin again regardless of who the Republican women endorse. I want a representative who isn’t afraid to get into an all-out street brawl in such a “nice” neighborhood like Washington, D.C.!
Begich might know how to play “footsies” with the aging, establishment women and get them swooning and feeling all pretty again! Don’t get wrong, I like women, too, regardless of their party or class, but right now we’re fighting for the soul of the land!
I’ll go for Sarah again! She knows how to speak the King’s English with spiked emphasis! Let’s get with it: I’m ready for a statewide brawl. If in doing so I take a good thumping and get thrown out of a reputable bar or two, it won’t be without cuts and bruises; but I can tell you that I’ll get back up, have at it again, and leave no point “un-clarified!”
Suzanne, don’t take any guff from anybody. We are all responsible for our own choices, and I’ll stand by mine!
Suzanne, congratulations! You and Mike have super powers! Able to control the minds of Alaskan voters! Wow! What’s next?
So Begich voters hate Palin so much that they ranked Peltola as #2?
No, it clearly says that 11,000 morons WHO VOTED BEGICH 1, did not rank ANYONE SECOND. This is on Republicans. I voted Begich 1 Palin 2 and not for Peltola at all. We better get out schiff together inmthe general. Do people’ object to,Palin SO MUCH that they allow a Democrat. Wise up.
Conservative Republican here. Never, ever, ever, Sarah Palin. I prefer Peltola as #2 and voted accordingly.
Yep, we need to have a clear plan for Nov.
Palin #1 and Begich #2
or
Begich #1 and Palin #2
Don’t rank Peltola. Don’t leave #2 blank. Vote red.
Yes. We need to think like the Democrats and get our person in there no matter how painful it is to vote for Palin. Rank the Red! Just do it.
AMEN! I ranked Begich first choice and Palin second choice. Those who failed to rank Palin for second choice handed the special election to the Democrat. Republicans unite! We don’t need a far left Democrat to represent the majority of Republicans. If you don’t like Palin, vote for her for second choice and do not rank the Democrat at all. Buckle up and eat your carrots unless you want a far left Democrat in Congress for life. If we wind up with Palin in Congress, she would be a better choice than any leftist, regardless of her well-publicized faults. As Sapper 1 said, “wise up.” The regular term is only two years anyway. Begich is young enough (no pun intended) to run again in two years and possibly defeat this abominable system.
Yes. We object to her BS that much. You do you, I’ll do me. Thank you.
Talk about a system so easy to rig a sixth grader could do it.
Correct. I did the same. Basically all the Begich voters who did not put anyone second voted for Peltola. Congrats to the anti palin crowd, you won.
“…….No, it clearly says that 11,000 morons WHO VOTED BEGICH 1, did not rank ANYONE SECOND………”
Dude, over 15,000 voters who chose Begich first actually chose Peltola second. Combined with the 11,000 who chose nobody second, that’s half of all Begich voters. Those 26,000 “Republicans” or “conservatives” are your “morons”. Thank them for the additional Demonrat vote Nancy Pelosi can count on for the end of this year.
Wow Reggie. You’re the First to really do the MATH. Sarah Haters figure, but Figures don’t lie. Sarah isn’t the Spoiler Nick is.
Yup. I was one of them. But hate didn’t motivate me.
Ranked by the candidates’ well-informed intelligence, likely effectiveness for the greater good of Alaska, and a selfless desire to serve, many of us went Begich, Peltola, Palin in our ranked choice. Enough of us did that to secure the result. Live with it, Ceak. That’s democracy.
How can you look at what is happening to our school systems, at “equity” and “inclusivity”, at wokeness, at cancel culture, at the state of the media, at universities, at climate change chicken little behavior, at Covid chicken little behavior, at gender being a social construct that doesn’t need to exist, etc etc and not see the leftist hegemony and say “I voted for a democrat because she is just more informed and honest and will think about Alaska first.” All of those terrible things are affecting our state way more than how we tweak our commercial fishing regulations. Wake up people. This is a federal position. Anybody riding the democrat train is riding us into dark times because they are blind. I don’t care how “nice” and “informed” they are. You need to send a message to the world and you just sent the wrong one by voting for any democrat 2nd that is willing to push ahead with the democrat party and its madness without asking for the breaks.
Some people in the Republican Party are guilty of going along with some things on that train too but I don’t see Nick or Sarah being one of those. Mary is a democrat and is certainly blind to the madness going on. I am not.
If these were different times and the democrat party wasn’t going off the rails, I could see voting for someone like Mary second. But this isn’t one of those times.
I read it again. And yes, you are correct. My apologies.
You got that right CEAK.. Once Mary walks into that House Chamber, correction, she will be carried in on their shoulders for being the First Yupik to serve in the house.The Party of Diversity will never let her go. They are gonna spend millions to keep her. They are dancing with glee along with Republican Sarah Haters. They will use this to hurt Trump for all it’s worth. The Red Hating media will be chewing on this for weeks. I wouldn’t be surprised if Nick is wooping it up in Begich land, how they killed two birds with one stone. Land of the LESS FREE, HOME of the ????
It sounds as if you have a Yupik problem. Might I suggest going and living in a village or two for 5 or 10 years and see if your thoughts change.
Greg—No Yupik problem, Sarah’s children are half Yupik . My Teammate in Nam was Aleute—talked me into coming up here in 74. Got mining claims past the Fish Camps 40 miles outside of Nome.. The Party of Diversity is very real—the root word here is divi–to Divide. The Democrats are always focused on the FIRST V.P., Supreme Court Justice, Secretary’s of Interior. Congresswoman Peltola. Is the FIRST YUPIK ALASKAN to be elected to congress—You got a problem with that. or my right to say it?
Only 1/4 as Todd is half.just the way you say it.
That’s not living the village life though is it? You made a friend and camped out. Big wup.
Geez Greg. The point is he doesn’t have an issue with Yupik. He has an issue with identity politics. It’s pure self righteous shallow vanity for democrats and it’s disgusting. If Mary goes in there and becomes outspoken in support of gun rights or something, they won’t care that she’s Yupik anymore. Tulsi Gabbard is the first Samoan American and a democrat and Democrats played that up a lot. They don’t now. Do Democrats think Ted Cruz speaks for latins in the US?
This one is not on the voters.
11,222 exhausted ballets = 11,222 voters that got wrapped up in the frenzy of a conservative media circular firing squad.
Maybe Republicans will wake up and realize you don’t cut off your nose to spite your face, maybe.
