I genuinely forgot that Sarah Palin was running for office this year? There was a special election in Alaska to fill the state’s one congressional seat, following the death of Rep. Don Young. Young, a Republican, had served as Alaska’s lone congressman for almost 50 years before he passed away in March. So the state held a special election and it came down to Democratic candidate Mary Peltola versus whackjob Sarah Palin. Peltola won.
In an upset with the potential to reverberate nationally, Mary Peltola has won a special House election in Alaska, according to The Associated Press, and will finish the remaining few months of the term of Representative Don Young.
Ms. Peltola, a Democratic former state lawmaker and Alaska Native, defeated two other candidates who survived the raucous special primary election in June: Sarah Palin, the former Alaska governor and Republican vice-presidential nominee, and Nicholas Begich III, a Republican from the state’s most prominent Democratic political family. Voters participated in a new system, ranking the three in order of preference.
At 49, Ms. Peltola will become the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress and the first woman to hold the House seat, albeit only temporarily — unless she wins a full term in November.
The Times notes that Palin and Peltola have actually known each other for years and they served in Alaska’s state house together. They’re apparently somewhat friendly, and Peltola ran a very positive campaign, especially compared to the array of batshittery from the state and national GOP. It does feel like… some stuff is happening and even current polling hasn’t reflected that. There will be so many new voters this year because of the Dobbs decision. Despite the GOP’s gloom and doom, Dark Brandon is getting sh-t done and making people’s lives better. Anyway, just another reminder… voting works. Vote.
A Serena win and a Sarah Palin loss. 2008 is back
— Chris McDaniel (@csmcdaniel) September 1, 2022
Dear @SarahPalinUSA can you see failure from your house
— WhyIsHatSoMean? (@Popehat) September 1, 2022
Mary Peltola, a Democratic former state lawmaker, beat Sarah Palin in Alaska's special House election to fill the seat of the late Rep. Don Young. Peltola will become the first Alaska Native to serve in Congress and the first woman to hold the House seat. https://t.co/L6P0yHH99i pic.twitter.com/dCQgvupM62
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 1, 2022
Photos courtesy of Instagram, Instar.
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I guess this is the end of Palin’s political career. It should be but she might run for President one day.
They will be running again in Nov. This was to fill a vacant position that is up then. Peltola will have the advantage of being the incumbent.
Yeah, I don’t get the jubilation. In the special election two republicans and a democrat ran and it was ranked-choice voting. In November, it will be a one-on-one race and it’s not clear yet who the republicans will put up.
I saw the term “#Roevember” and it made my bleak heart happy. I hope it’s true and that this is a good omen!
I think she’s actually running again in November, for the same seat she just lost.
A whole new election for the exact same seat, the political system is so ridiculous.
Anyway, who knows, she might just win.
There’s nothing ridiculous about this. Don Young, a congressman who was serving died, so the state held a special election to elect someone to finish out his term. That’s it. It doesn’t change when regular elections are held. In some states, the sitting governor would nominate someone (or perhaps it depends on how long the seat would be vacant) but I prefer the way it turned out in this case because it seems more democratic. If Mary Peltola does her job well, and continues to learn, then she will have the advantage of incumbency in November. Nothing is guaranteed though.
Congratulations to Mary Peltola! This is really nice news.
@ ML, it is wonderful news!!! I love that Alaskans stepped up for one of their own and a woman as well!!!
The Repugnant’s are beginning to see the err of their ways. So many have removed their pro-life stance on their campaign websites but the voters are not forgetting their stance on stripping women of their rights to reproduction choices!! May we all encourage voters to get out and annihilate the GOP throughout the country!!
There’s the door Sarah, don’t let it hit you on the way out…
The GOP had no clue what overturning g Roe would do. They are seeing the beginning. A brand new generation of voters will be out there voting.
I have heard that GOP candidates are turning down the volume on their abortion stance because they are seeing what it can do. Idiots!
@Roo, Roevember will be epic!
This.
They are 100% the dog that caught the car. They are so in their own bubble they have no idea how the vast majority of people in the US feel. They turned Dems, independents, and even some moderate republicans into single issue voters, and they are on the wrong side of that issue.
They know how we feel and they don’t care. They just cheat.
Democrats underestimated the impact of Roe as well. They put zero dollars into Pat Ryan’s race and were flummoxed when he won. The political class has their heads so far up their …, they didn’t think abortion would be an issue this election.
