Although 60% of voters chose a Republican — Nick Begich or Sarah Palin — during the Aug. 16 special general election for the vacant congressional seat, Alaska has elected the 40% candidate — Mary Peltola, a Democrat, who will fill out the remainder of the term vacated by the late Congressman Don Young.
The Alaska Republican Party has been silent on the result, but the party has been largely paralyzed by the ranked choice voting system now being used by Alaska.
Nationally some Republican leaders are speaking out about the system of jungle primaries and ranked choice general election voting systems that robbed either Republican from being able to advance to represent Alaska in Congress. The reliably red seat just went to a Nancy Pelosi-Joe Biden Democrat. Alaska’s congressional seat was won by a congresswoman-elect who has a D rating from the NRA.
“The race in The Last Frontier was the first federal test of the state’s unusual voting system that is gaining influence across the country,” writes Emily Brooks in The Hill. The story is linked here.
“Ranked-choice voting is a scam to rig elections,” Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas tweeted after Alaska’s results came in Wednesday afternoon. “60% of Alaska voters voted for a Republican, but thanks to a convoluted process and ballot exhaustion—which disenfranchises voters—a Democrat ‘won.’”
Not all Republicans agreed with Cotton. Meghan McCain, daughter of the late Sen. John McCain, who picked Palin as his vice presidential running mate, said, “Political hacks will come up with absolutely any excuse for a loss other than just admitting their candidate was bad.” Meghan McCain has been a stinging critic of Palin, who she said brought too much drama to the McCain-Palin ticket.
But Republican National Committee national press secretary Emma Vaughn said in a statement to The Hill that the Alaska special election results “prove what we’ve known all along — ranked-choice voting disenfranchises voters. Our Republican nominees earned nearly 60% of Alaskans’ votes on the ballot, and now every single one of those voters lost their voice to choose their representative in Congress. Alaskans deserve an equal and fair process, two things this special election were not.”
Now, an RNC national committeeman from Arizona has told The Hill that he plans to lead a resolution for the RNC to formally oppose ranked choice voting at the party’s next winter meeting at the start of 2023.
Tyler Bowyer, national committeeman for Arizona, said he will offer the resolution. “It eliminates any possibility that someone that’s more conservative — and really, on the Democratic side, more progressive — can ever make it through that system,” Bowyer said to the newspaper.
“In the Alaska system, voters pick one candidate in a nonpartisan jungle primary. Then the top four candidates head to the general election, where voters rank their choices. If no candidate wins more than 50 percent of the vote, there is an automatic runoff where ballots for the candidate with the least votes are reallocated to the next-choice pick, if the voter made one,” The Hill described in its story about the Alaska experiment.
Robert Dillon, a Murkowski ally, told The Hill: “The reason the party doesn’t like it is because it takes the decision about who the candidates are away from the party and gives it back to voters. The parties naturally, you know, find that threatening, but voters don’t.” Alaskans for Better Elections is the group that put ranked choice voting on the ballot, pushed it through, and is now defending it. The newspaper did not disclose Dillon’s paid association with Alaskans for Better Elections.
This should be a clear message to Sarah Palin that we do not want her, and she needs to withdrawal from the November election.
Sarah Palin must withdraw NOW. Her ability to launch a successful political campaign in Alaska lost all traction and “fizzled out” long ago. Nick Begich has a chance; Palin does not.
Uh, Palin received more votes than democrat plant Begich.
Begich voters, a significant % of them, voted for Petola – think about that.
You got played – and now real conservatives get to pay the price.
Palin Derangement Syndrome is a real thing, just like TDS.
RINO much, Mr. Snow?
Finally, an informed observer on this page full of trolls! “Good on you” sir for recognizing the truth!
Amen
It doesn’t matter. However you spin Sarah Palin to Alaskans, she’s not going to get my family’s conservative vote, nor is she going to win any election in Alaska. She’s a hate magnet in Alaska.
She received more votes than Nick Begich, true.
What you don’t realize is her huge unfavorable rating is a glass ceiling not allowing her to ever get a majority of voters. A lot of us actually remember what she did that was so very not “conservative” while she was in office – drove oil companies out of alaska with ACES, backed walker, turned on ted stevens in a bogus prosecution, huge growth to the state budget, and the list goes on…
She is not electable. The far right of the republican party (and I have many friends there) need to get over the “smash them in the mouth” style of candidate, and realize someone less volotile will do a better job of governing.
Also – if you guys are so sure of your positions, why aren’t you using a real name? Gotta wonder…
Wait, what? She received more Alaskan votes than Begich. But she needs to withdraw?
You may have a problem with her — I don’t particularly care for the way she expresses herself — but she has taken a principled and controversial stand on issues Begich won’t touch. He’s running a moderate, do-not-offend-anyone campaign, and we are not in a moderate time. Anyone who refuses to take a stand on election integrity is part of the problem and should not hold any elected office.
Yes, she absolutely should withdraw from the November race, so that Begich can beat Peltola, but I doubt that she will.
We should never forget that she was happy to help CCP enthusiast Bill Walker become our governor, and she and her rabid fans will be happy to give Young’s seat to a Democrat if she can’t win it herself.
The Palinbots are hysterical, vicious, spoiled brats, and their attitude is “if we can’t get our girl Sarah in, then we’ll just help burn it all to the ground!”
Geez Tim, calm down. I’m not thrilled voting for Palin, but I do know one thing, she’ll get under the skin of every liberal progressive that’s ruining the country and a President who calls 74,000,000 Americans racist nazis. Begich seems more moderate and not sure that’s what we need in this political climate. Agreed one of them should drop out, but believe Palin is more likely to fight fire with fire. BTW, in our corner of the state, I’ve never heard of anyone who’s a Palinbot.
“…….if we can’t get our girl Sarah in, then we’ll just help burn it all to the ground!………”
Says the guy with 15,000+ fellow travelers who vited fir the Demonrat as their second choice. Talk about irony…….
Begich told his supporters to “rank the red”, as did the ARP. The only person that took the approach of “…….if we can’t get our girl Sarah in, then we’ll just help burn it all to the ground!………” and telling their supporters NOT to vote for Nick as second was Ms. Palin.
She literally was the only candidate to take the stand “if I can’t win then I don’t want the other republician to win”.
I held my nose and voted for her #2 but it wasn’t easy.
