Alaska is a republican state. Democratic candidates in presidential elections there have not won in more than half a century. And for half a century, Republican Don Young had held the only seat in the House of Representatives equivalent to the largest territory in the United States when he died last March at the age of 88. The special election to replace him was held on Aug. 16, but the outcome was unknown as of this Wednesday: Republican Sarah Palin was elected despite (or because of) Trump’s support by Democrat Mary Peltola, first descendant of Native Americans Alaskas, defeated go to Congress.
The last time a Democrat won the Alaska House of Representatives election to date was 1972. Nick Begich did it after his death. The flight he used to travel from Anchorage to Juneau was lost forever on October 16 of that year, likely submerged in the waters of the Gulf of Alaska, but his death was not legally declared until December 29 after his posthumous victory in November .
In another somewhat unusual turn of events, it can now be said that it was his grandson, Republican Nick Begich III, who gave the Democrats another victory. Or at least its constituents. With the peculiar preferential voting system that Alaska instituted, voters ranked the candidates on their ballot in order of preference. If nobody got more than 50% of the votes, as happened, the third party is eliminated and the second option of those who voted for him is calculated in a kind of automatic second round. Begich III lived up to its name and finished third. And despite the fact that their constituents were Republicans, about half of them preferred the Democratic nominee to Sarah Palin as their second choice.
Mary Peltola couldn’t have had a better birthday present. She turned 49 this Wednesday and was elected the first woman to represent Alaska in the House of Representatives. She is also the first Alaskan Native to do so. Given the split of the Republican vote between Palin and Begich III, Peltola had already prevailed on the first ballot with about 40% of the vote, compared to 31% for Palin before Begich III’s second votes were counted, which eventually gave him the victory , which has yet to be officially authenticated.
Sarah Palin had criticized this voting system in Dallas (Texas) a few weeks ago: “In Alaska we have this bizarre system that was introduced recently, in order of preference, where it doesn’t matter whether you get the most votes. It really depends on whether you have more votes in second and third place, measured by the ranking of the voters. It’s weird, it’s convoluted, it’s complicated and it leads to voter suppression,” he said at the Conservative conference, where Trump was the main protagonist.
A native Alaskan
Subscribe to EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.
Subscribe to
Originally from a Yupik village in Alaska, Peltola is an extremely friendly, educated, and correct candidate who attracted sympathy as a congresswoman and has now fought positively while her two Republican rivals lashed out at one another.
In this electoral system, candidates who provoke rejection are harmed, and she even has the sympathy of Palin himself. The two were pregnant at the same time as governor and other state congressmen and maintain a cordial relationship. Peltola’s family and those of the late congressman he replaces, Don Young, were also friends. Peltola came to spend Thanksgiving at Young’s house in Washington.
During his time as a congressman, he sought to weave complicity across party lines to advocate for rural and remote Alaskan communities. Peltola has successfully enforced laws related to school safety, fisheries, inhalant abuse and judicial districts. Defending fisheries and natural resources and abortion rights were key areas of his campaign.
After leaving state Congress, she worked for local and rural communities, served on councils, tribal judges and lobby groups, and was a strong advocate for salmon fishing in her state. Peltola is married for the third time to Gene Peltola, director of the Alaskan branch of the Federal Bureau of Indian Affairs. She is the mother of four children, two with each of her first two husbands, and grandmother of two grandchildren.
It’s a bitter defeat for Sarah Palin. She won the gubernatorial election in Alaska, which earned her the opportunity to run John McCain as the vice presidential candidate in the 2008 presidential election. A disastrous and bug-ridden campaign has resulted in it being ridiculed to the extreme, sometimes unfairly. After the defeats of McCain and Palin to Barack Obama and Joe Biden, she also resigned as governor, devoted herself to television and supported Donald Trump in his presidential candidacy. The former president has retaliated and supported her in the race for the Alaska seat, but Palin is seen as a divisive figure opposed by many voters.
For the former president, Palin’s defeat is his defeat. Though local and candidate specifics make extrapolation difficult, it’s another sign of hope for Democrats, who believe the trend has changed and are increasingly optimistic just over two months ahead of the general election, which they feared would be a disaster .
In any case, the elections, the examination of which was announced this Wednesday, should only occupy the seat from September to December. The same candidates will be nominated for the general elections on November 8th. Whoever wins it stays in office for the next two years.
Follow all international information on Facebook and Twitteror in our weekly newsletter.