@ Seraphina, I am sorry that I wrote my comment before reading yours. On top of turning down their volume, they are white washing their political websites as well. But they made their positions known and scrubbing it doesn’t negate their full support of revoking Roe.
I hope that this momentum carries from the House/Congress up to each Governor’s race as well!!! I am hopeful that Beto tosses Abbott the Neanderthal into oblivion….I can be hopeful!!
@Bothsidesnow, yes they are trying to turn down the volume on their abortion stance. It’s glorious to see and watch but I fear many will fall for it. I hope I’m wrong.
But it’s satisfyingly funny to watch because they aren’t so loud any more. They really underestimated how voters in 2022 would digest forcing a woman to carry and stripping away her autonomy.
Congratulations to Mary.
There really need to be some age/time caps on these seats (congress, senate, THE SUPREME FKN COURT). There is no way someone with 50 years in the same seat is serving their constituents at the highest possible level.
Term limits should be in place – even the SC.
Agree!!! And the annexation of their life long pension as well. It angers me that they continue to live off of the backs of taxpayers when they have these troves of massive wealth.
This is obviously good news, but even better news would be bringing ranked choice voting to the rest of America.
💯
Anything to get rid of our outdated system. It’s simply not fair, a republican hasn’t won the popular vote in my lifetime basically, and I’m still stuck with their shitty laws. How does that work?
Sarah looks like life has not been kind to her since she lost VP to the Obama and Biden 14 years ago. I don’t understand what possessed her to run in this special election. Her policies and views are not very popular right now and her losing is just a sample of the blue wave coming this November.
Shes grifting. I remember there were articles about how she and her family were taking advantage of the McCain’s campaign’s jet for private use, and bought over $100K worth of clothes. That seems quaint now considering grifting has become GOP status quo, but it was scandalous in 2008.
@ CC, all that money to try and force a pig with lipstick as a running mate. Palin is the ultimate grifter and isn’t ashamed of it. She actually demands it since then and she is more pathetic now than in 2008.
she’s really gone overboard with the facial plastic surgery and it shows. she was an attractive woman when she came on the national scene but she just looks so harsh now.
even funnier than her losing was her poor-loser reaction. she’s big mad, even though she was OK with RCV when she got on the ballot in April. Alaskan voters VOTED for and APPROVED RCV in 2020. but NOW? “it’s unfair! it’s rigged!”
the fact that the people of AK preferred a Dem to a GQP-er after 50 YEARS is no small thing.
@ whatWHAT?, the loss for Palin is a thing of beauty!! I am incredibly happy that Alaskans have booted her out of the party completely. Oh how quint that she has chosen the path of Cheetos-lini for her behaviour…how predictable.
Repugnant’s have been systematically destroying the lives of their constituents as they are only interested in controlling what and how they can live. Their mantra is power, control and the all mighty donations made my the deep pockets of lobbyist.
politics are a super easy grift, super easy money, especially if you are a republican. you just need to say super repugnant crap, the worse the better, and people who can’t afford to will throw money at you.
HA….and I cannot stress this next part enough….HA.
Republicans like war…well now they’ve got one. Vote them out, make it hurt.
Apparently, Twitter agrees with you about the “Ha-Ha” part. They are saying, among other things, “Sarah Palin lost her election. Again.” and that “Republicans are in the ‘finding out’ stage” (for those people familiar with the FAFO expression).
In ALL this time, we have never had an Alaskan native in congress? Shameful. I’m so happy that has changed now (and even better that it coincided with Sarah P’s escort to the dustbin of history).
She will be only the 7th person to hold the seat. Remember, Alaska hasn’t been a state that long.
And that one guy held the same seat for 50 years. This is great news! I hope she maintains her seat in the upcoming election. My guess is Palin wants back on that gravy train, but with Peltola the state will get an actual representative working for the people & I think/hope they’ll want to keep her in Congress.
I don’t see why she wouldn’t, but I hope Mary hangs on through the general election. I still don’t fully understand the ranking system, but apparently, like, none of the people who ranked Mary first ranked Palin as a second choice. LOL. Still, her percentage (~48%) is too freaking high. Hard to believe she still has that much appeal in a state she’s basically flounced away from several times.
Right, she’s the one who’s quit every job in government she’s had or held.
@LadyD — she should be easy to defeat. I don’t get how she still draws that amount of support.