Facts matter…
John – This should be a clear message that Democrats are hell bent on destroying fair elections in the United States with help from ignorant RINOs. What an ignorant statement to make that this is Palin’s fault when 28% of RINO Begich’s’ voters ranked Peltola second and 20% of his voters didn’t rank at all, essentially throwing their vote to Peltola. The stupid runs deep in RINO Land!
I love all of the name calling, vs actually providing a thoughtful argument. The cancel culture left does it, and guess what, so do the palin supporters. What is a RINO?
Let’s go down the list. What is a RINO?
Anti business – raising taxes and driving oil companies out of the state
Anti Oil – see above (hmmm – who else is anti-oil? Our President!)
Anti due process – Calling on ted stevens to resign, before he had a chance to defend himself, giving us Mark Begich (the leftist Begich) and thus, Obamacare
Pro-Walker/Mallott- one a registered democrat, one a very left leaning “independent”
Big Government – exploded the State budget, even if she was only in office a half term.
Other bad behaviors, but not necessarily “RINO”:
Used her office of governor to attack former brother in law state employee (state trooper)
Quit her office of governor
Nick Begich’s positions are solidly conservative. He just isnt as bombastic and loud as palin. He actually may be able to get something done, vs just make a lot of noise.
Come on people, think, or we’re gonna keep losing elections.
And fishing – come on, use your real name.
Palin will never win this race. Too many negatives and too many Alaskans hate her. As long as she stays in the race, Peltola wins.
A failed candidate that has proven that she cannot win in Alaska.
This should be a clear message to every voter that RCV doesn’t cut it.
Didn’t she get the majority of the Republicans? If so, then she would of been the Republican nominee, right?
Before this ranked voting scheme, yeah. But the RINOs who voted for Murkowski in 2010 with a write in campaign and who voted for Peltola for their second choice last month could still screw it up.
Yes, The AK Republican Party Convention choose Nick to run for Congress.
I’m not a Republican.
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
Alaskan – Alaska’s Congressional delegation has been red for over fifty years, at least in name. What is Fake News Newsweek talking about? Find a legitimate news outlet next time.
Fishing – again, facts matter…
Except in 2009-2015 when Mark Begich was in office, after Sarah Palin called for Ted Stevens to step down. That move got us ACA/Obamacare.
He was exonerated by the Federal Court, BTW, and the prosecutors were chastised. They should have been fired and put in jail, but that’s another discussion for another time.
Due process, Sarah – look it up. Its one of those conservative value things…
Dan – ok, I forgot about Mark Begich in the US Senate, for one term, but we are talking about Don Young’s vacant seat, not the Senate. Is Peltola going to flip the Senate? No need for that as RINO Murkowski is already there!
You’re delusional. The leading Republican should leave the race? Can you not see how silly that is. Mary (who you elected) is poised to become AOC BFF. The next group photo of the Squad is going to look like a female version of the village people.
Now I’m being silly but from what I know of Mary she doesn’t want to appear extreme, however I really think she will govern far left of the center. Everyone who supports Begich should vote for him as their first choice, but if you can’t give up your feelings for Sarah and mark her your second choice, your going to elect someone you’ll come to regret. Rank the Red, as Begich suggested.
Hey John—–She goes you don’t get to keep us Sarah voters. Two can play this game you started. We will do a BULLET VOTE FOR SARAH ,and go to bed with a clear conscience. We don’t want to step into your TRAP. You Hate Sarah, you hate us Also. Your the same PHONY REPUBLICANS That run as Conservatives, and Caucus with the Democrats on the State Level. The Same Republicans who sat on their hands and did nothing to Help Trump for 4 Years. Sarah and Trump Haters are two peas in a pod. You want us gone—-we’ll go. You got your Murkowski, Mary, Chuck Schumer Pelosi and the SQUAD.. We are THE FIREWALL. When we go you RINOS Get Nothing from the Democrats.
This is a self inflicted wound. The Walker Machine with a massive assist from Porcaro sold Alaska a bill of goods.
Anyone with a brain saw this coming. But we voted it in anyway.
Then we followed it up by splitting the vote between the most divisive person in Alaska politics and the most divisive name in Alaska politics.
It’s easy to say this is a scam (it is) but we fell for it. When looking for someone to blame, start in the mirror.
Lol… .”We”? Maybe you.
I sure as heck didn’t.
I voted against RCV. It appears I was correct in doing so. Now it appears we have to do something to get rid of RCV. The question is: Is it worth it? If an action begins to revert back to the correct method of voting, would people back it?
People, yes. But the Democrats will use the Walker Machine to make sure it stays.
Yes, I like Porcaro in general but he screwed the pooch on this one and sold out his principles for a paycheck. Now he’s all high and mighty with ‘rank the red’ talk when he could have helped thwart RCV before it gained a foothold.
“……When looking for someone to blame, start in the mirror.”
I didn’t vote for the RCV scam. My mirror is innocent.
Many can scream about RCV. I believe it is unconstitutional in that it treats some ballots differently than others, thus denying equal protection of the law. Moving beyond those objections, as much as some party people dislike RCV, this election turned out as it did because people like me refused to vote for Sarah Palin. Ms. Palin is unelectable. That is unpleasant for some to accept.
Idiot John McCain picked loser Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008. If McCain had shopped around for better goods, Alaska wouldn’t be in this predicament. Of course, Bill Walker is probably thinking the same thing about himself after he chose pedophile Byron Mallott.
I was one of the 15,455 people who ranked Republican Begich first, then Peltola next.
We didn’t get our guy, and that’s the way the twig gets bent in an election. But at least under this system, we got to also rank the least-worst alternative. For us, the system (which isn’t that complicated) worked. Although we didn’t get the best candidate, we at least we helped our state avoid the worst.
I don’t know how you can look at the world today and have conservative values and vote for Nick Begich AND Mary Peltola. For what it is worth, I think Mary might be a nice and honest person, but if she can’t see what’s happening in the Democrat party and media, and/or she is unwilling to speak on it then how in the world is she a better person for that job than somebody that won’t be just another vote of confidence for Biden and Pelosi’s very aggressive and divisive policies that are full of dirty tricks to undermine any attempt of Republicans having any legitimate argument and power?
I don’t love Sarah either and I might actually like Mary more as a person, but I don’t choose somebody that doesn’t have a clue about how an engine works to work on my car just because I think they are a nice person.
Vote how you want of course, I just sincerely don’t get it.
