Sarah Palin loses special election for Alaska House seat

[detachable arm]

Kansas, NY-19 and now Alaska of all places.

Republicans really F’ed themselves in the A.

And that is going to screw us in the long run.

[Annandale_Man]

Originally Posted by detachable arm

Kansas, NY-19 and now Alaska of all places.

Republicans really F’ed themselves in the A.

And that is going to screw us in the long run.

Palin will still win in November. That is when it matters.

[Northrick]

Originally Posted by Annandale_Man

Palin will still win in November. That is when it matters.

It's nearly the same setup for the normal 2-yr term as it was for the special election to replace Don Young's remaining term after he died. On the ballot will be Peltola, Palin, Begich, and a Lebitarian Chris Bye. In the first round of voting in November it will be Peltola, Palin, Begich, and Bye. If the election were under the old (normal) rules, Peltola would win - plain and simple.


With RCV, Bye gets dropped and his 1st choice voters get their 2nd choice counted. I doubt this will make any difference. So, then Begich gets dropped and his voters 2nd choice gets counted. This is where it could go either way. Peltola won the special election by just a few percentage points. If enough Begich voters from the special election have a change of heart for the general election it could swing to Palin.


The irony is, Palin has been railing against RCV (I think mostly because she is too dim to understand it), however, it is the only way she has a chance to win.

[jacqueg]

Good article about ranked choice voting from the NYT - https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/01/u...y-peltola.html

Wanna avoid the firewall - https://newscinema.in/with-peltolas-...g-has-a-moment

Don't wanna sully your eyes with the NYT? Bless you, you do you.

TL;DR - Rs and former Rs were instrumental in developing the initiative.

Major quotes -

"But proponents of systems like Alaska’s say this is how it is supposed to work. When voters have more choices, they’re less likely to vote along strict party lines, reducing polarization and giving independent-minded or more centrist candidates a better shot."

"But the Alaska approach — which combines ranked-choice voting across party lines with an instant runoff between several top candidates — goes further in disrupting political parties’ influence."