Alaska incumbent Rep. Mary Peltola wins full term to represent state's general congressional district

Read Time:3 Minute, 3 Second

Alaska Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola has defeated her general election rivals, including former Gov. Sarah Palin, to represent her Alaska congressional district for a full term in the House, The Associated Press projects.

Alaska’s only congressional district is currently represented by Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola after she won a special election in August to fill out the remainder of former Republican Rep. Don Young’s term, which ends in January 2023 .

Four candidates advanced to the November-August general election, including Peltola, Palin, Republican Nick Begich and Libertarian Chris Bye.

The Alaska House general election uses ranked-choice voting, a system approved by Alaskans in 2020 that scrapped the state’s previous election method of partisan primaries before the general election. Under ranked-choice voting, candidates from all parties in the general election appeared on the same ballot.

GET THE LATEST 2022 MID-TERM ELECTION RESULTS FROM THE FOX NEWS ELECTION CENTER

Left to right: Alaska GOP House candidate Nick Begich, Alaska GOP House candidate Sarah Palin and Alaska Democratic House candidate Mary Peltola.
(Brandon Bell, Mary Peltola Campaign, Ash Adams for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Ranked Choice Voting allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference on their ballots. If a candidate receives the most first preference votes, that individual is declared the winner of the race. However, if no candidate wins the majority of first preference votes, the candidate with the fewest first preference votes is eliminated. After the candidate who received the fewest first-preference votes is eliminated, voters’ second-preference choices are evaluated and a recount is established to determine whether a candidate in the race received the most votes . This process is repeated until a candidate gets more than 50% of the votes.

Palin, in an opinion piece published by the Anchorage Daily News in October, said the ranked-choice voting system, first used in the special election won by Peltola, had “produced the farce of send a Democrat to Congress to represent Alaska. , one of the reddest states in the country.”

ALASKA CONGRESSIONAL DEBATE: PELTOLA, PALIN, BEGICH AND SQUARE DISCOUNT INFLATION, GAS PRICES, STUDENT LOANS

Late last month, candidates in the race had a chance to address concerns among voters, including record inflation, gas prices and salmon distribution, a key issue specific to Alaska fishing.

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin speaks as former US President Donald Trump looks on during a a "Let's save America" demonstration at the Alaska Airlines Center on July 9, 2022 in Anchorage, Alaska.

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks as former U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during a “Save America” rally at the Alaska Airlines Center on July 9, 2022 in Anchorage, Alaska.
(Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Palin, who also sought Young’s seat in the August special election, was endorsed by former president Donald Trump in the race Palin served as the late Senator John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presidential election and previously served as governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009.

“Inflation is at a 40-year high and we’re in a recession. It’s a shame that our president and his [Democratic] The party refuses to acknowledge that we are in a recession,” Palin remarked.

“We gotta drill baby, drill,” he added. “Energy costs are the driver of inflation. Energy costs affect everything we do in America [and] everything we consume.”

Peltola admitted during the debate that the US is in recession and said we have “astronomically high inflation rates across the country.”