I’m trying to wrap my mind around it as well. I sincerely think that most Begich voters who ranked Peltola 2nd are going to seriously regret their decision down the road. But that is there choice to make. Hard to see how this result turns out differently in the old voting system. Palin would have narrowly won the nomination and then her detractors in the party would have voted against her just like they did. Voters don’t elect a party. They elect candidates.
It’s hatred. It clouds the mind. Makes you do stupid things. Repeatedly. When your hatred causes you greater problems, you don’t learn from it. Your hatred grows. Eventually, it kills you.
Wimleitch – we will see how that works out for you. My guess is, not very well! This election is not about Alaska, per se, it is about ending the systemic corruption in Washington, DC which will eventually destroy the USA. You have just given the Dems another vote to continue the grift. Nice job, Einstein!
We conservatives/Republicans need to stop blaming ranked choice voting. If you want to win the game you’ve got to play the game. The reason Mary won is because Sarah and Nick care more about their egos and political careers than they do the advancement of their values. If either one of them had dropped out before this election, conservative values would easily win! Nick and Sarah have lost all of my respect and if one of them doesn’t drop out before the general election, I won’t even give them the satisfaction of a vote. Stop blaming ranked choice voting.
I would encourage everyone to write and call BOTH Sarah and Nick and tell them to get over themselves and start working together for the benefit of the values that claim to care so much about. One of them needs to drop out – I don’t care which one. And the person who drops out needs to immediately endorse the other one and apologize for all their foolish political attacks. Unify the conservative base and we win. Plain and simple.
Mary won on the fact people voted for her because she is for abortion.
I’m a nonpartisan. The reason a Democrat won when 60% of the population voted Republican is because RCV doesn’t work for the people.
When I heard people supporting measure2,I remembered the California system of jungle primaries was installed to cement Democrat power. Sure enough Lisa’s team wanted it desperately. guess why? Must protect their positions And to Hades with those little people! The dimwits believed “oh, it will clean up elections a nd give control back to the people” just like Kendall was selling it Told Ya, ya got Californcated
Jakob, I couldn’t agree more.
Politics – and most prominently elections – is all about strategy.
We waste our time crying about this “new rigged system” and pretending how complicated it is, instead of using our collective smarts to think through options to make it work for us.
We are a Red state. We can effectively use our majority. But first, we have unify ourselves and agree on how to make it work.
They should at least run ads together encouraging their supporters to rank the other second. And highlight the positions of their leftist opponent while they are at it. On that point, the tone set in these comments goes a long way as well. Not holding out much hope for a different result in November . . .
Exactly right! I didn’t want Palin either, but she would have been better than any Democrat. The fact that over 25,000 of Begich’s voters were so stubborn that they couldn’t hold their noses and vote for Palin second is the problem.
In fact, I have a question for those voters: If we still had the old system and Begich had lost the Republican primary to Palin, would those 25,000 voters have truly either voted for Peltola or just stayed home? Because that’s what they did, and Peltola still would have won. Ranked choice voting is not the problem, people’s egos are.
Where is the time series data? Did votes with only polenta marked on the ballot, or polenta second on the ballot disproportionately “come in” *after* they saw what the gap was?
Mary Peltota is somewhere near Stalin or Mao on the political spectrum. I do not think there is one issue Mary and Nick agree on. How could 28% of his voters vote for her? We need to hand count and audit a few thousand ballots. This is an odd outcome.
Stalin or Mao? Hyperbole much? If you voted, you did your civic duty and if you’re such a snowflake that all you can do if resort to ad hominem, then you don’t really have a cogent point. Do you even know what communism is? Is Mary Peltola (or any democrat for that matter) calling for the total abolition of private property? Do you realize that even democratic socialists like Bernie Sanders believe in public regulation, rather than public ownership, of the means of production. There is no call by Peltola or any other democrat to establish a dictatorship that would murder all domestic opposition and attempt to establish a worldwide hegemony. I see a lot of commenters on this site call democrats “communist” when they clearly don’t even understand the meaning of the term. You appear to be among their number.
cman: I agree there is some hyperbole there. But do you think communism is embraced all of a sudden overnight? How often have Democrats been advocates for ratcheting back government involvement? How often do Democrats speak like the peasant must revolt and riot in the streets so they can be heard? How often do Democrats blame all the ills of the world on the government not doing what they want to influence and control people’s lives? How often do Democrats tell the poor person that he or she is a helpless victim of the world? How often do Democrats play identity politics to convince people they are in a rigid system that won’t be fair until the government steps in and decides who gets what? How often do Democrats and progressives want to discredit everything and exploit blemishes in the past to justify overhauling everything (revolutionary) and replace it with their progressive values that include things like “equity” and “universal basic income”. Seducing people with “free services” and loan forgiveness without explaining the drawbacks of doing such a things is a very marxist like strategy. Have you not heard the World Economic Forum that is full of global elites that align with Democrats say “you will own nothing and like it”.
You should hear the young people that are influenced by the left wing media and education that believe employees at a restaurant or coffee shop should be able to overthrow the owner and manager if they see fit. That’s a toxic attitude and destroys private companies, and many in the democrat party see no issue with this. They have taught children that they have been given the worst circumstances any generation has ever seen when it is absolutely not true, and again it’s all because they are in the same headspace as the arrogant Karl Marx and want an excuse to overhaul everything so everything can be controlled by THEIR “benevolent government”. And what’s especially parallel is they are so arrogant that they have no awareness of their true intentions and motivations and have no idea how their arrogance has made them totally ridiculous. I’ll give you an example. In the name of “inclusion”, Microsoft right now is forcing their overseas employees to put their preferred pronouns in their email signature. That’s inclusion? You have to understand why people see the slippery slope. And if someone doesn’t see the slippery slope and decides to go along with everything and become a leader… If you are one seeing a blaring slippery slope and see people being totally clueless to it, what else are you supposed to be thinking?
And yes, blackballing and censoring conservative perspectives in media, science, universities, public education, etc on a global level and then treating them like “domestic threats” if they get upset about it really does look like “attempts to establish a worldwide hegemony”.
Sorry cman. I do agree that there is always going to be a healthy argument for less and more government involvement and an argument for keeping traditions and changing traditions, but at the rate things are progressing and how Democrats have decided it is ok to have propaganda and censor and have political prisoners, it has people very nervous, especially when people like you refuse to see it.
