2022 Alaska's at-large congressional district special election
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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 defeated former governor Sarah Palin in the election, becoming the first Democrat to represent Alaska in the House since 1972, the first Alaska Native elected to Congress, and the first woman elected to represent Alaska in the House.[3]
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Alaska's at-large congressional district | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Turnout | 32.2%[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
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First round results by State House district Peltola: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% Palin: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% | |||||||||||||||||||||
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The election was the first held after Alaska Measure 2 established a new procedure for elections. Under the new system, the winners of a top-four primary advanced to an instant-runoff election. However, Al Gross's withdrawal left only three names on the ballot in the general election.
The runoff count commenced on August 31, after all absentee and overseas ballots were counted.[4][5] Peltola was declared the winner on August 31.[6] The Democratic victory was widely considered an upset due to Alaska's strong Republican lean. Peltola became the first Democrat to win a statewide or congressional election in Alaska since Mark Begich in 2008.[7] She was sworn in to the House of Representatives on September 13.[8]
The results were praised by many pundits and activists, with the pro-IRV lobbyist group FairVote arguing 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 more moderate candidates to office, regardless of partisan affiliation.[10]
By contrast, the election generated criticism from social choice and election scientists over several pathologies.[11][12] The election produced a winner opposed by a majority of voters, with most voters ranking Begich above Peltola,[13][14][15] and a majority of ballots giving Peltola no support at all.[13][15] Later analysis showed the election was a center squeeze, a scenario common to IRV and plurality voting where a lack of first-preferences causes the candidate closest to the center of public opinion is eliminated.[11][14][15] Palin played the role of spoiler by knocking Begich out of contention in the first round (despite being the weakest candidate).[16] The election was also notable as a negative vote weight event, where a candidate is eliminated as a result of having too much support; ballots ranking Palin first and Begich second instead helped Peltola to win.[17][18] However, election scientists were careful to note such pathologies likely would have occurred under Alaska's previous primary system as well, leading several to suggest alternative systems that could replace both, including STAR, approval, and Condorcet voting.[11][13][14]