We’re extremely excited that Democrat Mary Peltola won Alaska’s at-large Congressional special election, defeating MAGA Republican and repeat loser Sarah Palin. We’re also excited because Peltola will be the first Alaska Native in Congress and the first woman to represent Alaska in the U.S. House.
But not everyone is as excited as we are.
Take, for example, Sarah Palin. She had Trump behind her. She had name recognition. She had it all. But Alaskans had other plans.
And when Palin learned that she’d lost, she said:
“Really? Alaskans want Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi?”
Look, we can’t blame Sarah Palin for being shocked in the moment. She thought she had a lock on the seat when she announced earlier this year that she would run.
But where this reaction of disbelief gets dangerous is when MAGA Republicans use it to falsely claim shenanigans. That’s precisely what Donald Trump did in 2020 – he promoted his Big Lie, claimed that the election was unfair, and lied to his supporters by saying that the election had been stolen.
And now, Republican Sen. Tom Cotton – who, last we checked, represents Arkansas and not Alaska – is claiming that Alaska’s ranked choice voting system “is a scam to rig elections.”
This is false. The results speak for themselves, and Mary Peltola won fair and square. All candidates in the race knew the rules of ranked choice voting going into the election, but Republicans appear intent on crying foul every time they lose.