That’s not the way it plays out anymore though. It has it for some time. Alaska, and quickly becoming the entire country is so diverse, that you can be a member of a certain party but absolutely can’t stand the candidate. For some that means they’ll vote for the opposition. For some that means they won’t vote at all. Far gone are the days when you’re voting red or blue, rather you voting for someone that has similar views as yourself. Remember Democrats some of them at least had to have voted for Trump. And some Trump haters who never got over the grab them by the p**** comment voted against him. All it took for Ross Perot to get a foot in the door was for Dad Bush to say no new taxes. The Democrat Congress bent him over a barrel and held the budget hostage forcing him into a higher tax package. Today that sounds like a pretty innocent and everyday occurrence in Washington but back then that’s really all it took for the little weasel pro to screw things up. And that’s really all it took in this case. Palin was wanting her limelight back, she’s always been in search of one. Should be able to house in Arizona hoping to get John McCain seat and that fell through because people in Arizona have a little bit of intelligence. She went on the Hollywood circuit for a while dancing with the stars and doing the whatever with them. That wasn’t enough so she came back home when she heard a dinner bell ringing. For some intelligent people that’s not enough. They require substance before they vote for someone. There you go that’s it in a nutshell. With likes of edgeman running the state capital, and Dunbar and is clooney’s running Anchorage, and satellite city-states in the valley and on the kenai doing their own thing because they’re fed up with the way Alaska politics have become, people in Alaska are truly doomed. So get used to the new normal or as Art would tell you, get used to the suck.
11,222 who “cut their nose to spite their face”.
Hope they’re happy with Pelosi as their representative.
UFR.
It worked just as they wanted. Congrats Alaska for electing a Democrat to congress, what a freaking embarrassment. Get rid of RCV.
RCV had nothing to do with Peltola’s victory. She was farther ahead of Palin before the 2nd choice votes were awarded. What threw the election, imho, was Gross’s withdrawal, leaving one Democrat and two Republicans on the ballot.
I agree with your assessment. Some of those who have commented here seem to be too wrapped up in the hoopla to understand this.
Welcome to Blue Alaska, brought to you by Dominion and RCV.
He don’t have to go very far back to see that Alaska favored the reds. Don seat was red before he took it after the plane crash. It hasn’t been that long since Walker and Tony were governor. You act like this sucker’s been Blue from the beginning of time.
The new system is only “complicated” for some minds. Old or new system Peltola would have won, Rs split the vote.
Yep. Getting embarrassed at how “confused” conservatives are acting about this system. Rank the conservatives at the top (in any order) and the liberals at the bottom. Problem solved in this situation. Palin is not nearly as conservative as some believe, but she is way more conservative than Peltola. Easy 2nd choice for me.
Exactly.
The beginning of the end. It’s like Mafia- now she goes to DC and will be welcomed in to the pay to play world of bought politicians like Murkowski. People will buy their piece of her now, hoping to secure the investment when it’s cheap. The extra money and exposure will make her hard to beat.. especially with two groups fighting over the second place spot. Nick could be the bigger candidate and step down, but Sarah’s negatives are so high, as evidenced by this round, that might not even help. Sarah could get out.. but no one thinks in a million years she would do that. To be fair-We can lay most of this at Sarah’s feet, but really it comes down to the electorate. It’s roughly 55-45 conservative to liberal in this state, but the conservatives don’t pay as much attention and they don’t think strategically, which is why Prop 2 passed and why Peltola won and why Murkowski will most likely keep her seat. People think Alaska is Ruby red; it’s not. It’s damn near purple. Which is why conservatives shouldn’t eat their own and they should be informed and play smart. They aren’t doing any of that, and this is what we get. For lack of a better phrase, as far as the conservatives movement in Alaska goes: this is why we can’t have nice things.
Palin should drop out immediately. Her negatives are much too high to win in a two-person race between Mary Peltola and her. Given the choice between these two women, I’d vote for Mary.
In the previous elections, I voted for Nick Begich both times. I like him and respect his abilities, thoughts, experience, and motivation. He is the best candidate in this race and would represent Alaska and Alaskans in Washington, DC much better than either of the other two.
Alaskans should join together and agree to elect Nick Begich to fill the upcoming full (two-year) term.
Alaska’s voters are much closer to Petola’s or Murkowski’s politics than Babcock’s or Downing’s. The Alaska GOP would have real power in this state if they embraced that fact. The old primary/general system allowed them to subvert the public will. Time’s up. Time to adjust.
Way to go, idiots. Reap what your dumb bullet voting sowed.
I hope all you so called republicans on this site are happy you bullet voted. Thanks a bunch. Now we will really see what a democrat in the house looks like. Pathetic.
Maybe the Republican party should actually be conservative instead of bending the knee to RINOs. Liberal moderates like Palin aren’t entitled to my second place vote.
Yeah, if we could get rid of the RINOs, the true Republicans could get 30 percent of the vote. Think about how many true Republicans we could elect then!! (BTW- who/what is a RINO? Who makes that determination? Is Ron DeSantis a RINO?) (I bet that Ronald Reagan was secretly a RINO…)
Good job palinheads.
Congratulations Porcaro. You got what you wanted. Happy?
As usual, the GOP shoots themselves in the foot. Leading the parade is Queen Sarah.
Stopped listening to him after the last pres. election
I get a Mitch McConnell vibe from him.
Or a murky. Same same.
Stopped tuning in to listen to Mike a while ago but still like to hear Crash at the end of a long day.
Neither Mike nor Joe (Crash) have anything of substance or value to offer. BUT there is nothing else of interest on the radio at that time of day. I understand why some continue to listen to their “program(ming)”.
Alaska is officially a blue state. Pack up, it’s done.
Alaska has 2 Republican Senators and a Republican Governor.
Earth to Alderson,… come in Alderson.
In my view, Palin was just as bad or worse than any Democrat. So based on that and the majority of alaskans who didn’t vote, it really didn’t matter. People had a choice of choosing the lesser of two evils. That’s all that’s been accomplished here.
“…….Pack up, it’s done.”
If that free money giveaway called the PFD was gone, probably a full 20% of the garbage in this state would pack up and disappear. It would be the happiest day of my life.
People aren’t staying just for the free money. As you know everything is more expensive in Alaska and it’s just meant to subsidize the cost of a $10 jar of mayonnaise in the bush. Based on what you say people would come out ahead economically if they didn’t live here. So much hate.
