Sarah Palin’s pettiness is quickly turning into a shiny new gift for Democrats. Her ongoing battle with her GOP competitor is making for smooth sailing for a full term for the recently elected Democratic Rep. Mary Peltola.
Palin’s feud with the once Democrat-turned-conservative Nick Begich is as cold, wet, and fast-blowing as Alaska’s Chinook winds. Republicans in the state were betting on either Begich or Palin to drop out in order to face Peltola in last month’s special election. When neither did so the Republican votes were split, assuring that the state would have its first Democratic House representative in 50 years—the first woman and its first “Alyeska,” aka Alaska Native, in the seat.
Peltola beat Palin and Begich in the special election to fill the rest of the late Rep. Don Young’s term, which ends in January. November’s election will determine who will fill the seat for a two-year term. The GOP is, again, praying for either Palin or Begich to drop out before November but so far, it’s been a fight to the death between the two.
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A GOP operative who has managed campaigns in Alaska told The Daily Beast, “As Palin and Begich beat the fuck out of each other, [Peltola] is going to coast [...] Until Palin and Begich figure this out, it’s going to be problematic.”
Palin has used her loss to whine about ranked-choice voting in the state.
“Nobody understood the convoluted, complicated voter suppression agenda that it is,” Palin said, according to Alaska’s News Source. “Otherwise, Alaskans would never have said, ‘yay, let’s do that.’”
According to the Associated Press, Begich said that “Ranked choice voting showed that Palin simply doesn’t have enough support from Alaskans to win an election and her performance in the special [election] was embarrassing as a former governor and vice presidential candidate.”
CBS News reported Monday that Palin called for Begich to drop out of the race.
During a press conference in Wasilla, the former governor and vice presidential candidate reportedly said, "It is time for the GOP to unite, we need to unite behind my candidacy and starting today with Nick Begich withdrawing from this race.” She added that her opponent “needs to swallow a little pride" and start campaigning for her.
Begich reportedly responded by saying that “Sarah Palin’s first reaction to adversity is to either quit herself or encourage others to quit [...] And I’m not going to quit on Alaska.” He added, “Sarah Palin is going to lose again if she stays in this race [...] “At the end of the day, Alaskans know who Sarah Palin is, and they’re not going to vote for her.”
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