Well, I have voted for both Republicans and Democrats, but I consider trump Republicans a distinct party unto themselves. All of the concerns you expressed (and I agree with many of them BTW) are those that those farthest to the left express. I don’t think that the majority of democrats are in the AOC vein, but perhaps you disagree? In terms of censoring people, everyone is still free to express themselves anyway they see fit but those on both the left and the right need to realize that their speech has consequences. Both Fox News and MSNBC are equally biased IMO so its different sides of the same fruit I think. I’m not sure who you’re talking about when you use the term “political prisoners” but I sure hope you aren’t referring to the seditious folks who are arrested and/or have stood trial because of January 6th. If you can justify those actions (and I’m not saying that you are) then I’m not sure there’s anything left to say. However, thank you for your response because even though we probably dont agree on a lot of things, at least we’re having a civil conversation and that is what is really wrong with the country currently.
“……..I consider trump Republicans a distinct party unto themselves……”
Have you bothered comparing Trump’s or Lisa Murkowski’s position in issues to the Republican Party platform? It’s Murky who violates the platform, not Trump.
Cman: Ah. You hate trump. FYI. I didn’t vote for Trump in 2016. But I certainly did in 2020. He seemed better than I expected over time and the democrats and everything they influence (which is a lot of very powerful things) got way way worse. I didn’t like Trump in 2016, and he still gives me pause and he exhausts me (mostly because he loves attention and the press loves to give it to him), but I have never hated the guy. I think there is a perception that everyone that voted for Trump is following him wherever he goes. No. Not at all. He just sees what we see and he’s good at exploiting it. It’s not hard to see so many things.
The fact that you only mentioned Fox News and msnbc says a lot. You didn’t include cnn, pbs, npr, cbs, nbc, abc, Disney, ESPN, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, google, Apple, universities, the teachers’ union, all of Hollywood, and even the Anchorage Museum.
So I can see why you see the bias in some things and fail to see the rest. You really think the bias that’s in all of those examples isn’t doing anything other than being a little slanted. No. They are invested. Completely. And Trump really has exposed it and exploited it. And people are either seeing the hard slant, the hegemony, and the corrupt morals and integrity, or they are following along with the media because they still trust the media.
cman, did watch Biden’s speech
On policy, yes. In personality and violent implementation, I have not seen that yet and sure hope not. Although, she might lend support to others more willing to move forward in such a way. On the other point, I initially found it very difficult to believe 1/4 of Begich voters really truly ranked Peltola 2nd when I first saw the raw numbers. However, reading through MRAK comments has persuaded me otherwise. This does not bode well for reversing these results in November.
Where do I sign the petition to end the Ranked Choice scam?
It is not an odd outcome. The Begich Peltola voters are deluded. Its EXACTLY like the TDS never Trumpers.
I hope they get EXACTLY what they voted for. Apparently its the only way to wake up. To look at the burnt scorched ground and suddenly realise……. opps.
Sarah… do Alaska a favor and go back to the hole you crawled out of.
Let’s be nice
Alaskans clearly wanted a republican. There is no
dignity in a candidate taking away votes never earned.
Anyone that blames this fiasco on either Palin or N. Begich, is 100% a shill trying to distract away from the real problem. Ranked Voting. Have your preference of candidate, but making ranked voting go away ASAP needs to be priority #1, whether by legislation or initiative.
Any ‘Red’ state is always going to have more serious R candidates competing in elections. Dems are laughing all the way to the bank while R’s slash each other in the ring like fighting cocks – right up until election day. D voters either get to jump on team moderate RINO, or better yet, get to knock off a wounded R candidate that hasn’t had time to consolidate R support after the attack ad carpet bombing.
Its an electoral scam, and its doing exactly what the lefty-Dem-Murkowski authors intended. And it goes way beyond just Palin-Begich and Murkowski – so wake up.
You are correct. But that’s a long term problem that can’t be fixed soon. The short term solution is for Sarah Palin to drop out.
Why not just demand that Mary Peltola drop out?
I agree!
LOL. Clueless.
If the Palin/Begich voters actually want a Republican in office, they would vote for a Republican! “Vote splitting” is a non-issue when you can rank candidates.
29% of Begich voters voted for Peltola because they thought she was better than Sarah Palin. If she can’t even win over REPUBLICAN voters, Palin is a crappy candidate. Denying that misses the point.
oh no you dont. Begich people voting for Peltola is a sure sign of a deluded perspective. Its “THE” problem.
MRAK pushed every negative Palin story they could find including Track Palin’s DUI and now is shocked – SHOCKED – to see what happened. Reminds me of the scene in ‘Red October’: “You arrogant ass. You’ve killed US!”
‘https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FR55kxkdUJs
The 2020 election was in question, yet our governor did nothing, he’s still using the dominion machines. I don’t think he cares that our voting process is corrupt.
Visited Twitter today and read through the democrat comments on a Mary Peltola tweet. Dems are just ecstatic. And laughing at republicans for falling for the trap of ranked choice voting. Honestly, who can blame them at this point. We were completely suckered.
Petitions to get rid of this Rank Crap Voting and to go back to one day voting, with positive ID and hand counted ballots need to start today !
When it works in your favor, you’ll be as quiet as a church mouse.
I won’t be.
The entire system, starting with the open primary is a crock of shi… stuff.
.
I would much rather have the election decided on election day, barring a close race where absentee ballots might make a difference.
.
I was not quiet when this was passed, I was not quiet when it started out with the open primary in July, and I do not really care who won, I will not be quiet about it until it is killed.
.
The entire system is crap, end of story.
Funny thing. People were unhappy about it long before the first vote was cast.
Again, projecting. You only like it because it worked in your favor. You are only quiet about the dominion voting system because the allegations aren’t in your favor. I remember many times Democrats were concerned about the voting machines. I only need to go back Jan. 2020 to see a news report about all of the vulnerabilities in the voting system:
‘https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/online-vulnerable-experts-find-nearly-three-dozen-u-s-voting-n1112436
NBC runs this story in Jan. 2020 and it is considered investigative reporting. Some people at fox news mention possible issues with the voting system only months later and they get sued for defamation.
Conservatives are allowed to have an opinion on this just as much as you. And most conservatives didn’t want RCV before the voting even began. And even if Sarah won the election, those same conservatives still would want it gone. If we aren’t advocates for ourselves, who will be? And without a shadow of a doubt, I don’t want Democrats influencing who gets to represent my perspective. You would most definitely feel the same way if Republicans started meddling in Democrat primaries in bright blue states.
