Alaska Just Elected Its First Native Representative August 31, 2022
Introduction:
(Mother Jones) Representative-elect Mary Peltola just made history. With a 51-49 upset victory over ex-governor Sarah Palin, confirmed Wednesday by the state’s Division of Elections, Peltola has won Alaska’s sole seat in the House of Representatives—making the former state legislator and fisheries manager the first Alaska Native person elected to Congress. She succeeds longtime GOP Rep. Don Young, a family friend whose death in office earlier this year triggered a special election. In March, when Young died, Peltola was a fairly obscure ex-politician vying with more than 50 challengers to finish his term. By August, polls pegged her as a clear favorite over the Trump-endorsed Palin, whose celebrity kept her at the top of early polls.
Peltola’s win was more than one kind of first. She also becomes the first Alaskan to win a ranked-choice election, a system that sends votes to second-choice candidates when voters’ favorites are knocked out. She joins a tiny club: Alaska is just the second state to adopt the system, which supporters call a “bulwark against extremism,” and this race was the state’s first to use it.
That change came into play when prominent independent Al Gross withdrew from the race unexpectedly—after landing one of four spots in the general election. Gross, Democrats’ favorite in Alaska’s 2020 Senate race, wouldn’t commit to caucusing with the Democratic Party. But his largely centrist voters broke for Peltola, and his withdrawal left a lopsided ballot, splitting conservative voters between two Republican candidates.
Peltola’s biggest challenge might have been Palin’s unmatched celebrity. Although Palin hasn’t held office in Alaska since 2009, when she abruptly resigned her governorship, she’s still Alaska’s best-known politician on the national stage. And Palin’s been a vocal player in the Trump movement, winning the ex-president’s consistent backing—Trump went as far as campaigning for her hours after the FBI’s August raid of his Mar-a-Lago home.
Alaskans, in any case, were keen to participate. State officials announced that they’d counted nearly 200,000 ballots in the open primary, the third-highest primary turnout in state history.
The article goes on to note that Senator Lisa Murkowski is defending her U.S. Senate seat against Trump backed fellow Republican Kelly Tshibaka. It also further discusses Peltola’s background.
Republicans Are Desperately Trying to Change Their Tune on Abortion by Abigail Weinberg
September 8, 2022
Introduction:
(Mother Jones) In the months following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, popular support for abortion has energized Democrats—especially women—and cut into Republicans’ polling leads ahead of the midterms.
The latest Pew polling shows that 62 percent of Americans think that abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances. Gallup polling from May found that 35 percent of Americans supported abortion under any circumstances, and 50 percent supported it only under certain circumstances. Last month’s referendum on abortion rights in Kansas is a strong indicator that restricting abortion access is a losing issue.
Predictably, a handful of Republicans running for office are now walking back their anti-abortion stances. Here are a few.
Blake Masters
Blake Masters, the Peter Thiel protégé who is running to unseat Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly in Arizona has significantly altered his public pose.
As NBC News has reported, Masters’ campaign website once said, “I am 100% pro-life” and outlined his support for “a federal personhood law (ideally a Constitutional amendment) that recognizes that unborn babies are human beings that may not be killed.” Now, the bullet point that said “PROTECT BABIES, DON’T LET THEM BE KILLED” has been removed from his policy page. (Don’t worry, the Wayback Machine archived it.)
The article also goes on to discuss Tim Walz, who is the Minnesota GOP candidate for governor,, and U.S. Senate candidate in Colorado Joe O'Dea.
Arizona Senate - Masters vs. Kelly Emerson Kelly 47, Masters 45 Kelly +2
Arizona Senate - Masters vs. Kelly FOX 10/InsiderAdvantage* Kelly 45, Masters 39 Kelly +6
Arizona Governor - Lake vs. Hobbs Emerson Hobbs 46, Lake 46 Tie
Arizona Governor - Lake vs. Hobbs FOX 10/InsiderAdvantage* Hobbs 44, Lake 43 Hobbs +1
New York Governor - Zeldin vs. Hochul The Hill/Emerson Hochul 50, Zeldin 35 Hochul +15
Vermont Senate - Malloy vs. Welch Trafalgar Group (R) Welch 50, Malloy 43 Welch +7
Vermont Governor - Scott vs. Siegel Trafalgar Group (R) Scott 68, Siegel 15 Scott +53