Ironically that’s the first thing the native inhabitants are saying about the rest of you.
The PFD is our God given money . It’s our property, not a handout. The only people who want to get rid of the PFD are radical leftists and RINOs.
God doesn’t hand out money.
A uniter!
Communists are very uniting comrade.
It’s for the good of the party.
You leftists have done nothing to unite
She’s blind to what is causing the division unless she opens her eyes to the moral corruption and double standards and propaganda in the media like some people on the left such as Russell Brand, Jimmy Dore, Kim Iverson, Matt Taibi, Glen Greenwald, Tulsi Gabbard etc etc.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHHHHHHH!!!!!
And, what would the results look like of those 11,222 voters had selected Palin as their 2nd choice?
.
But, they wanted to make a point! Take a stand! Thanks.
RCV worked perfectly and produced a democrat win. Republicans were undermined by a system which produced a winner from the minority when their vote was split. I guess we had to learn the hard way.
Or republican candidates just couldn’t muster the votes because of their rhetoric and positions, including against each other.
Agree with you there MRAK fan.
If the damned Republicans worked together, instead of letting their egos run the show, the race would have been a Republican v. a Democrat. And, based on the primary votes received by each candidate, the Republican would have gotten more than 100,000 votes, the Democrat would have stayed at 70,000.
Begich.
Democrat plant.
His Uber liberal family.
Father that believes in kooky stuff.
Oh yeah, but he shoots a gun in his political ad and the establishment RINO’s in Alaska said to vote for him.
Then rhe Begich voters didn’t even have the common decency to vote Sarah as a second choice.
Wow.
Who REALLY believes a Democrat pulled 51%+ of that vote???
Mail in ballots, ranked choice voting, Dominion voting machines – do the math.
If Palin and Begich can’t get it together by November, and the repubs/conservatives can’t stop pissing up a rope, this unknown progressive will waltz into D.C. and have one helluva time with Deb Haaland locking up more of Alaska and vilifying the white swivel dogs for stealing the state. At least Begich filed for the office BEFORE Young had passed away. Anyone who didn’t is nothing more than an opportunist.
Well said.
I’m shocked but not surprised. RCV was complicated enough to instil the “don’t play their game” sentiment, along with the collision of hard politics with no conciliation. If this were a run-off election then Begich could have rallied his base for Palin. I guess special election wouldn’t have that, but we forfeited a primary with this system. Unless either Palin or Begich “be the better man” and rally behind the other, then we’ll have this again in November.
Come to think of it, this may be a blessing that we see how this works. What if there were well over 11k exhausted ballots? Did we ever get satisfactory safeguards? All I can say is both Palin and Begich must campaign first-of-all on ranking each other. Not a time for posturing with the “I’ll rank you, Maria”. Whichever Republican takes the conciliatory tone will win the Republican first round. Unless they both effectively eliminate exhausted ballots, the Democrats get our House seat in November.
After the first go round my comments were directed to the Begich voters and if they allowed their Trump Derangement to keep them from entering Palin as their second choice they were electing the Democrat. Over 11,000 of them did just that. Congratulations. Alaska, expect more of this election insanity in the future now that we have the wonderful rank choice system.
Palin needs to drop out. She single-handedly turned Don Young’s seat blue. There are not enough Alaskan voters to ever support her to take her to over 50% and this election proves it. Begich voters simply will not support Palin. Palin has proven to be a high-floor, low-ceiling candidate with the low-resolution Alaska voters. Face it- Palin cannot win Alaska with Rank Choice Voting. There is no dead cat bounce with the reallocation of Begich votes. The math does not lie. Palin should now do the only appropriate and proper thing and promptly remove herself from the November Ballot and not be a R Spoiler. Then NBIII would win in November. The math proves it.
If Palin does not drop out, then Petola will likely be your representative in DC for 2 years and you can blame Palin who will go down in history as the “Spoiler”.
Yeah. Maybe. I expected Palin voters to refuse to rank Begich. I did NOT think such a high rate of Begich voters would refuse to rank Palin and even rank Peltola instead.
Then you are part of the problem.
Not much more to add. It may be difficult for her supporters to understand but Sarah Palin brings little to the table than “drill-baby-drill” and an endorsement from a narcissist-turned-former-President. Ms Palin has no legislative skills and extremely high negatives. Trying to sell Ms. Palin as a conservative doesn’t work. I suppose she could try her own version of “the-election-was-rigged.” I don’t like Ms. Petola’s politics but she isn’t trying to get a new reality TV gig.
And why would you expect Republican Palin voters to support the RINO Democrat named Nick Begich?
Everyone knows Nick Begich is here to split the vote. He comes from a family with a long legacy of Democratic party affiliation.
You said it right here, “There are not enough Alaskan voters to ever support her to take her to over 50% and this election proves it.”
RCV isn’t the issue. Sarah is. In a conventional election she would have won the primary and lost the election. I don’t know anyone who voted for her without holding their noses.
“Palin needs to drop out………”
Why? She’s been called “quitter” by all you emotional voters for years fir resigning the governor’s mansion to a solid conservative to run for vice president.
Don’t count on it, Skippy………
Wow, you’re REALLY confused. She was the vice-presidential candidate in 2008, and resigned in 2009.
Don’s seat was blue before he sat in it. Let that sink in for just a little bit
Sarah Palin = SPOILER.
Thank you so much for thinking about Alaskans while you vacation in the lower 48.
Uh, liberal plant Begich came in third…
RINO much?
Sarah doesn’t live in Alaska.
Vacation? She lives there–Arizona, NY, Florida–wherever she can cougar. Hope she gets the hint and stays gone.
….but before she leaves she should clean-up her family messes, starting with her son’s DUI.
I ranked Begich second even though I don’t trust him and feel he would be a RINO. Evidently, too many Begich voters didn’t rank Palin second….
Same.
I don’t understand how they can blame Palin for the loss. If they didn’t rank her, then it’s on them not her. Begich ran negative ads against Palin, so that didn’t help either.
Same here.
I think the Palin = spoiler is based on a personal issue with the woman, not a political one. Besides, looking at the numbers from the primary, it is obvious that more Republican voters wanted Palin, so calling her the spoiler is laughable.
Thanks, Palin, it’s almost as though you deliberately came up here to shoot the vote.
“Split” not “shoot”.
She won first place in the primary from among 50 candidates. She also beat Begich soundly in the first round. She isn’t “the shooter”, Dude.