Exactly. I’m now seeing lots of right-leaning media shrieking about Ranked Voting, and I think it misses the point somewhat. In a partisan sense, no, conservatives shouldn’t want this system in Alaska, or Texas, or anywhere that is reliably right-of-center.
But if you favor conservative political outcomes, you should be in favor of ‘Ranked’ voting systems – in California. New York. Oregon. ‘Blue’ states. In those states, it would empower the conservative minority and benefit weak/moderate Dem candidates that are far more likely to compromise and sell out their lefty principals.
Outside of partisanship, I still think ranked voting is bad overall – simply because it punishes ‘hard’ competition between political rivals. Instead of candidates trying to distinguish themselves from each other, running hard, and giving us a choice. RCV encourages dull races and grey politicians that talk, act, and play nice “rank me second!” with each other to avoid hurting feelings and creating bitter one-candidate bullet voters.
Not me. I don’t want them holding hands while they strip our rights away. I prefer politicians to fight it out, air their opponents’ dirty laundry, and give me a memorable race and a choice – without being punished for it by the voting system itself.
We never wanted this system to begin with; your party did. Win lose or draw, we want it gone. We want voter i.d., one vote per person, good ol’ American elections. You can’t stop yourself from spouting something stupid can you?
Yep avenger, agreed. Alaskans think there tough rugged, individuals, been here 60 yrs those days left when the pipeline hit. Most are sheep and too busy to get info on subjects so they vote name recognition, or popular things. We get what we deserve.
And one more thing – not everyone is a rabid party line voter. Many vote for the person and not the party, and that’s what happened here. Better to elect a moderate Democrat than to let Palin join the ranks of Bobert, MTG, et al.
Now, let’s all stand back and see if the Alaska GOP can pull this thing from the fire in November. Begich can only win of Palin bows out, and how likely is that for our little Drama Queen?
Wait…and…see.
Any chance you can back up your claim? What are the numbers regarding Democrats crossing over to vote Palin or Begich?
You’re just this side of a “I might have, but didn’t statement”. But you go, girl.
I’d ask you the last time you crossed the aisle voting, but you have no way of proving your claim. And truth be told, without proof I wouldn’t believe you.
Don’t worry your head, however. The Alaska GOP will continue to self destruct as it always does. And two years from now we’ll know how “moderate” Mary is.
“……two years from now we’ll know how “moderate” Mary is…….”
She’ll do exactly as Pelosi, Hoyer, and Durbin instruct her to do.
Mary Peltola is NOT a moderate Democrat. She is however a typical, lying Democrat.
Who is this moderate Democrat you are talking about? Did not see one on the ballot.
People like Bobert and MTG are the types that have it together. No hope without people like that standing up for whats right.
Quote Whidbey Thedog
“Begich can only win if Palin bows out”
Bizzaro clown world.
The same thing as liable to happen in November when most of the state doesn’t vote for murkowski yet she gets elected.
Now, I disagree that most of the state will not vote for Murkowski. Based on the primary results, she has the majority of the Democrat vote. And, I will hazard a guess she will get a portion of the Republican vote as well. Any Never Trump Republicans will vote for her. There are several folks posting on MRAK saying the reason they will not vote for Kelly T. is because of Trump’s endorsement.
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Murkowski is likely to have better than 50% of the vote in the first count on election day.
“……..Alaska’s congressional seat was won by a congresswoman-elect who has a D rating from the NRA………”
I’m looking forward to our new Congresswoman casting a vote for an assault weapon ban even before her short 4 month tour of duty is over. I’ve already got all mine. Maybe that will wake up all the young Alaskan outdoor studs with Palin Derangement Syndrome…….if they even bothered to vote in the recent elections.
Nah. Just dreaming here………
Demand a forensic audit of proposition 2. As many people voted for it as voted for a democrat.
Over 50% of Alaskan voters are independent, less than 40% are registered as Republicans. Many social conservatives appear to be math challenged.
Frank:
What does party registration have to do with anything? The open primary system is because people choose to register as undeclared or independent, but they still want a say in the November ballot.
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Which means that the percent of people who are registered Republican is not indicative of how they vote. For years I was registered as undeclared, but voted consistently Republican. I know there are thousands of people out there just like me.
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So, please explain to us what your percentages mean.
But the republican was never going to win! Sarah Palin is many things, but a republican she is not.
Unfortunately Alaska had two poor candidates to choose from.
Palin with deep seated haters, as displayed by the second choice on the Begich ballot. These voters will not change.
Begich with resounding endorsements from established and trusted Republicans was not enough to wipe the Democrat stain from his background.
I never thought Palin would run for office in Alaska again. Not even for Dog catcher.
Begich is associated with the legacy of his name, this alone makes it difficult to
To continue the Alaskan issue of family generational political families. Something that is as distasteful to Alaskans as Palin is to others.
Unfortunately unless one gives in, get used having a radicle Uber Leftest from the largest Welfare town in Alaska as the face of our State.
What on earth are you talking about? The ballot had something like 47 candidates on it, including Santa Claus. I know Alaska is littered with pothead shops these days, but you’d be surprised how many of us can remember as far back as July.
Ranked voting was a cleverly packaged scam that needs to go away – but you can’t sit here and claim it didn’t allow for plenty of choices. The barrier to entry was insanely low. If your ‘magic’ candidate existed, he was either too lazy to run, or he simply couldn’t convince anyone support and/or vote for him. ‘Good candidates’ don’t have these problems.
Did 60% actually vote Republican? We can argue whether Palin or Begich is our own style Republican, but the fact of the matter is that a fairly large number of those who voted for Begich as first choice, chose Peltola as their second! And it sure would be interesting to know how many first choice Palin voters might have done the same.
So, now there’s a hard Left Democrat headed to what I hope will be a very short time in Washington.
Let’s not make the same mistake twice in November.
Until we can get rid of this horrible RCV, we must be smarter(and willing to do what it takes) about not splitting our votes.
i dont get it. we have republicans or at least you assume they are, blaming palin. she got the most republican votes. these people sound like biden blaming republicans for everything. we had two republicans running so we weren’t going to win. we have to get down to one republican on the ballot. so the dem only won because we didn’t have it together. i only blame our republicans in juneau and the main party. they never fought this rank voting at all. remember rinos like bert stedman and his friends
The national Republicans were crowing about State’s rights with the Dodd decision, but want control over voting in Alaska? Alaskans were not fooled with the hypocrisy
Your point is nonsensical. Dobbs has nothing to do with Ranked Choice. But, to play it out…
Dobbs returned the abortion issue to states to decide on, where it should be. Alaska is not making any changes to existing law. The keeping or tossing of RCV in Alaska is a decision made by Alaskans, for Alaskans.
