Hope from Alaska
Sarah Palin lost in her bid for a House seat on Wednesday. And ranked choice voting was a big reason why.
I’ve been talking all year about how Alaska’s combination of non-partisan open primaries and ranked choice voting has the potential to fix our national politics. The system was approved in 2020 so this is its first use. It replaces party primaries with one primary that all candidates participate in with the top 4 progressing to the general election using ranked choice voting.
How did it work? The non-partisan primary was held in June with 10 candidates. The top 4 candidates were Sarah Palin (R) at 27%, Nicholas Begich (R) at 19%, Al Gross (I) at 12% and Mary Peltola (D) at 10%.
If you look at those results, you’d think Republicans are the heavy favorites, which makes sense in a state that Trump won by 10 points. However, unaffiliated voters outnumber both Republicans and Democrats in Alaska; it’s a very independent voting environment.
Al Gross dropped out, so only Sarah Palin, Nicholas Begich, and Mary Peltola went through to the general election in August; this is a special election to replace Don Young who passed away. Peltola had 40% in the first round, Palin had 31% and Begich had 28%.
In a conventional system, Sarah Palin would have defeated Begich in a Republican primary and become the Republican nominee, who would then have defeated the Democrat by a count of 59 – 41. That’s what you’d expect.
Here though, Alaska used one combined election and Ranked Choice Voting. Begich was eliminated and his voters were then sent to their second choice, either Peltola or Palin if applicable. Peltola edged Sarah Palin by 51.5 to 48.5 in the final round.
“I’m really hopeful that voters will feel like they can vote their heart and not feel pressured to vote for the candidate that they think is most ’viable,’” Peltola said before the special election. “And my hope is that we shy away from the really extreme-type candidates and politicians.”
Peltola got her wish by having a process that actually reflects popular will and preference instead of empowering one party’s base or the other.
Now, there is another election in November for the full two-year term with Peltola, Palin and Begich again (a 4th candidate is dropping out). Sarah Palin still has a chance to win the seat. Still, that will also be decided by ranked choice voting which should again reward the candidate with the broadest appeal. Palin called it a “new crazy, convoluted, confusing” system despite a poll showing that 85% of Alaskans found it simple to use. Palin doesn’t like it simply because it means fewer extreme candidates will win.
Imagine if the same system of non-partisan open primaries and ranked choice voting was used in states around the country. How different would our politics be? It’s on the ballot in Nevada this November and there are 23 other states where it can be activated via ballot initiative. This is Forward’s mission. Let’s go make it happen! Join us today.
I’ve personally become frustrated when people make a plea for compromise or moderation while the system is set up to reward the opposite. You want better candidates, elected officials, and better incentives when they get there? Change the system. Alaska shows us how.