How can we be this dumb. Asking for more pain..
Welcome to the Alaskan voter.
And her first comment on the local news was about salmon management. Way to think big Mary
This is not happening. Please tell me it’s a dream?! Please, Alaska Republicans, don’t make the same mistake in the November election and only rank one Republican. I wanted Begich, but I ranked Palin second, because she’s better to have in there than a Democrat. Unbelievable.
You Chad are absolutely right on. The number of comments here from begich supporters who clearly would rather elect a Democrat then a republican, if that Republican is Palin is unbelievable. They probably also voted for the rank choice system, thinking they were voting to remove dark money from our elections. As for Mary, if she doesn’t become AOCs best girl friend, I will be shocked.
An excellent result.
Apparently 11,000 Republicans would rather have a Democrat in office, than vote for Palin – even as a second choice. Good luck changing any of those minds!
Yup. You have to ask yourself do I want an infection or do I want cancer? It sounds like many went with the infection.
The key word here is “Temporary”. Don’t get use to that former republican’s office in D.C.
I hope there is a lawsuit, there is no way this should have been legal! So the 3rd place finisher suddenly becomes 1st, good grief!
You’d think our totally Republican Governor would do something about this.
We want a fighter like Desantis.
We get limp wristed wanna be instead.
What a disappointment.
Much as I dislike Dunleavy, it’s not his fault AK voters are stupid
Peltola was in 1st place at the end of the 1st round. She DID however have less total votes than Begich and Palin combined. All that was required was for more Begich voters to rank Palin 2nd (and vice versa in case he had finished in front of her) or at least not rank Peltola 2nd.
What are you talking about? RCV isn’t complicated. The 3rd place finisher–Begich–was eliminated. Peltola was ahead the whole time, and with the 2nd choice votes, Palin moved closer to victory. Just not close enough to win.
That is EXACTLY why RCV was designed…
Peltola was 4th place, then Al Gross dropped out.
Which had NOTHING to do with RCV.
How do we really know the results? Because a computer told us so?
My choice didn’t win, so therefore I must have been cheated.
Keep crying
The key to winning under rank choice voting is to not play the game. The Democrats only fielded one viable candidate. The Republicans should have followed suit and also only fielded one viable candidate.
Ranked voting defeats a split ticket if the voters use it. Fully half of all Begich voters either voted outright for Peltola or left their second choice empty. What’s more, this gets repeated in November for the 118th Congress, but don’t expect any change. Alaskans simply can’t learn. Peltola is our destiny.
I Ranked the Red. I will vote the same way in November with SARAH as FIRST CHOICE. No coin flips. No saying SARAH needs to drop out. She won the Primary by 10%, Between Sarah and Nick in the first round of the General —She Beat Nick. Don’t ask her to Drop Out For The Greater Good. To the percentage of Nick supporters who voted for Mary, This on you. Each person’s vote is their business. If there is any adjusting to be done, it should be on Nick’s side.
What we know as a fact is that Sarah can’t carry the conservative majority. She needs to go away. Enough of the BS attacks on Nick. Nick is the only conservative with a chance to carry the majority. If you don’t get that then have fun with Mary for the next two years.
She won Bob. Wake up and grow up. She wasn’t my first choice but Peltola was not my choice at all. People like you are what the ranked choice proponents were praying for.
Hello…She didn’t win anything. She got her butt kicked. She’s not electable. I can’t stand RCV but that’s the game we’re playing now, and she can’t win that game. Time to move on….
But Nick lost too…
Sarah could have the majority, if Begich voters would rank her 2nd. I ranked Begich 2nd, so I did my part. Did you put both?
There is no “conservative majority”. This election proves that without a shadow of doubt. Palin won the primary. Then Begich voters either voted Peltola second, or left their second vote empty. This is the same kind of self-defeating stupidity that occurred in 2010 when Lisa lost the primary, then won the general election with a freaking write-in campaign. Unheard of………except it’s something one can predict in Alaska.
Yeah, I can live with a Peltola Congressman. I’ve lived a long lifetime with knives in my back plunged there by RINOs. I’ve also fully expected a whole bunch worse than a Demonrat Congressman for Alaska, and still do. Nothing that people do hurts me anymore. I’ve been Comfortably Numb for decades.
Welcome to Reality.
If Nick is the great Conservative you say he is, how could a quarter of his voters have voted Democrat. And demand Sarah drop out. You Sarah Haters have been brainwashed by the DAN FAGAN Montra Quitter, ACES, Outsider, Hollywood. On and on. BEGICH IS A RINO—-His voting base proves it. Like all real RINO Democrats they point at their enemy and blame them for what they are doing wrong. VOTE RED. VOTE SARAH. THIS IS NOT OVER.
Your logic guarantees that Mary P wins in November. Wise people learn from their mistakes. Rank Begich 1 and Palin 2 and the Alaska seat will turn Red from Blue. Or Palin can drop out and Begich will win by a landslide. Your choice. Palin cost this election.
Maybe if she’d bothered campaigning instead of preening …
I told you so. The only good news is that maybe true conservatives learned a little lesson about spite.
Spit is a poison that YOU take hoping that it will kill the other person.
Stolen, we will never have fair elections again.
My choice lost, the election must have been stolen.
Keep crying
Would the 11,222 have made a difference if they had ‘ranked the red’?
Ok I guess I could have done the math…it could have put Palin at 96,222 – over Peltola’s 85K. Well I hope those voters are happy with their decision to refuse to rank. I would call it very foolish. We all despise this awful system but until we get rid of it it is imperative we play the stupid game. You all just proverbially cut off your noses to spit your face. Good job.
You are a wise woman.
I would have ranked a Golden Retriever above that narcissist. She’ll never carry the majority in Alaska. Too many Alaskans know better than to put her in office again.
You can vote for Nick in November or get used to seeing Mary for the next two years. The only way Palin’s in the spotlight again is when they come out with the new season of “celebrity idiot”.
If half had voted Palin 2nd (or voted correctly), it would have been enough. On top of that, at least 12,000 Begich voters appear to have voted Peltola 2nd. Conservatives snatch defeat from the jaws of victory yet again.
The Division of Elections did a complete disservice to Alaska voters by withholding the results of second choice voting. That was not the fault of RCV – it was a chickenshit decision to save themselves a little (tiny) amount of work. They should all be fired. The live video today was a ridiculous waste of time and money.
Few realize Div. of Elections is OWNED by the people. All of it.
