Sarah Palin appeared frustrated after losing a special election to represent Alaska in Congress for the remainder of late GOP Rep. Don Young’s term.
Democrat Mary Peltola won the election in the state’s first ever ranked choice voting system which allows voters to list candidates in order of preference.
After the first round of votes are counted, if no candidate received more than 50% the candidate who received the least amount of votes is eliminated and their voters’ second choice apportioned between the candidates that are left. The process continues until a candidate reaches 50 percent.
Since Peltola did not win a majority in the first balloting, the third-place finisher Republican Nick Begich III was eliminated and his voters’ second choices were shared between Palin and Peltola.
In the final balloting, Peltola received 51.5 percent to 48.5 percent for Palin, the state’s former governor who was endorsed by Donald Trump.
Palin was caught on video blaming ranked choice voting for her loss saying: “When it comes down to second and third place votes, that’s going to decide who’s going to win?”
“I mean, really? Alaskans want Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi?” she asked even though neither Democrat was on the ballot.
Peltola, a former state legislator, will become the first native Alaskan in Congress and the first Democrat to represent the state in almost half a century.