This ranking system is confusing, but apparently WORKS. So, if I understand what CNN’s saying this morning, when people ranked Begich, who ran Republican, as their first choice, they ranked Mary Peltola second, NOT Palin LOL.
If I’m not mistaken this is the way they vote in Australia too and it’s seems to work fine?
Congrats to Mary! I hope she does well and is re-elected in November.
Hopefully Palin takes the hint and sticks to reality TV and family brawls.
The trashiness of the Palin family will never not be funny to me. I would have paid money to be a fly on the wall when the McCain campaign told 17 and Pregnant Bristol that she had to shotgun marry her baby daddy.
(Also “Sarah Palin’s youngest son Trig was really her grandson from a previous Bristol pregnancy” is one of the conspiracy theories I completely believe.)
This country as whole better get its act together. It should not have taken Roe v Wade being turned over for people to stand up and vote! The fact that voting rights has been gutted and it was barely a blip on a LOT of people radar is staggering to me. Why? Because it only affected a certain demographic and hatred of racism in this country is probably performative by many?
I am happy for Mary Peltola and am grateful that everyone got out and made it happen.
I’ve nothing to add. You said it all.
+2
ALL OF THIS.
I’m glad that more people, especially young women, are registering and voting, but WTF were they doing before??? Why does it take something THIS extreme to make some people finally wake up and vote?
Ditto to every word and sentiment!!!
Remember that old adage, they came for Blacks/Jews, etc. and I did nothing, then they came for me and there was no one left to do anything? Well, they gutted Voting Rights and some did nothing, so then they gutted women’s rights.
Yep. Until stuff hits home, people don’t really pay attention. As well, everyday life has become such a struggle (by right wing design) that folks are just trying to survive. Those factors (and loony propaganda) was what the Repubs were counting on.
Not just friendly, but friends. Goes to show that people with different beliefs CAN get along. However, come on, Sarah Palin is a GD moron.
Part of it, I think, is that Alaskans were mad when Sarah quit her job as Governor (after McCain lost the election) to become a tacky celebrity, and they haven’t forgotten. Congratulations to Ms. Peltola!!!
Sarah Palin will be in the next Alaska election in November. Alaska people just don’t like her, nothing to do with politics just personally that’s why she didn’t win.
She got just shy of half the freaking votes. Clearly a great deal of people do appear to like her. That or they’re racists and voting the party line.
@ Christina, really?? You see that happening? I must be behind on the race in Alaska.
I don’t want Palin’s tacky ass to overshadow that we have the FIRST Native Alaskan in Congress! Congratulations to Yup’ik Mary Peltola, may she be the first of many.
I talked on another post about my parents being MAGA. I just found out that’s not true anymore. I think it was the stolen classified documents. Not completely sure. They themselves will likely never vote for a democrat, but I don’t know. They’re pretty good at revisionist history and it wouldn’t surprise me if in the next few years as more and more stuff becomes proveable they’ll talk about how all repubs are a disappointment and they never voted that way, but we’ll see. Anyway, all that is to say I think on top of Roe, stuff about the raid might be turning a few voters from the GOP.
That is good news, kgeo. It’s good to hear a firsthand account of MAGAts peeling off. So many are going to pretend that they had nothing to do with Trump years from now, just like many Germans pretended that they didn’t back Hitler after WW2.
Hell, I remember Republicans tried to distance themselves from W. Bush after the economy collapsed and the Iraq invasion became recognized as a military boondoggle. In fact, they supported him wholeheartedly.
That’s really great to hear!!!!
🎉🎉🎉🎉 Congratulations on the good news Kgeo
Well, don’t celebrate too much. He showed up in a Let’s Go Brandon shirt, but I could suss out their changing views on Trump based on a couple of comments. It’s a tenuous relationship, and it’s hard for us to talk about stuff like this without a full fight developing, but I’ll take hatred for Biden over love for Trump. I could do a lot of told you sos, but I’ll just keep my mouth shut and take the small wins.
I will never forget Debbie Reynolds on Will and Grace doing her I Told You So dance.
[Happy dance!]
Bu-bye! Before Trump came along, she was the craziest Republican around.
Maybe her defeat bodes well for the Dems who are taking on the edgier Republicans at least…
Last night when I got the news my first thought was there is a god. Then I realized we have to look at her again in November. Maybe her transition will be in place by then because it sure looks like she’s going that way.
This made my day. Seems well beyond time for that kind of representation!