The period between the November election and January 3rd, when the 117th Congress closes, will be interesting. If the Demonrats lose control to the Republicans for the 118th Congress, we might see a flurry of interesting bills get voted on in those last two months. I wonder if the Palin haters will be paying attention?
In a conventional Election there would have been a runnoff between Begich and Palin, and the votes would have consolidated behind one of them, and Peltola would have been soundly defeated.
I told Mike P. this would happen.
And the words out of his mouth today were…
” Look what you people that refused to rank gave us”
Hey, I saw this coming.
In a conventional election, Peltola would have won with 40% of the vote to Palin’s 31%. There would not have been a run-off between Begich and Palin.
Dang, called it. Sneaky democrats.
Insert Conspiracy Theory Here:
Whoopee dodo. I see it as a compromised election system and suspect. Another democrat, hold on to your firearms.
Nice to see 60% of the voters being ignored.
None of the voters are being ignored. 60% of the voters chose a loser.
Congratulations dominion, rank choice, Lisa, Legislators the judges who helped, must read and the fake news for dumping on Sara over and over. Oath breakers and the gang look at what you have accomplished congratulations. The book of like knows all our deeds. Oath integrity has left the building, the fig tree generation exposed and busted and GOD is watching. Voters stay home in oath breakers you trust.
I honestly feel Must Read aka muckracker news deserves some of the blame for this horrid result.
Palin Derangement Syndrome PDS is a real thing.
The blue wave has begun. America voted Trump out but conservatives didn’t get the message. Now you will see that the nation is done with MAGA. The tea party-trumpism had their day and that day is over. Goodbye.
For those that booed Tara Sweeney at the State Republican Convention, you missed an opportunity to elect someone special.
Have fun with 2nd and 3rd place, LOSERS! Hahahahahaha!
REVENGE!!!! Haha!!
Great job, MRAK!
hope you all are happy who didn’t put Palin second, idiots. yea I voted for Nick but did Palin second.
This state is going to hell in a hand basket. WAKE THE HELL UP. Nick drop out or we are going to see the same results in November. Nice results huh pocaro, yeah we had two republicans and one demoncrate, anything else you want to push. Oh emergency vaccines no worries another round coming up with out testing.
Sarah can’t carry the majority. She never could. She needs to go. Simple.
She was elected governor once. That was in the old system. Do you think about what you are saying?
Well said Dav3.
She got the vote because of her stance on Abortion. Too many people were for elective abortion. I wish her the best and may people wake up on the permanent replacement in Nov Election. She must be a great person, but for me, her choice in abortion was a NO brainer.
“She got the vote because of her stance on Abortion……..”
And killing babies will carry Murkowski, too. Oh, well. I can live with that, but I’ll never vote for a baby killer.
The Murkowski campaign is popping champagne corks, now reaping the rewards of feeding Alaska the ranked-voting poison pill. Hope this serves as a wake-up call for the next round.
Ranked Voting is Win-Win for Democrats in every likely statewide election scenario.
Field narrowed to 2 R’s? Democrats get to put their thumb on the scale for the weakest R candidate available. Ranked now allows them a vote in what was the formerly ‘closed’ R primary system.
Field narrowed to a D-R race? The two well-funded R’s spend weeks smearing each other right up until election day – without an eight week ‘kiss and make up’ period that lets the victor consolidate support.
MRAK probably contributed to this by taking sides. Competitive primaries are important, and I don’t fault S.D. for promoting her candidate – but primary butthurt only worsens R chances in this ranked voting scheme. Was probably was calculated that way from the beginning – as R’s are far more likely to be well funded and competitive in a ‘red state’. Think Trump vs Ted Cruz 2016 – brutal primary, but die hard Cruz supporters had time to cool off, come around – and stop Hillary by November.
No doubt a number of R’s stubbornly voted ‘against’ ranked voting by voting for one candidate only – which probably felt good, but mathematically only hurt them in the end. Likely intended as a feature – not a bug.
Yup MRAK did us dirty.
Palin did Alaska dirty.
Both comments drew the wrong conclusion.
Its not MRAK – or either candidate. Its ranked voting. Full stop.
Think – why did the same types of activists that pushed Ranked Voting in Alaska – fight tooth and nail to stop it in California? Are ‘clean elections’ suddenly a bad idea in a heavily blue state?
MRAK, Palin and Begich all did what they are supposed to do.
MRAK is (excellent) opinion journalism, and should promote their favored candidate.
The candidates should be running an aggressive race that gives voters a choice.
Ranked voting system, unfortunately, punishes candidates for actually competing. You know, politics – fighting each other and giving the voters a choice within the party. If you game it out, eventually we’ll be left with multiple grey candidates, all talking the same, while giving each other handies “rank me second, bro” under the table – because actually competing and providing voters a choice (like in a primary) – just leads to butthurt and bullet voting in a ranked system.
Absolute bull
There is no way that many Begich voters voted for Peltola.
Demand a hand count
Dominion machines win again.
And Suzanne, you know this is bull.
Don’t forget the dead vote. Peltola was winning in the graveyard precincts.
So there is a truly massive conspiracy…. or never trump voters exist in the gop. Everytime you guys ignore reality things get a little bit worse. MAGA is over, it failed to bring change and it’s over.
“MAGA is over, it failed to bring change and it’s over………”
You might be correct. America will never be great again.
Works for me. I’ve been poor before, and I can be poor again.
Can you?
There’s another a in Alaska
Thanks loads, Sarah. You singlehandedly turned our safe Congressional seat over to the Communists. Every thing you touch goes to hell.
Drop out!
Congratulations Suzanne… your website had a small part in this outcome.
No Surprise here is there? Every poll has Mary beating Sarah, reason? Sarah’s astronomical negatives. Her screech, her resignation from office, her endorsement of Bill Walker, her being unattached from Alaska. Thanks Sarah! Hello Welfare Plantation Representation and let’s admit that we Republicans are the stupid party.
Maybe it’s time we wised up.
The difference between a smart man and a wise man is that a wise man learns from the mistakes of a smart man. It is time we wised up and learn not to support a candidate who has proven unelectable in Alaska. Palin is Alaskan Republican kryptonite. She single handily killed the longest-held Republican Congressional seat held by Don Young and turned it blue.
I agree with your analysis and interpretation of this unfortunate outcome. Alaskans must vote for and support Nick Begich in the next election cycle.
Barbara, your’s is an interesting reply. Perhaps the Hand of God gave us Peltola to persuade our moral and patriotic majority to coalesce in support of Begich to win in November.
