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Post by Admin on Apr 4, 2022 6:18:46 GMT
 Former President Donald Trump on Sunday endorsed Sarah Palin in the upcoming Alaska House special election. Calling her a “wonderful patriot” and “tough and smart,” Trump said the former governor had been “a champion for Alaska values, Alaska energy, Alaska jobs, and the great people of Alaska.” Referring to her time on the 2008 Republican ticket alongside the late Sen. John McCain — a longtime foil of the former president — Trump said, “Sarah lifted the McCain presidential campaign out of the dumps despite the fact she had to endure some very evil, stupid, and jealous people within the campaign itself. They were out to destroy her, but she didn’t let that happen.” “I am proud to give her my Complete and Total Endorsement, and encourage all Republicans to unite behind the wonderful person and her campaign to put America First,” Trump added. The former Republican vice presidential candidate and conservative firebrand announced Friday that she was running to fill the House seat held by the late Rep. Don Young, following recent talks with Trump. “Public service is a calling, and I would be honored to represent the men and women of Alaska in Congress, just as Rep. Young did for 49 years. I realize that I have very big shoes to fill, and I plan to honor Rep. Young’s legacy by offering myself up in the name of service to the state he loved and fought for,” Palin said in a statement Friday. |
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Post by Admin on Apr 4, 2022 18:16:31 GMT
Trump Backs Sarah Palin In Her Bid For Alaska Congressional Seat 5,027 views Apr 4, 2022 Former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin is jumping back into national politics, announcing over the weekend that she’s running for Alaska’s U.S. House Seat. Palin is one of 51 candidates on the ballot for the special election, and has already been endorsed by former president Donald Trump.  |
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Post by Admin on Apr 5, 2022 18:55:28 GMT
Who actually wants Palin in the House of Representatives?
Palin is one of almost 50 candidates running to replace Don Young, who, until his death in March, was Alaska’s lone House member since 1973. It’s a crowded field, but one in which Palin has the dual-edged sword of name recognition on her side. And former President Donald Trump immediately gave her his seal of approval, returning the favor from Palin’s endorsement of him in 2016.
Still, one major question remains: “But why?” Why would Palin want to throw her hat into the ring now, after being mostly out of the spotlight? More importantly, who actually wants Palin in the House of Representatives?
Her fellow Alaskans haven’t exactly been begging her to return to office. Palin, who was sworn in as governor in December 2006, was picked in 2008 by the Republican presidential candidate, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, to be his running mate. Less than a year after the pair lost to Barack Obama and Joe Biden, and with 18 months left in her term, Palin resigned as governor, a baffling decision that left a sour taste in Alaskans’ mouths.
“These days, you can’t find people here who have something nice to say about her last decade in politics,” Julia O’Malley wrote for The Guardian in 2016. “Nobody wants to talk about Palin.”
That’s still the case, according to recent polling out of Alaska. In an October 2021 survey from Alaska Survey Research, only 31 percent of respondents had a positive view of Palin. A full 56 percent had a negative view. She might perform well in a GOP-only primary, given that 53 percent of those Republicans surveyed had a positive view of her. But in 2020, Alaska shifted to a system that will require Palin to be one of the top four vote-getters in June’s primary to appear on the ballot this fall.
If she clears that hurdle and makes it to a general election, she’ll face a ranked-choice voting system, in which voters list candidates in order of preference. The candidates with the least amount of support are knocked out in successive rounds, eventually leaving the winner.
“I don't see how she thinks she's going to get close to winning, particularly under the new RCV rules,” Ivan Moore, the director of Alaska Survey Research, said in an email. When he polled a potential U.S. Senate race involving Palin in the October survey, she was the first to be eliminated, Moore said, adding, “56 percent negatives don't fly.”
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Post by Admin on Apr 5, 2022 20:06:49 GMT
In 2020, Alaskans voted in favor of adopting a ranked-choice voting system. Under this system, each voter ranks their favorite candidates. If no one reaches 50% on the first ballot, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and their second place votes are distributed to the remaining candidates. This process repeats until a candidate passes 50%.
RANKED CHOICE BALLOT
First Choice Including Leaners
33% Al Gross, Independent
30% Sarah Palin, Republican
9% Josh Revak, Republican
8% Lora Reinbold, Republican
16% Not sure
4% Would not vote
First Choice without Leaners
31% Al Gross, Independent
29% Sarah Palin, Republican
9% Josh Revak, Republican
7% Lora Reinbold, Republican.
RANKED CHOICE BALLOT
First Choice Including Leaners
33% Al Gross, Independent
30% Sarah Palin, Republican
9% Josh Revak, Republican
8% Lora Reinbold, Republican
16% Not sure
4% Would not vote
First Choice without Leaners
31% Al Gross, Independent
29% Sarah Palin, Republican
9% Josh Revak, Republican
7% Lora Reinbold, Republican
After First Round
33% Al Gross, Independent
30% Sarah Palin, Republican
11% Josh Revak, Republican
26% Undecided
After Second Round
35% Sarah Palin, Republican
35% Al Gross, Independent
30% Undecided
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Post by Admin on Apr 6, 2022 1:14:50 GMT
Sarah Palin considered running for president in 2012, was “seriously interested” in the office four years later and said she’d run for vice president again “in a heartbeat.” Last year, she teased — and prayed about — a potential U.S. Senate run.
For all that, it nevertheless caught Republicans off guard — including in Palin’s home state — when the former governor of Alaska actually did announce her comeback bid, entering a U.S. House race on Friday.
Palin had been one of the GOP’s original populists — mocked when John McCain made her his running mate in 2008, then relegated to the periphery of conservative politics, unpopular even in her home state. Now, after Donald Trump mainstreamed her brand of outrage, she is running for public office again, testing the limits of a damaged politician’s rehabilitation in a party that looks nothing like the one she belonged to when she first burst onto the national stage.
“There had been speculation, but I was surprised,” said Cynthia Henry, the Republican national committeewoman from Alaska. “She will certainly be a contender. Beyond that … I don’t know how it will be received.”
Henry said, “She hasn’t been active in politics since the run for vice president and her service as governor. She hasn’t been involved, or I haven’t seen her at events.”
In the race to fill the House seat left vacant by the late Rep. Don Young, Palin is no shoo-in. Though she once enjoyed sky-high public approval ratings in Alaska, her reputation deteriorated after she resigned from the governorship in 2009 — a self-inflicted wound from which she has not seemed to recover.
When the longtime Alaska pollster Ivan Moore of Alaska Survey Research tested Palin’s standing with Alaskans in October, he said her favorability rating stood at 31 percent.
The political landscape — in Alaska, like every Republican-leaning state — may be more favorable to Palin’s smash-mouth politics than it was in 2008. Trump, who won Alaska by about 10 percentage points in 2020 — and with whom Palin spoke last week — is now the fulcrum of the GOP. He encouraged her to run for Congress, and if he endorses her — and campaigns for her — it will likely help her with the Republican base.
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