Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Alaska primaries are weird. You had 1 Democrat and 2 Republicans in the same special election.
Penolta (D) 39.6%
Palin (R) 31%
Begich (R) 28%
Unless the 28% of the Republicans stay home. Palin should win the general since it will be 2. I don't know why are you surprised. This is the only way a Democrat wins that seat for now. The general will be different. All the polls have it safe red in the general.
They divided the Republican Vote... if they would have run another Democrat... the results would have been different.
You need 50% from both parties to effectively have 'CHOICE VOTING' !
It was two Republicans vs 1 Democrat. Mistake on the part of Republicans, the Democrats forced their other candidate out (Gross) forcing the votes behind Peltola and having two Republicans (Begich and Palin) split the Republican vote.
In ranked choice voting the elimated candidate has their votes redistributed based off their 2nd choice. Republicans didn't lose because of a split GOP vote, they lost because Palin only got 50% of Begich's 2nd choice votes and with the top two candidates it was 51.5-48.5
We must remember that Don Young initially won his seat in a special election, and then won the general election for the seat, and then fought off various Democrats vying for the seat over the next 49 years.
Is this a harbinger for November? Possibly. It at least gives the Democrats hope for the general election.
It was also a timely win, since on the same day Mr. Crist resigned his seat to focus on running for Governor of Florida.
It was two Republicans vs 1 Democrat. Mistake on the part of Republicans, the Democrats forced their other candidate out (Gross) forcing the votes behind Peltola and having two Republicans (Begich and Palin) split the Republican vote.
Clearly, you don't understand jungle primaries and ranked-choice voting. It isn't up to the party to decide who is running. It's the way jungle elections work. Conceivably, all four top primary vote-getters could have been Rs.
I suspect that this will happen reasonably often in Alaska in the future.
The reason Palin lost was because only a bit over 50% of Begich voters ranked Palin as second choice. If Palin would have been ranked by more of her voters, than she would have won.
In other words, the reason Palin lost is because Alaskans did not want her to represent them.
Ever complained about the two-party system? A jungle primary is how Alaskans have chosen to open up elections to non-D/R folks. At least they're doing something about it, instead of bitching and moaning (and screaming "you cheated!") when their favorite candidate loses.
It is solid Republican. TDS makes people write silly things. The special election had 2 Republicans and 1 Democrat. The 2 Republicans split the vote and the Democrat barely won. Even in very Democrat state of Mass, a Republican will win a seat, doesn't make the state Republican.
It was a special election for a Representative for 4 months and her 1 vote in Congress isn't going to make any difference in a lame duck session. Young died early this year and missing his 1 vote in Congress didn't make a difference in any bill.
Alaska is solid Republican. Governor, LT Governor, 2 U.S. Senators and State Senate is 14 to 6 Republican.
First Round: Republicans got 110,882 to Democrats 74,807. Looks very solid Republican to me.
And yet, a Democrat is in the seat. Why? Because a large swath of Republican voters ranked the Democrat as their second choice over the other Republican.
In red, red Alaska. You can type as many words as you want but you cannot dispute this fact.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