Lisa is probably thinking herbrace is in the bag right now.
She’s got RANK voting and the coast guard. Wind at her back!
Alaska’s Congressional delegation now consists of two Democrats and a RINO
Not very hopeful of the chance to knock her out after the primary numbers. She has the lead by 12,000 on Tshibaka and the person in 3rd place with 12,000 votes is a D. Not enough downstream to make up the difference unless people who did not vote in the primary turn out by droves in the general . . . to vote for the conservative? It pains me much to see this, but the Lisa the Lib is apparently in for life.
Sarah Palin’s followers have to be some of the most stupid people in Alaska. A desperate woman who can fool her people into voting for her. A quitter. A mother who couldn’t discipline her own kids. A megalomaniac who still thinks the vast majority of people love her. A philanderer, seeking fame. A turncoat. A backstabber. An empty woman who is only full of herself. Full of platitudes and one-liners, but no consistent thought process or intelligent speech. A HUGE embarrassment!
Only stupid people are the ones that believe these numbers are real and Peltola actually won.
As one of her voters I am proud of her Primary Win over Nick by 10% points, and coming ahead of Nick in the General. And l am especially proud that the Sarah Voters Ranked the Red, while many of Nick’s voters Ranked The Blue, as expected as RINOS do. Who did you Rank number two Mary.. BEGICH = DEMOCRATE.
Sarah can now go back to boinking her hockey star, or whoever it is she’s boinking this week. I’m sure the National Enquirer will find out. Meanwhile, her DUI son needs bail money. What a disgraceful family.
Do not……I mean….DO NOT say the words Sarah Palin in my presence ever again. This woman makes me sick to my stomach.
So just over 20% of Begich voters either did not rank a 2nd choice or did so incorrectly and invalidated their ballots. If half of these put Palin 2nd, then she wins. On top of that, just over 8,000 previously unreported votes came in. If ALL of these voted for Peltola, then a minimum of over 12,000 Begich voters ranked her 2nd instead of Palin. Did nearly 1 in 4 voters for the more conservative Begich really then vote for the more liberal Peltola instead of the conservative leaning Palin? This is what needs to change in November. Conservatives need to make their choice: Begich or Palin (or even Chris Bye . . . basically Peltola 4th) and then rank the other 2nd. If they do not learn to vote this way, the liberals will own statewide elections in Alaska from here on out. Same with the upcoming governor’s race. Walker or Gara will win if Dunleavy and Pierce voters refuse to rank the other. Gara and Walker together took a bigger share of votes than the liberals in the Special House Election. 97% of the vote went to either the conservative bloc (Dunleavy-Pierce-Kurka, 95,968) or the liberal bloc (Gara-Walker, 86,454). In short, there is even less room for error in that race. Many will blame the new voting system. I’m not sure I believe that so many Begich voters went with Peltola as their 2nd choice. Unless they wanted to make a point and scare voters straight in November. However, I have heard enough people threaten to only vote one candidate and others demonstrate an inability to read ballot directions to believe the 20% Begich exhaustion rate. Refusing to change voting habits because change is too hard and withholding 2nd place votes from the other conservative (BTW, this does not include Lisa the Lib. She will be 4th on my ballot in November) will lead to more liberals getting elected and even more severe change down the road. I hope Begich and Palin will use their campaign dollars to run joint adds asking their supporters to rank the other 2nd.
You are spot on! I place a lot of the blame on conservative media which has spent the last year and a half attacking ranked-choice voting instead of explaining to their voters how it works and how to vote strategically.
Palin needed 73% of those exhausted ballots to win.
I am one to picked Peltola second. I wasn’t happy with any candidate but Palin will not get my vote.
Here here! She didn’t get any of her family’s votes either. We all voted NB3 for first, Peltola second. Then, BLANK. Sarah is a proven loser. I had to bail Track, while she makes dates with hockey pros.
Todd,
You must have gone through hell and back with her. I can’t imagine.
Look on the bright side. As Mary Peltola will likely be in the Democrat minority in the House, she will not be able to help pass liberal legislation. As she showed when serving in the Alaska Legislature, she can and will work with both sides of the aisle. She will likely follow the lead of our Senators on most Alaska issues. Oh by the way, there’s another election in November.
Coming from the guy who secured a win for Lisa by bowing out of the primary. The RINO cesspool just gets larger and deeper. As The Mayor laughs.
This result partially rests on MRA. Why they chose to treat Sarah just like the FAKE NEWS I will never understand. Thanks, MRA!
We never got to see the live election results come in.
Not a peep until today.
That is a lot of time to work.
How many ballots were spoiled? Questioned?
I have never seen an election so buried in darkness…
Just a test run for November, everyone take your meds and chill out.
I look through the comments and I have to ?♂️ from the stupidity. You actually believe this result is real?
I bet you also believe that Joe Biden, who had significantly less votes than Obama did in most of the nation and massively over performed Obama in the select cities in key states, actually won the election.
Nobody believes Biden won. The Republicans know he didn’t win and the Democrats don’t care. If you’re betting on a horse and there’s a photo finish and your horse stumbles and falls forward do you care how he won? You probably don’t even care if people had to cheat to get your horse to win the only thing that matters is that he won.
“Nobody believes Biden won”. Most of us do because not only is the evidence in support of his win but the Big Lie supporters have produced nothing to contradict.
Employ reason and the scientific method Greg.
Maybe, just maybe, for those of us who are in the middle but leaning conservative rank choice did exactly what we hoped it would do. Eliminate extremes. For us middle people (the majority in the state) RINO or moderate is a term of endearment and not a negative. However, extreme views of pro-lifers, conspiracy theorists, and Trumpers are a no go for me. Sorry. Can’t rank that. Makes me want to vomit. I’m looking for the candidate that can meet in the middle and find working solutions outside of the right or left political books of ridiculous ideology. Should have been Sweeney instead of Begich or Palin, but the extreme view holding Republican Party has fallen in the trap of only listening to the loudest and craziest among them. Censoring and belittling anyone who doesn’t fall in line with the most ideological doesn’t really build consensus and certainly is not an inclusive tent for new ideas or disagreement. It’s all so narrow minded and this election points out the hard facts, people are sick of crazy. Find some socially moderate and fiscally conservative candidates if you want an R to win. Rank choice voting isn’t the issue.
“Find some socially moderate and fiscally conservative candidates if you want an R to win. Rank choice voting isn’t the issue.”
