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Alaska: Murkowski, Peltola, and Dunleavy Won Re-Election

Murkowski Alaska

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More than two weeks after the midterm elections, the results in Alaska were in. In “The Last Frontier” all incumbents won re-election. Lisa Murkowski, Mary Peltola, and Mike Dunleavy will remain in office for six, two, and four more years, respectively.

One of the most interesting races of the cycle was the one pitting the incumbent senator against former President Donald Trump’s candidate, Kelly Tshibaka. With polls showing a neck-and-neck scenario, the first round of voting ended with Murkowski up by 0.77%. Then, when Republican Buzz Kelley’s votes were distributed, the senator’s lead narrowed to 0.13%.

However, once Democrat Pat Chesbro was eliminated, almost all of his votes went to Murkowski’s column, which tipped the balance in her favor. In the end, Murkowski prevailed in the final results with 53.69%, against 46.31% for Trump’s candidate.

On the other hand, Sarah Palin was again defeated by Peltola, but this time by an even greater margin. In August, the Democrat surprised everyone by defeating the former Republican vice presidential nominee, ending a 59-year GOP hegemony in Alaska.

Alaska: Murkowski, Peltola and Dunleavy Won Re-election
Lisa Murkowski managed to defeat Trump’s nominee in Alaska and secured another term in the Senate, representing the people of Alaska.(Source: EFE)

Months later, the internal dispute between Palin and Nick Begich III, the other Republican candidate, was once again useful to the Democrat, who garnered 54.95% of the vote in the final round of voting.

The last election to be defined in Alaska was the gubernatorial election, in which Mike Dunleavy easily won re-election. Passing 50% in the first round of voting, he was automatically declared the winner.

The Republican won 50.3% of the vote and became the first local governor to win a second consecutive term since Tony Knowles in 1998.

Ranked-choice voting in Alaska

In November 2020, the state’s voters joined Maine and approved ranked-choice voting, which allows them to rank candidates according to the voters’ preferences.

The modus operandi is as follows: the voter is given a ballot with the names of all the available candidates, together with an empty circle and columns in numerical order. The person must fill in those circles according, again, to his or her preferences among the candidates.

In the first round, all first choices are counted and if a candidate obtains 50% + 1 vote, he/she wins directly. In case this does not happen, as in this 2022 election, the count goes to a second round.

There, the candidate with the lowest number of votes is eliminated and his or her votes will be distributed to the second choices selected by his or her voters.

This process is repeated until only two candidates remain and one of them is declared the winner or a candidate obtains 50%+1 votes.

Joaquín Núñez es licenciado en comunicación periodística por la Universidad Católica Argentina. Se especializa en el escenario internacional y en la política nacional norteamericana. Confeso hincha de Racing Club de Avellaneda. Contacto: [email protected] // Joaquín Núñez has a degree in journalistic communication from the Universidad Católica Argentina. He specializes in the international scene and national American politics. Confessed fan of Racing Club of Avellaneda. Contact: [email protected]

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