ANCHORAGE — Democrat Mary Peltola has won a special election for the U.S. House in Alaska, defeating Republican Sarah Palin and becoming the first ever Alaska Native to win a seat in Congress as well as the first woman to clinch the state’s at-large district.
Peltola, who’s Yup’ik, is a tribal fisheries manager and former state representative who led in initial counts after the Aug. 16 election. But her win wasn’t assured until Wednesday, when Alaska officials made decisive second-choice counts using the state’s new ranked choice voting system. Republican Nick Begich III, was eliminated, and his supporters’ second choice votes were redistributed.