So your point fails hard on simple logical consideration.
I don’t know anyone as conservative as I am. I am not a member of the Republican party because I consider it too far left. However, I vote Republican almost 100% of the time; they are my ally. I voted Begich 1st-rank then I held my nose and gave Palin my 2nd-rank.
This article diverts from the truth. 60% of the voters did not vote Republican. Over 15,000 of those voting for Begich gave their 2nd-rank to Peltola because they refused to accept Palin’s embarrassingly silly countenance. They voted Democrat as their 2nd choice–not Republican. They chose to overlook the fact Peltola is aligned with a Democrat party bent on shutting down Alaska’s economy and relegating its people to a welfare subsistence existence. I understand the feelings of those 15,000 Alaskans; however, the problem is, they voted with those feelings rather than with logic. As foolish and shallow as Palin is, our future was brighter and more hopeful with her than with anyone aligned with the Democrat party–including Peltola. Our last hope is to elect the truly informed and rational conservative in November–Nick Begich III.
It has nothing to do about whatever faults you think about the mistakes of Nick or Sarah. Mary won on the whole truth that she stood for abortion. Mary will fight to over turn the Roe v. Wade decision that the Supreme Court made.
“………Mary will fight to over turn the Roe v. Wade decision that the Supreme Court made.”
Abortion is now a state decision, not SCOTUS. It was legal in Alaska before the Roe decision, and it remains legal in Alaska. Did you elect Peltola to fight for abortions in Wyoming or Bumfook, Egypt?
Palin is another in a long line of election spoilers – remember Dick Randolph? or Ross Perot?
Ranked Choice Voting made no difference as far as Palin is concerned. Under the old system, she probably would have won the party primary by a small fraction, but she would still have lost to Peltola in the general election because there are just not enough republican voters willing to come out and vote for her. Note that nearly half of Begich’s supporters (mostly republican, I’d bet) chose not to make her their second choice.
Her massive ego will not let her admit that she will never be able to unite the republican party behind her. On the other hand, if she were not on the ballot I’d bet Begich would win by a comfortable margin. Unfortunately I don’t expect her to drop out.
The real problem is not really the RCV. It is the open/jungle primary.
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When there are two candidates from a single/major party on the ballot, it will always split the vote. There is no justification for a political party to have more than one person representing them in the general election.
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And, why should the Democrats want Republicans to select the candidates who will represent them in the election, or vice-versa. If you are not a registered member of the party, you should not be allowed to vote for the candidate to represent that party in the general election.
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As bad as RCV is, the open primary is worse.
You don’t get it, do you? This isn’t a game. This isn’t about Palin or Peltoa or Begich. This is about a brand-new voting system that is broken the minute we drove it off the dealer’s lot. If this was a car, we would return it. Where are the calls to replace this twisted, arcane system with the simple system that worked for 200+ years?
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Truth Bomb. If the Palinheads and the Begich squads don’t stop their middle school bickering and act like adults, Mary is gonna be there a long, long time.
Which is more important to you? What’s best for Alaska or riding your self righteous hobby horse?
“……Which is more important to you?…….”
It’s important to me that the world becomes sane again. I’m not going to get it. The devolution of this world will continue to accelerate.
There is a style of election that we are used to. That is you have all the candidates fight it out and the best one wins in the primary. Then you all rally behind the winner to win the general. That style does not lend itself to ranked choice voting. Since Democrats don’t care too much about the quality of their candidate, they more easily limit the voting choices before the people get to vote. This is a deficiency for Republicans because they do care about quality.
I believe RCV is a good idea in that people’s second choices mean something. It lessens the threat of a third party candidate splitting the vote. It is not good for selecting candidates for the general election. A Party should pick its own candidate. Then if independents and smaller parties want their candidate to get a fair shake in the general then do RCV there.
Sarah did exactly what she set out to do – put a democrat in! I call her Ross Perot.
I vote for the person, not the party. I would rather have Mary Petlola in Congress than Sarah Palin. Peltola will represent Alaskans in Congress. Palin has proved time and again that she is only in it for herself. I like the fact that I got to rank my preferences, and that Peltola beat Palin. I know those who are hyper-partisan are upset that a democrat won, but that attitude is why the country has become so polarized.
“I vote for the person, not the party…….”
I pay attention to a candidate’s position on issues, but in Congress, that is almost meaningless for Democrats. If they don’t toe the party line, they’re strong armed. There is simply too much proof of that to deny.
The same is true of Republicans. But there are exceptions. Lisa Murkowski being the most notable. I prefer candidates that vote for what they believe are the best interests of the state they represent and the country, and do not just vote the way their political party tells them to.
All these comments with people arguing about who should have run on the Republican side instead of looking at the actual cause of the issue: RCV.
I would very much like to see the numbers, at election time, all rankings, and how many mail in come in, and the breakdown.
Not finding it easy to trust….
So all the hate here is…not surprising. Hate for ranked choice voting. Hate for Palin. Hate for Begich III. Maybe this is why Petola won. (And never mind the ridiculous comments about stolen elections, fraud, and Dominion machines.) If Republicans want to be relevant, they are going to have to clean up their act. A large portion of this country, and Alaska, are tired of the extremism and hate-filled rhetoric (though clearly not most MRAK readers). Even the blog copy jumps on this bandwagon, lamenting that 60% of the votes were for a Republican candidate, but a Democrat won, which completely misses the point: Republicans split their vote and then the voters felt so much animosity toward the other Republican candidate they either didn’t make a second ranking or they voted for Peltola (and for some of those voters, Mrs. Peltola may have been their actual preference and it wasn’t just a vote of spite). So the blog post is as misleading as most of the comments: the person with the most votes won, it just wasn’t the candidate most MRAK readers supported, but clearly a majority of Alaskans did (under RCV). If you don’t like democracy, move–I hear Putin is in dire need of soldiers and it appears many of the readers here love guns and violence.
“……I hear Putin is in dire need of soldiers……”
The Nazi fighter. You musta’ missed Joe’s speech, with a pair of Marines at attention behind him. He’s looking to fight fascists, too. Two peas in a pod there, both democratically elected, right?
Enjoy the show.
