The first results of the special primary elections in Alaska with 48 candidates for the US House of Representatives show that Republicans Sarah Palin and Nick Begitz III are taking the lead, followed by the independent Al Gross. Former Democrat Mary Peltola, in her first state-level campaign, was fourth. Palin, in her first campaign since resigning as governor of Alaska in 2009, was the clear leader with 35%. Begic, a businessman who started his campaign before the death of longtime Alaskan lawmaker Don Yang in March – which sparked Saturday’s snap election – was in second place with 19%. Gross, who was unsuccessfully nominated as an independent candidate for the US Senate in 2020, with the candidacy of the Democratic Party, was in third place with 13%. Peltola, a former state spokesman from rural Bethel, Southwest Alaska, was in fourth place with 7%. The top four candidates in the special primary will run in the special general election in August, which will be the first in Alaska by ballot. Independent Santa Claus – born Thomas O’Connor – was fifth on Saturday with 5%, followed by Alaska Republican leader Tara Sweeney, former Republican Sen. Fairbanks Sen. John Coglebill and G. Cogleb. The results, which represent 68,000 of the nearly 130,000 ballots cast by Friday, are not a definitive statement that four candidates will run in the August general election, and the Alaska Electoral College did not specify where the ballots came from. ballots. Many more measurements will be made in the next two weeks. But the numbers represent the first, long-awaited clear expression of Alaska voters’ preferences in the state’s first race for the United States House of Representatives in less than half a century. Palin was celebrating the results with family and friends at her home in Wassila and was not immediately available for an interview late Saturday, campaign manager Chris Perry said. But Palin’s campaign issued a prepared statement saying the country was at a “turning point”. “We need to focus on policies that will make life better for regular Joes out there who cannot afford to fill their gas tanks and are struggling to feed their families because of Joe Biden’s hyperinflation,” Palin said. “I look forward to the special general election so that we can articulate our ideas for this country by responsibly developing Alaska’s God-given natural resources, controlling uncontrolled government spending, protecting human life, protecting the right to hold and to bear arms, and the restoration of respect for individual freedom and the Constitution “. Begich, in a telephone interview with the Anchorage Daily News, hastened to take on the role of Palin’s top challenger, saying there was a “huge contrast” between the two. “We have one candidate making a living from celebrity videos and we have another making a living creating jobs,” Begich said. He added: “This is a fight between Sarah Palin and Nick Begitz.” [Alaska Supreme Court reverses lower court decision, allowing certification of U.S. House special primary results] Begic was in Anchorage late Saturday with his family and campaign aides. He said he planned to continue the campaign Sunday in the Kenai Peninsula. “We will go to work first thing in the morning,” he said. “There is no time for celebrations.”
Other elections are coming
The 48-man race – a special qualifier – was the first of four to decide who would replace Young, who died suddenly while returning to Alaska from Washington, DC in March. They are also the first elections under a new voting system approved by the people of Alaska in 2020, which includes non-partisan primaries and general election elections. Once the special qualifying results are finalized later this month, two more elections will be held at the same time – and on the same ballot. The first four winners of the special qualifiers will compete in the special general election for the right to complete Young’s term. Voters will be asked to rank these four candidates in order of preference on August 16th. On the same ballot, 31 candidates are running in the regular qualifiers – most likely including the four who will qualify in the special general election. Then, the first four of the regular qualifiers will run in a regular general election on November 8th. In Saturday’s by-elections, all voters chose a candidate from a non-partisan ballot with all 48 names. [More coverage of Alaska’s congressional elections] In addition to established politicians such as Palin, Gross and Constant, the race included a bearded Republican fisherman from the Wrangell community in southeastern Alaska. a California-based website that promotes wind turbines and links to “the best museums in the United States.” and an Anchorage woman who says she is a candidate in a political arena similar to a “multi-million dollar, modern, sport of character killing gladiators.” Trying to understand the fight was a “nightmare,” said a 32-year-old Anchorage man who voted Saturday in Anchorage to give only his first name, Brian. “I look at everyone there, I try to remember who I hear and what I hear about them, looking at some of the people I hear the most about,” he said after voting in favor of Begich. at the Anchorage polling station on Saturday afternoon. “Looking at 48 names is crazy.” Sean Whalen, a 54-year-old Anchorage director, put it more succinctly: “Holy buckets.” Palin’s strong presence suggests that at least a significant minority of voters embraced her alliance with former Republican President Donald Trump, her critique of the Washington establishment and her first campaign since resigning in 2009. “It’s a machine in itself,” Ronald Downey said after voting for Palin in Anchorage late Saturday. “It remains to be seen whether he will do anything positive or productive. But it will attract attention, it will shake it. And I voted for it. “ Other Conservative voters said they considered Begic a more serious candidate than Palin. “I would vote for Sarah Palin. “But I’m afraid if he wins he will be too distracted in DC,” said Jack Border, 71, after voting for Begich in Anchorage. “That’s the only reason I didn’t vote for her.”
Awaiting more results
Gross was expecting additional results in his hometown of St. Petersburg and said he would be available for an interview later Saturday. Peltola was returning to Anchorage from an Alaskan Indigenous cultural festival in Juneo and was not available for interview, said Kim Jones of Campania. Jones said she was “very optimistic” about the results, but added that “there are still a lot of votes to be counted”. Jones said she hoped Democrat support for Peltola would merge before the August election. “If she stays in the top four, I feel strongly that this gives her a better chance of staying in the top four in August,” Jones said. He added that Palin’s performance in the qualifiers “will scare people into acting in the August qualifiers”. “Because there are a lot of voters who do not want Palin as our next spokeswoman,” Jones said. If elected, Peltola would be the first Alaskan native to be elected to Congress – a fact that played a role in her campaign and was seen by voters. Jennifer Howell, a 48-year-old anchor teacher, said she voted for Peltola because of her “national perspective”. “And I think having a Native woman in the House of Representatives representing Alaska would be amazing for our state,” Howell said after the Anchorage vote on Saturday. “I think they have been marginalized and under-represented en masse for so long.” This is a story that is evolving and will be updated. • • •