You’re exactly right. The far right can’t accept that center-right Republicans exist, and they don’t want their votes. And then they can’t figure out why they lose elections.
“We called you RINOS and communists and baby-killers, and we told you we didn’t want your kind. Then we lost the election. It MUST be because Democrats cheated!”
Buncha whiners who want the rules change because they lost.
Low-T, compromised, traitorous RINOS like Murkowski, Sullivan and Dunleavy are just speed-bumps in the road of the radical leftist agenda.
The D’s have consolidated their support as the R’s shoot each other down.
When will all of us conservatives learn?
Palin has too much baggage from her time as Governor. She will hold at 30% and not win in November either. She needs to show her colors and drop out with lots of election year drama, so Nick can win. With consolidated support, we can elect an R to the hold the seat.
I voted for both R’s and did not rank a 3rd place that couldn’t count anyway. Only hope for November is that all R’s and conservatives come vote in mass and rank the red. 50% turnout and an R will win.
“…….When will all of us conservatives learn?……..”
Never.
Now we see what november may look like using rank choice vote. My 1st emotion is sadness, then pity for whoever is declared the “winner.” I feel pity for any future candidate who “wins” election by using RCV because they won by votes they never earned. Doesn’t give the
“winner” much dignity and reduces their dignity and intelligence. You can win an election this way, you never win the peoples respect nor be
taken seriously. Winning by RCV shows today it is the worst thing for any candidate who cares about their respect and how they be remembered.
Growing up i am reminded of a single mother divorcee neighbor who lived off the ex husband’s generous child support, alimony, plus state assistance. Never working until the
children turned
18. See! No dignity recieving something you never earned.
Did she find another guy to sponge off of after the child turned 18? That’s statistically the only way she’ll survive.
Tell me you didn’t just say that. Tell why someone who’s been a housewife their entire life and is home with kids like June Cleaver, doesn’t deserve to draw on the deceased husband’s social security until those kids are 18 or if they go to college 22? Your ignorance never ceases to amaze me
I hope Sarah Palin reads these comments. Sarah: you resigned as Governor because your fame was a distraction from SOA business. Now, your role in Alaska politics is tainted due to your behavior and attention seeking. You must once again do what is best for Alaska and drop out of the race so we can have a pro-life, pro-second amendment, pro-Alaska republican in office. Ms. Peltola may be a “really nice person”, but she is also a leftist who does not identify with any true Alaskan values. She will vote with the leftists who want to lock up resources in our state. She will vote with them to take our guns. She will vote with them to tax us to pay for federally funded abortion. She will vote with the pure evil Democrats…every time. We need to fix this – whatever it takes. And the first and most important step for you, Ms. Palin, is to swallow your pride and drop out. I don’t care who you endorse – that’s between you and your conscience. But drop out before our state is ruined for years to come. Please!
Blame the GOP and non voters. Not RCV not dominion, not those who voted for a single candidate. The Ak GOP is useless and deserves this. Demand better. We get a redo. Make it count.
Well, it appears the little communist troll Scott Kendall achieved his goal with RCV with the help of his buddy Mike Porcaro. Their plan worked. Question is, how much fraud was involved in all of this?
Many jurisdictions that have experimented with ranked-choice voting later repealed it. These include Burlington, Vermont; Aspen, Colorado; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Pierce County, Washington; and the state of North Carolina. In addition, there have been multiple attempts to repeal or amend RCV in Maine and the state of Massachusetts said “pass” to RCV during its 2020 election.
The Alaska State Constitution, Article XI, Section 6 allows the legislature to repeal ballot measures two years after the effective date of the initiative. Ranked-choice voting was approved in 2020, so after 2022, legislators could take up a repeal bill.
Another repeal option is by way of a new ballot measure. Voters could introduce and pass a ballot measure that would repeal rank choice voting, in the same way that they approved it.
You have other options. Do you research.
Congratulations to all of the conservative media in Alaska for sending a Democrat to Washington! Had you spent the last year and a half explaining to your readers/listeners how ranked choice voting works instead of just attacking it maybe 20% of Begich voters wouldn’t have left their 2nd choice blank. Hopefully you’ll change your tune in time for the November election.
In November, I’ll leave it blank again. And if she shows up on one of my flights, I’ll call security to escort her back to the gate.
OK folks, now that you see how it works, start planning better for November. First rule is to rank red – period! Second rule is for Dunlavy to start attacking grandpa Walker’s record big time! The dems have 2 candidates who can combine to defeat Dunleavy unless all republicans rank red, which mans Dunleavy 1 or 2. No choice here. Same thing goes for all of the other races. As to Peltola, she captured the native Alaskan vote and a lot of the women’s vote. So realize she will be strong. Will she have a record? What will it be? Middle or left? Keep track, Alaska and then get out the vote in November. Every republican and conservative independent needs to rank red. No throwing up your hands. This is the wake up call. And yes, this system MUST be rejected. It simply allows those who do not value the will of the voters to conspire to beat the majority. Now you know. Grab your gear and get going!
Hopefully Suzanne has learned a lesson here and this temporary spot is a small price to pay to learn that lesson. I sure hope Dunleavy and Pierce see this and tell everybody to rank the other guy second and not get too nasty with each other.
Does this mean Lisa’s going to win too? Alaska for Better (chances for RINOs and democrats in) Elections truly just played 3D chess on this small population, but it wasn’t above board and certainly wasn’t about letting the majority rule. What bs.
Democrats are Icarus full of hubris and pride flying too close to the sun. Eventually them going unchecked like this is going to bite them and probably all the rest of us in the process. It already has in multiple ways. I just hope more blood is not lost before things get better. This could really blow up on us.
Lessons learned:
-Sarah remains a divisive figure in Alaska. Who knows what might have happened if she had spent more time here campaigning than running around the country making guest appearances.
-Trump’s influence only carries so far.
-Don Young is the author of this mess. He should have groomed a successor and retired a decade ago.
-The Begich name is poison in conservative circles.
-The AK GOP is and remains useless.
-Porcaro earned his 30 pieces of silver.
-Tuckerman Babcock’s legacy of “leadership” still haunts us.
-This outcome was inevitable. As is the return to power of the cabal of Walker zombies who killed this state.
-No matter how many people voted red, AK is politically blue.
