Mary Peltola, Democratic candidate for U.S. House, speaks at an event in Juneau on Aug. 13. The Bethel resident was leading in the race to replace the late Rep. Don Young after initial vote counting from the Aug. 16 primary.
Democrat Mary Peltola is leading Alaska's special election for U.S. House, but the state's new ranked-choice voting system may leave Republican candidate and former governor Sarah Palin the ultimate winner.
As of Aug. 17, with 395 of 402 precincts reporting, Peltola had earned 58,689 (38%) first-choice votes in a race that will determine who fills Alaska's lone U.S. House seat until January, completing the term left unfinished by the death of Congressman Don Young earlier this year.
Palin trailed Peltola with 49,262 (31.9%) of first-choice votes. Republican candidate Nick Begich was in third with 44,065 (28.6%) of first-choice votes.
In addition to half-a-dozen rural precincts and questioned ballots still to be counted, early and absentee votes received by Aug. 31 will be added to the total.
Under Alaska's new ranked-choice election system, the candidate in third place on Aug. 31, the last date for ballots to arrive from overseas, will be eliminated.
Voters were given a chance this year for the first time to select a second choice, and anyone who had the eliminated candidate as their first choice will have their votes go to their second choice instead. The winner will be the candidate with the most votes after that process.
In Wrangell, Palin's 245 votes almost equaled the combined tally of Begich, 137, and Peltola, 118.
Wrangell voted for Palin by a heavier margin than all but one other precinct - Coffman Cove - in state House District 1, which also includes Ketchikan, Metlakatla and Prince of Wales Island.
Democrat Peltola's percentage of the vote in conservative Wrangell was the second lowest of any precinct in the district, ahead of only Coffman Cove.
Before the initial statewide results were announced election night, Peltola said she felt good.
"We've reached out to 80,000 Alaskans over the last few days - Republicans, nonpartisan, Democrat - and we're getting very positive feedback about the positive campaign that we've run and staying on message and keeping it on what Alaskans want and Alaskans' needs," she said election night, Aug. 16.
But if Begich stays in third place, political commentators have said they expect many of his voters may have Palin, a fellow Republican, as their second choice. If that's the case - which won't be known until next week - Palin will win.
The non-Palin alternatives for Begich supporters were leaving their second choice blank, picking a write-in or picking Peltola. If enough Begich voters picked those alternatives, Peltola could win.
During her campaign for House, Palin denounced the ranked-choice voting system, which was installed by voters in a 2020 ballot measure. Now, she's likely to be its first beneficiary.
Peltola said she's hopeful that many conservative and Republican voters ranked her second. "I've been asking people directly – like I was at the Fairbanks Golden Days parade and when I'd see somebody with a sign either Sarah or Nick, I'd ask them, 'Hey, would you consider me as your second-choice vote?'" she said. "And it was very favorable, the reactions that I got: a lot of laughter, a lot of thumbs up, a lot of positivity."
Turnout was the highest for a primary election since at least 2014. Turnout was at 26% of registered voters, before the last precincts and late votes are tallied.
PRIMARY ELECTION
In addition to the special election Aug. 16 to fill Young's unexpired term, a primary election was held the same day to select the four candidates for U.S. House in the Nov. 8 general election. The winner of that vote will serve in Congress for a full two-year term.
As of Aug. 17, Peltola, Palin and Begich were running in first, second and third, followed by Tara Sweeney, who missed the cutoff for the special U.S. House election but now appears headed to the general. Peltola had 35.16% of the vote, followed by Palin at 31.14%, Begich at 26.81% and Sweeney at 3.69%.
The top four primary election vote-getters will advance to November.
The votes for 18 other House candidates in the primary ranged from 0.07% to 0.63%.
The Alaska Beacon's Yereth Rosen and Andrew Kitchenman contributed to this story, as did the Sentinel.
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