Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin leads in early results from Saturday's special primary for the state's only US House seat, as voters whittled down the list of 48 candidates running for the position that was held for 49 years by the late US Rep. Don Young. The early results showed Palin, endorsed by former President Donald Trump, with 29.8% of the votes counted so far; Republican Nick Begich had 19.3%; independent Al Gross had 12.5%; Democrat Mary Peltola with 7.5%; and Republican Tara Sweeney had 5.3%, per the AP. A candidate whose name is Santa Claus, a self-described "independent, progressive, democratic socialist," had 4.5%.
The initial results released by the state Division of Elections included 108,729 votes. It was not immediately clear how many ballots were outstanding. The division reported late Saturday that it had received about 139,000 ballots so far. Ballots had to be postmarked by Saturday. The top four vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, will advance to an August special election in which ranked choice voting will be used. The winner of the special election will serve the remainder of Young’s term, which ends in January. Young died in March at age 88.
This election was unlike any the state has seen, crammed with candidates and conducted primarily by mail. This was the first election, too, under a system approved by voters in 2020 that ends party primaries and uses ranked choice voting in general elections. State officials have targeted June 25 to certify the race. Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, released a statement expressing gratitude “to all of my wonderful supporters who voted to make Alaska great again!” (More Alaska stories.)
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