Sarah Palin’s Republican Opponent Blames Her for Dems Flipping House Seat: ‘Doesn’t Have Enough Support’
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Sarah Palin’s GOP primary opponent blamed her after Democrats flipped Alaska’s at-large House seat after votes were finally tabulated this week.
On Wednesday, two weeks after the special election to fill the seat vacated by late Rep. Don Young (R-AK), Democrat Mary Peltola prevailed.
Palin blamed the state’s new ranked-choice voting system, which asks voters to rank their favorite candidates, first through fourth.
Nick Begich, the other Republican on the ballot, said he instructed his followers to rank Palin second to ensure a Republican would hold the seat. He complained on Twitter she did not return the favor.
He posted a video in which Palin called ranked-choice voting “convoluted.” The video also featured a clip from a debate in which candidates were asked who they intended to put second on their ballots.
I consistently encouraged my supporters to “rank the red”, ranking Sarah Palin second. It is clear from this video that Sarah did not recommend doing the same as she shouts in regard to ranking, “I was telling people all along, don’t comply!” pic.twitter.com/InpB7hLdLm
— Nick Begich (@NBegich) September 1, 2022
Palin agreed with Peltola that she would keep her ballot a secret. In the same clip, Begich said “Sarah Palin” when he announced who he intended to put her name beneath his own on his ballot.
After a final round of counting, Peltola faced Palin, who she defeated.
According to Begich, had enough people ranked him first and her second, or vice versa, Republicans would have held the seat.
Begich issued a statement congratulating Peltola on the win. In it, he asked voters to ignore Palin in November, when voters will decide who holds the seat for a full two-year term.
— Nick Begich (@NBegich) September 1, 2022
“The biggest lesson as we move into the 2022 General Election, is that ranked choice voting showed that a vote for Sarah Palin is in reality a vote for Mary Peltola,” he stated. “Palin simply doesn’t have enough support from Alaskans to win an election.”
He also shared an excerpt from a Newsweek article which breaks down a path to victory for him in November.
“Polls suggest that if Begich was to earn enough votes so that Palin is eliminated in the second round, instead of him, he would win comfortably over Peltola in November.”
– Newsweekhttps://t.co/tzkWucKUoS
— Nick Begich (@NBegich) September 2, 2022
