Publisher's Synopsis
Mary Peltola practically came from nowhere to unseat the incumbent Sarah Palin who was also a former Governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009 and a vice presidential running mate to the Republican U.S. Senator John McCain in 2009. According to political analysts, the results of the special election will influence the election in November. Peltola will run for reelection in November as the incumbent, which comes with benefits in publicity and funding. She will have had just a few weeks to demonstrate her legislative strength in Washington. The ranked-choice voting method, which voters narrowly passed through a 2020 ballot question, will probably inspire Republicans to sharpen their messaging and urge their supporters to rank both GOP candidates on the ballot.
The results could serve as "a major wake-up call to Republicans," according to political consultant Sarah Erkmann Ward, who spearheaded a drive to urge Republicans to "rank the red"-that is, all Republican candidates on the ballot. "Today's results should make it very clear to Republicans that, if they decide not to rank, there is a good chance that, in the event that their preferred candidate is defeated, their vote will no longer be counted. That seems to have occurred here, she said. Republicans in a particular group decided not to rank. That is the result of stopping midway through your ballot.
