US Democrats won a surprise victory in a special vote for a congressional seat in the US state of Alaska. Democrat Mary Peltola triumphed in a by-election against former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the Alaska election regulator announced Wednesday night (local time).
Peltola received 51.5 percent of the vote, 58-year-old Palin about 48.5 percent. Petola (pictured below) is not only the first woman to hold a seat in the U.S. Congress for Alaska, she is also the first Native woman to do so.
Serious downer for Palin and Trump
The result is a bitter disappointment for Palin, who served as Alaska’s governor from 2006 to 2009 and gained some notoriety as a one-time icon of the radically conservative and populist Tea Party movement and Republican vice presidential candidate. Former US President Donald Trump had supported her in the election campaign. Palin’s defeat is therefore also a defeat for him.
The seat was in Republican hands for decades
The seat was vacated by the death of longtime Republican congressman Don Young, leading to the unscheduled election. The vote had already taken place in mid-August. Since no one achieved an absolute majority in the count on Election Day, the outcome of the election was only clarified with a delay. Alaska has only one seat in the US House of Representatives. Before that, the seat had been in Republican hands for decades.
There will be elections again in November
However, the seat will be reassigned in the upcoming congressional elections in November. Then the entire House of Representatives is re-elected, as well as a third of the seats in the other chamber of Congress, the Senate. Then Palin has another chance. Nevertheless, some importance was attached to the special vote of just a few months earlier.
Palin’s political comeback failed for the time being
Palin is much more prominent than Peltola, who is unknown on the national scene, and in republican Alaska, the ex-state governor actually seemed to have the advantage. After a long hiatus, the Republican wanted to make her political comeback in the ballot. It didn’t work, at least not on the first try. Peltola and Palin will both run again in the November elections.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