I am not trying to sound clueless but who is Peltola? Numbers don’t add up, if 60% goes to Nick and God forbid Sarah yet Peltola sought to be the winner? I get the choice voting method but the numbers STILL don’t add up. Oh by the way Peltola hasn’t won the seat yet. Vote in November. I’m glad to see Nick ahead of the Sarah… GO NICK!
“I am not trying to sound clueless but ……….I’m glad to see Nick ahead of the Sarah………”
Uhmmmmm……..you didn’t succeed. You are clearly clueless. At no time was Begich “ahead” of Palin. She win the primary over all the other 50 candidates, and she beat Begich in the ranked voting special general election.
I’d suggest that you try to catch a clue, but I’m pretty sure that you will not.
I called this result over a month ago. Peltola, like Deb Haaland, is the new face of the Democrats. This was so predictable. Gross dropped out so Repubs would split the vote and it would be an easy win for Peltola.
Gross was forced out. One day Suzanne will share what she knows.
Begich ruined this!
Begich filed seven months before Palin. Sarah ruined this. Opportunist whore.
Just for the record: In a Fairbanks precinct they had black markers in every voting booth. For those watching elections, has anyone heard of this game before ? The vote for the candidate on the front of the ballot bled through the ballot and left a mark in the Beigich candidate column on the Rank Choice ballot section the back. Isn’t this the way a ballot can be spoiled and sent to adjudication by the MACHINE. Then unknown person gets to decide how you meant to vote. With RANK Choice Voting doesn’t that make it real easy to hide any manipulations. Is everyone OK with that ?
By the way, I reported it to the election workers and all I got was a bunch of BS but basically it’s all inside the MACHINES that the voters can’t see how they work.
Well. I called that one right! A third of Begich voters ranked Peltola second and 20% didn’t rank at all! Peltola only appears to have won by 3%. Nice going Nick & MRAK, job well done! Oh, and to those who voted for Peltola because of her anti bycatch rhetoric – the CommunityDevelopment Quota program ( the drag fleet ) is largely responsible for the fact that fishery managers have largely taken a hands off attitude towards the raping of Alaskan waters by the out of state trawl fleet. Politicians do not want to face the financial might of the Native Corporations who benefit from this program. Think Mary Peltola will be any different? Good luck with that one!
I don’t think it’s fair that many of you blame Suzanne for the Palin loss. She simply has a pulse on the voters and knew this would happen based on her experience. I didn’t want Palin to win either. There wasn’t a real sound choice to be had.
“………There wasn’t a real sound choice to be had.”
So vote in the Demonrat.
Genius.
Suzanne has done a good job reporting on these topics. I can’t say the same for local television programs that always seem to come up “a day late and a dollar short”. The local radio show personnel announce what they are paid to cover resulting in very little value or importance.
Well I hope are you rank choice voting commies are happy, also you to Begich you handed this seat to a commie democrat!
I voted for Palin, and the reason I did was for the same reason as all these comments, she is a disrupter. If she is doing things to upset the establishment, then I am buyer! Look at what she is doing to most of you…. I don’t honestly trust Nick, but you know EXACTLY what you are getting from Palin. good bad or indifferent. We a need CLOSED primary, and we can only hope we flip this seat back. But you can hope in one had and crap in another….ya know
Wow, so many people showed they didn’t have any principles at all when they voted for Peltola even as a 2nd. Every rank is a vote. They voted to kill babies, make Alaska a park and all the other evil things the Dems do.
The witch is Palin, not Peltola.
Goodbye, Sarah. Alaskans don’t want you anymore!
Never underestimate the ability of the republican party to shoot itself in the foot. Once again it has snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
Palin has history. HORRIBLE governor. ACES, and WALKER are her lasting legacy. She has no substance as a lawmaker. She needs to go away. I refuse to vote for her. She is a known untrustworthy failure in politics. I could care less about her family or lack of moral life choices even though those can be telling and much of it is not “fake news,”.
The ultimate question becomes:
will the GOP manage to convince one candidate or the other to bow out?
Related, will the voters put aside their personal butthurt and do what’s best for the state?
My guess is no.
58% voted Republican.
This was an ideal trial-run to learn how to play the ranked game.
It was a split.
That would not have happened in a conventional election.
Good thing we get a re-do in November.
Is that a mail-in? I believe so.
With E.R.I.C. pointing out which registered voters are not going to vote, this is too easy to steal.
And with signature verification being stricken…
It is still going to be all uphill.
RCV only works with the Jungle primary that was forced on us too. Palin would never have been able to split the vote if we had the parties actually pick their candidates during the primaries as before, and Palin wouldn’t have won. Only party members, or non-affiliated voters, should be able to vote. Change only RCV and you haven’t solved the problem.
Palin is a low quality candidate endorsed by the low quality 45th president. Trump is making the whole damn republican party low quality.
Just got through reading all the comments. THANK YOU SUZANNE For Making It Happen. And thank you all for your comments. I never knew there was so much STUFF out there. To sum it all up—Rank the Red, or we are politically dead.
MRA didn’t cause this fiasco
Dominion voting didn’t cause it
Voting irregularities didn’t cause it
Stupid, myopic, low information, low effort REPUBLICAN voters did this.
Honorable mention to Don Young for not preparing a successor and vacating the seat a decade ago.
……believe it or not, Don was preparing Nick, until Don decided he still hadn’t had enough of DC.
“What is the purpose of rank choice vote?” Charlie Kirk
Wow I’ve never read a more ridiculous statement in my life. What payroll are you on?
Nick Begich had been mentored for some time by Don Young. Don had identified Nick as the best candidate to be his successor. Don then decided to run one more time and Nick made it clear that he was going to run anyway. Don Young then of course died in office. Nick Begich had filed to run for this seat 7 months prior to the passing of Don Young. Sarah Palin never surfaced for this seat until after the death of Don Young. Palin in my opinion with an entitlement mentality just assumed that this was her job for the taking. Having come to know Nick Begich, he is in my opinion far more qualified for this job, and Palin the “Sarah come lately” needs to step aside and let the truly qualified individual represent Alaska . Don Young was not mentoring Sarah Palin.
You can blame Jessie Bjorkman and the republicans who are useless and worthless.
Koskovitch – who cares what Don Young wanted? The seat is not his property to give. Trump endorsed Palin for a reason. She will stand by him when he becomes President in 2024. This election is more than Alaska. It is about probably the last chance to save the USA from the rampant corruption and Fascism that runs wild in Washington, DC. A RHINO stuffed shirt ain’t gonna cut it! DRAIN THE SWAMP!
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