Alaska’s new ranked-choice election system might have saved Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) political career. And there’s a reasonable chance it might also short-circuit Sarah Palin’s attempt to resurrect hers.
The Post’s Aaron Blake writes that the current special election results suggest that we could see a surprising upset for Democrats ahead of what was supposed to be a good 2022 midterm for Republicans — an upset that could plausibly be blamed on Palin. Per Aaron:
The Post’s Aaron Blake writes that the current special election results suggest that we could see a surprising upset for Democrats ahead of what was supposed to be a good 2022 midterm for Republicans — an upset that could plausibly be blamed on Palin. Per Aaron:
You can read the full analysis here.Election results from Tuesday show Peltola leading Palin on first-choice votes, 38 percent to 32 percent, with 70 percent of expected votes counted. There are many votes left, but it looks like the race will come down to those two, with another Republican, Nick Begich, currently in third place with 28.6 percent.
Alaska’s ranked-choice system works by distilling the general election down to four candidates using an open, nonpartisan primary. From there, voters rank those four candidates according to preference. After the first-choice votes are counted, the fourth-place candidate is eliminated, and their voters get distributed among those voters’ second choice candidates. Then the third-place candidate is eliminated, distributing their voters between the remaining two candidates, until one candidate wins more than half of the total votes.
Palin’s fate appears to mostly boil down to one thing: whether enough of Begich’s voters marked her as their second choice.