The other gorilla in the room: Mail in voting to allow two extra weeks for ‘finding’ votes for the establishment candidate. One person, one legitimate vote! As it is, welcome to the Walker/Murkowski/Pertola regime.
All this, “x should withdraw”, the system in corrupt.
I am not confident in the actual votes but the simple answer is:
Begich voters need to list Sara # 2 and Sara voters need to list Begich #2
Unless you want the D elected, get over it, plug your nose and vote for both, in whatever order you feel is best.
Otherwise, the D will be the only representative for Alaska for 2 more years.
after we do this, we can address mail in and rank choice voting, but for now we must focus on November.
Steve you are 100% correct.
Peltola should now be campaigned against clearly and strongly by both Palin and Begich, tying her to the Democratic failures of this congress and administration, thus, giving both their campaigns a unified message, so that when November comes, Palin voters choose Begich second, and Begich voters choose Palin second. That’s all. Pel-osi-tola can be defeated then. Easily.
No more casualties by friendly fire.
Well said Bake Shop.
Peltola is the face of the new Democrats. She won this time (dubiously) and will win again. There’s no stopping this.
“Peltola is the face of the new Democrats……..”
LOL! So what is a “new” Democrat? A caustically burned saline solution abortion survivor?
Good. I’m looking forward to future policies from Washington DC that all but eliminates natural resource extraction from Alaska. With that loss, I hope that at least 300 thousand people leave the state, bringing it back to pre 1980 population. That’s the best outcome we can get from the Democrats.
As I recall, that was a time of high unemployment, few opportunities, and a general economic and social malaise.
That’s what you want?
“As I recall, that was a time of high unemployment, few opportunities, and a general economic and social malaise……..”
The Carter years of stagflation. I remember it well. Lots of poverty in Alaska, but few people. Yeah, it was nice.
Whether we want it or not, it looks like it’s back. Thank Joe, the Corn Pop fighter.
So then why are you still here? And if you do NOT live in the state, what business is it of yours? I also bet you enjoy your cellphone, outdoor equipment, rain gear and battery in your electric car, all only possible through the dreaded resource extraction you want to stop. Oh you get resources from China and Venezuela, places that pollute….
If you wish to live in the stone age, go ahead, but excuse us, if do not care to go with you.
“…….I hope that at least 300 thousand people leave the state…….”
Lobby for an end to the PFD. You’ll see people flee this place as if their tails were on fire.
Yes.
And Porcaro, advocate for ranked choice, is blaming us.
Look, there was no second option for me.
I had my mind made.
I went with Begich, even though I feared blood would be thicker than water.
As to Peltola and Palin….
Could Peltola really be worse than Palin?
Neither were worth ranking to me.
“…….Could Peltola really be worse than Palin?……”
Looks like we’ll be finding out. Good luck.
What I think is going to happen is Peltola will start right out by making a big popular splash.
This, only to garner more support for the upcoming election.
After that, she may revert to a very different ideology…
It’s difficult to say, but I think she will be putting on a show for now.
The best outcome of this and last night’s speech would be that people get scared. Maybe enough to participate in what could be the last election. I know the readers of this are involved, how do we get above 50% turnout besides cleaning up the voters rolls. If everyone voted, we could have 110% turnout, after all. That would be fun to hear them explain.
I removed myself off the voter rolls yesterday. State website confirmed my removal this morning. Im done. Its all rigged.
The only option left is ARMED REVOLUTION. This is what the Second Amendment was designed for. And its time for people to start saying it.
I understand the frustration. Truly. But what do you think will happen if you get a 2nd revolution?
I’m in the camp thinking we’re headed to civil war if not very careful. But I don’t want it.
Funny.
I did that after 2020.
And what showed up in my mailbox a few months ago?
A voter registration.
So, I am back on the books and voting again…
But, in my opinion, somebody committed a Felony.
And it wasn’t me.
You are playing into their hands.
At the expense of all the rest of us that are aware of that.
You best hope the feds blow you off as just another drunken clown.
Not sure if you guys in Alaska are paying attention but Dems across the board are against every right you have except abortion and they can’t seem to get enough illegals across to quench their appetites! In the end they vote party lines no matter how nice they are. That’s party lines on gun rights, Taxes, taxes and more taxes, plus all those new crazy cool left wing morals. Good luck Alaska!
“Not sure if you guys in Alaska are paying attention…….”
Some of us are, but it’s like Idaho; too many insane California refugees here. The imported ideology has grown deep roots.
This comment section was so much nicer before all the leftist came over from ADN. Damn you ADN.
Fieldhand for the three…..yesh!
Agree – the ADN t*rds are here to spread the division. Wonder why ADN is stopping comments? Their agenda must go forward!
The left have found another political weakness of conservatives to exploit: VOTE SPLITTING AND OUR UNWILLINGNESS TO WORK TOGETHER TO DEFEAT A COMMON ENEMY.
To all the Palin haters and Begich haters we better learn to play well together because if we don’t our grandkids will be speaking Chinese. #egosaside #dividedwefall
“……if we don’t our grandkids will be speaking Chinese.”
My granddaughter already speaks Chinese. She’s in a Chinese immersion school in The Socialist Kingdom of Anchorage.
That’s not a new technique. They just implemented a new tool to ensure it happens.
I find it interesting that Sarah Palin is being targeted by the Republican commentators on this thread.
She beat Nick Begich fair and square.
Maybe Nick should step down.
The Republican fundraising organizational structures that are now an archaic force in Alaska – has clearly lost their grip of influence, as shown by their backing of Nick Begich.
I don’t know Nick and maybe he is a good candidate. But his strategy for this campaign was the losing force.
My comment is directed toward the old guard that have not evolved and are now throwing a big old fit.
Look inward when you lose, its an opportunity to stretch and get out of your comfort zone to grow.
Congratulations to the women of Alaska – Mary Pelton and Sarah Palin.
They have some commonalities that resonate clearly through the outcome of this election.
Not that I am a Palin supporter…
But, in a conventional election, during the Primary, you voted your heart.
But in the General, you lined up to the party line, behind the primary victor.
Those days are gone for now.
What makes you think these are Republican commenters? Who is absolutely dead set against Palin and Trump supporters in general? Begich is by FAR the choice of democrats since their own candidate could only win in the case of a split vote. Why else would Begich voters put Peltola second.
If being a woman is your prescribed preference for candidates, you are pretty shallow, Trudy.
The real reason a Dem won is that Ms Downing and her ilk spent all their time and effort backing a guy named Begich who claims he is a republican…And he might be.
