Sarah Palin, a Republican seeking the sole U.S. House seat in Alaska, addresses supporters Thursday, June 2, 2022, in Anchorage, Alaska, during an event that featured former President Donald Trump whose voice was heard over loudspeakers in a church gym. Palin is one of 48 candidates seeking to replace the late U.S. Rep. Don Young who died in March. The top four vote-getters from the June 11 special primary advance to the special election for the seat in August, where ranked choice voting will be used.
Mark Thiessen | AP Photo
Three well-known candidates led by former Alaska governor and vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin have advanced to the general election in Alaska’s special House race, NBC News projects.
Republican Nick Begich, the grandson of former Rep. Nick Begich, D-Alaska, and nonpartisan Al Gross, a surgeon, have also advanced to the general election, according to NBC News’ projection.
In August, Alaska voters will rank four candidates to determine who secures the House seat for the final few months of the late Rep. Don Young’s term. Young held the seat for decades and died in March.
This is the state’s first use of open primaries and ranked-choice voting, a system that was implemented after a ballot measure in 2020.
Here’s how the new voting system works: Alaskans cast ballots for single candidates in an open, nonpartisan primary race. The top four vote-getters advance to the general election, in which voters rank four candidates in order of preference. Any candidate who gets more than 50 percent of the vote wins the race. If no one gets a majority, the candidate with the fewest first-choice votes is eliminated, and ballots cast for the eliminated candidate are recast for voters’ second choices. The elimination and retabulation process continues until only two candidates are left. The candidate with the most votes wins.