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Alaska's at-large congressional district | |||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 32.2% [1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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    Peltola: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Palin: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2022 Alaska at-large congressional district special election was held on August 16 to fill the seat left vacant after the death of Republican incumbent Don Young. [2] Mary Peltola was elected in a 3-way race against former governor Sarah Palin and Nick Begich III in the election, becoming the first Alaska Native and woman to represent Alaska in the House. [3]
Contents
- Nonpartisan blanket primary
- Candidates
- Endorsements
- Debates and forums
- Polling
- Results
- General election
- Predictions
- Endorsements 2
- Polling 2
- Results 2
- Pairwise comparison
- See also
- Notes
- References
The election was the first to use Alaska's new ranked-choice voting (RCV) method, approved by voters in 2020. The winners of the top-four blanket primary advanced to the ranked-choice runoff election, but only three candidates competed (as Al Gross withdrew and endorsed Peltola). Peltola was declared the winner on August 31 after all ballots were counted. [4] [5] [6] Peltola's victory was widely seen as an upset in a traditionally Republican state. She became the first Democrat to win a statewide election in Alaska since 2008 [7] and was sworn in on September 13. [8]
The results were praised by many pundits and activists. FairVote, a pro-RCV lobbying group, argued the low number of spoiled ballots proved Alaskans could use and understand the system. [9] Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang said the election served as a model for electing moderate candidates to office, regardless of partisan affiliation. [10]
By contrast, some scholars criticized the instant-runoff procedure for its pathological behavior, [11] [12] the result of a center squeeze. [12] [13] [14] Although Mary Peltola received a plurality of first choice votes and won in the final round, a majority of voters ranked her last or left her off their ballot entirely. [12] Begich was eliminated in the first round, despite being preferred by a majority to each one of his opponents, with 53% of voters ranking him above Peltola. [12] [15] [16] However, Palin spoiled the election by splitting the first-round vote, leading to Begich's elimination and costing Republicans the seat. [12] [17]
The election was also a negative voting weight event, [17] where a voter's ballot has the opposite of its intended effect (e.g. a candidate being disqualified for having "too many votes"). [17] [18] In this race, Begich lost as a result of 5,200 ballots ranking him ahead of Peltola; [17] [12] Peltola also would have lost if she had received more support from Palin voters. [17] [19]
In the wake of the election, a poll found 54% of Alaskans, including a third of Peltola voters, supported a repeal of RCV, [10] leading some observers to compare it to the 2009 Burlington mayoral election, where similar pathologies resulted in a 2010 initiative repealing the system. [20] [21] [22] Observers noted such pathologies would have occurred under Alaska's previous primary system as well, leading some to suggest Alaska adopt an alternative rule without this behavior. [11]