But, he never claimed he was a conservative….I mean he is a Begich after all, how could he?
I agree that was a tough pill to swallow.
And we know that blood is thicker than water, the spruce hen doesn’t fall far from the tree and all…
But, what little I do read of him and what I know of Palin…
I voted for him, without ranking.
Call me crazy, but I’m thinking we need to take some serious action before the General Election.
I could tell you I voted for Begich and half of the Republicans in Alaska would hate me for it.
I could tell you I voted for Palin and half of the Republicans in Alaska would hate me for it.
I’m not even a Republican; I’m nonpartisan, but I don’t want a Democrat representing us.
How do we debate each other and find the common ground needed in order to be unified in a Republican choice in November? Can we have our own uncertified election or important poll after enough debate that we can identify the most common needs we’d like to have met? Can those who wish to vote Republican be willing to make the necessary sacrifices? Would it not be better to have some of our most important issues resolved than none of them?
Just some thoughts.
The best candidate won. Peltola will do Alaska right. The republicans lost because Trump endorsed Palin and didn’t give her a damn cent
I have seen the data on Begich voters second choice & it confirmed my suspicions that a lot of them chose Peltola. Where is the data about Peltola’s voters second choice? I would hazard a guess that a lot of them ranked Begich second. That would be a real eye opener. How about it MRAK? Could you provide that info?
Something else to think about if you leave your 2nd, 3rd, and 4th choice blank as I did …..
What is stopping someone tabulating the second round from filling in the blank spot ????? I see to many ways to fix the vote, this needs to go
There are more holes in this system than a dipnet.
And we have E.R.I.C., which is an electronic road-sign to the voters that aren’t going to vote and are ripe for the picking…
Plus, signature verification is history.
And unless I am mistaken, the next election will be mail-in.
Could this happen here in OUR State?
Yes.
On Aug 16 Peltola received 39.64% and Palin + Begich received 58.78% of the vote. If the election was held the traditional way, the ‘old way’, Peltola would’ve won because the Republican vote was split. And it looks like that is the way it finally turned out, Not a lot different from the 1990 Presidential election when Ross Perot got 18.9% and Bush Sr. 37.4% and Clinton 49.2%. The Republicans howled, saying Perot robbed Bush of the Presidency. Here in Alaska it looks like pretty much the same thing; for some Begich robbed Palin and for others Palin robbed Begich and the result is Peltola won the prize. If Gross had remained in the race how might things have gone?
In 1990 Ross Perot, a very perceptive business man, knew he could draw a large percentage of votes from republican leaning voters which actually resulted in the U.S. Presidency going to the Democrat candidate, Bill Clinton. Here in Alaska is appears a parallel event has occurred to President Trump’s candidate. How about that.
For whatever reason , Perot had a grudge against Bush43. It was some sort of revenge gig for that little weirdo “hand grenade with a bad haircut”
H Ross Perot knew and was willing to point out the ‘Ride’ our country was being taken on by the Republican and Democratic Party.
Remember what he said about NAFTA? Remember who called him a nut for it? How did that work out?
If we Rank the Red— the 60% MAJORITY Stays intact. And the Battle between Sarah and Nick plays out before our eyes. And the 60% .stays intact. Anything else WEAKENS THE 60%.
Thats completely inaccurate. Ross Perot ran as an independent.
What we have here is RCV FORCED us to split the vote in the same party ON ELECTION DAY.
In a traditional election AND the deluded Begich / Peltola voters coming out of clown world. Palin would have been the Republican nominee and eaisly won against Petola.
Perot created the Reform Party that tried to sell us Jesse Ventura,
At least he didn’t sell us NAFTA……Hell, Jessie Ventura would be cheap compared to what NAFTA has cost our country.
I’ve been listening to a smattering of podcasts and radio shows from around the nation.
Guess what? We’re a laughing stock. General summations:
From the left. We stole it.
From the right. We gave it away.
Both credit/blame the Alaskan GOP
Why? Ranked Choice Voting. We were stupid enough to fall for it. Thanks Porcaro. We own much of this notoriety to you.
I don’t blame you for making money. I don’t blame you for being wrong. But it’s time to own up to being wrong. RVC is a scam and you fell for it.
I can explain it TO you, I can’t understand it FOR you… it’s not the new game of Ranked Choice Voting, it’s PRIDE. Voters have drama fatigue & “Republicans” that keep passing on each other to “purify” the tent are turning voters off as well as causing unnecessary division. Get it together, the meteor shower is coming!
#damnedyouspellchecker, that’s “pissing” not “passing.”
I apologize for my typo of Congresswoman Mary Peltola’s name.
Congratulations Mary!
The people have spoken and that is – after all – the true power of the people – voting.
All the gamesmanship of competition and analysis of the aftermath of data are outside drivers to feed the machine.
The beauty of the machine is that people are in the driver’s seat, not the other way around.
The tail is no longer wagging the dog in Alaska politics.
What a day for celebration, it is.
Yes Trudy let’s celebrate RINOS running to the Right when it’s convenient and then moving to the left when necessary EXAMPLE: Republican Canidates run as Conservatives in Alaska Races, then CAUCUS with the Democrats when they get elected. In this instance they voted Nick 1, Mary2, and BLAMED IT ON SARAH. And I should celebrate that. Now these same people want me to DITCH SARAH so Nick can win This time around I might vote the Red. Vote for Sarah 1, and TRUMP 2.
@lakeesha
What is wrong with supporting women in political campaigns?
Alaska and the United States NEED non-typical candidates winning.
Mary Peltola being the first Alaska Native woman in U.S. Congress should be an UNCONTEST reason to celebrate.
Sarah Palin, who bucked the grips and Guarded Republican Fraternity in Alaska to become the first Woman Governor and then to move forward as the first Alaskan EVER to become a Vice-Presidential candidate also should be an UNCONTESTED reason to celebrate!
But NO!
I am shallow.
If that is shallow, I’ll be shallow all day long.
On the LAND of the Midnight Sun.
If the Republicans, oops I mean the now adorned Alaskan Republican’ Parties son, Nick, loses in November that loss is a direct reflection of personal ego of the Alaskan Republicsn Party versus conservative values.
Mary Peltola didn’t win because of some flaw in Ranked Choice Voting. She won because she was more popular than either of the Republicans. The 60% combined GOP vote does not determine the winner, votes for individual candidates do. Under the old system or the new system.
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