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.
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.
Its all good if you can make yourself feel better by spinning numbers.
Bubbles don’t need to be burst.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
11,974 posts, read 25,483,414 times
Reputation: 12187
Many local issues at play but I do think the Roe issue will be a huge factor in close elections. At minimum it gives D's 5 more points than usual. It especially increases turnout in demographics bad for R's.
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.
The 2nd round of ranked choice voting was one Republican and one Democrat, so it wasn't due to split voting. Only 50% of Begich voters ranked Palin 2nd, that is what this came down to.
Maybe November could be different, but it is the same candidates and same format. FWIW, IMHO if it was Begich 2nd and Palin 3rd with similar #'s, Begich probably is able to get enough 2nd choice Palin voters to pull this off.
While it is certainly not a good look for the Republican Party to lose in Alaska, the results are not all doom and gloom.
Republican candidates drew about 58% of the vote, in the first round of ranked choice voting. For comparison, in the 2020 election, President Trump received 52.83% of the vote, and Representative Young received 54.4% of the vote. Republicans improved their standing, when compared to just two years ago.
If not for ranked choice voting, the Republicans would have won this race...
Wrong! Peltola would have won too under the old system.
There is a reason why Democrats pushed ranked choice voting in Alaska. It's the only way they have a chance of winning in the state.
Palin would have lost even if we didn't have RCV. The Alaska Democrat Party dislikes RCV as much as the republican party. Neither wants to give up any power. And, it was the people of Alaska that voted move to a RCV election system.
Remember when Hillary got nearly three million more votes than Trump but Trump still "won"? Were you whining then?
Palin would have lost without RCV. Peltola had the most votes in the first round. Of course, all these outsiders saying that Palin lost because of RCV completely ignore that fact.
Ranked choice is touted as favoring moderate candidates with crossover appeal over the extremists of the left and right. To that end it functioned as intended in Alaska. It may be that ranked choice is the only way that the moderate majority in this country will be able to have their voices heard.
Ranked choice is touted as favoring moderate candidates with crossover appeal over the extremists of the left and right. To that end it functioned as intended in Alaska. It may be that ranked choice is the only way that the moderate majority in this country will be able to have their voices heard.
To that extent, it seems like a fairer system. A far left/right candidate really can only get in if the people really want them in there.
Will be interesting to see how many states go to ranked choice voting in the coming years.
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.
