(PresidentialHill.com)- Sarah Palin has staged her political comeback, running for the vacant House seat in Alaska.
Over the weekend, she made a big splash in doing so, too, as she’ll now advance to the special election that will be held in August. The winner will fill the remainder of the term for the seat previously occupied by Republican Don Young, who passed away in March. That term lasts through January of next year.
Palin rose to prominence in the Republican Party quickly. As governor of Alaska, she made such headlines that she eventually became the running mate of the late Senator John McCain when he ran for president in 2008. The McCain-Palin ticket eventually lost to Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
After taking many years away from the political spotlight, Palin is ready to get back into the mix. She’s even received the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, which has certainly helped her cause quite a bit.
During a tele-rally he held for her on June 2, Trump said of Palin:
“She did a phenomenal job and really became a MAGA warrior. And to this day, that’s what she is.”
The Alaska special election is a wild one, indeed. There were 48 candidates for the primary, and the top four vote-getters from last weekend advanced to the general election on August 16.
All candidates run on the same primary ballot in Alaska now, regardless of what their party is. Then, the top four vote-getters advance to the general election, where one winner will be determined.
Palin is one of those candidates, as are Nick Begich III and Al Gross. The fourth candidate hasn’t been officially announced yet, as votes were still being tallied as of earlier this week. The two most likely candidates to take up that last spot are Republican Tara Sweeney and Democrat Mary Peltola, a former state representative.
The former governor was the leading vote getting, garnering support from 29.77% of those who voted. The next closes was Begich, with 19.31% — showing how much power Palin seems to have in this election.
Following the results being announced over the weekend, Palin thanked her supporters on Twitter, writing:
“Thank you, Alaska. I’m looking forward to the special general election so we can highlight our ideas for fixing this country by responsibly developing Alaska’s God-given natural resources, getting runaway government spending under control, protecting human life, protecting the right to keep and bear arms, and restoring respect for individual liberty and the Constitution.”
One of the main focuses of Palin’s campaign was how expensive gas has become in Alaska. As she said recently:
“My F-150, $150, out there in Wasilla, to fuel it up, that F-15. And it’s not even a souped-up model, either. I know you guys, too, you see that every time you fuel up.”
The interesting part about this special election is that the general election for the remainder of Young’s term will be held on August 16 — and so, too, will the primary for the regular term.
In other words, voters will be selecting who they want to represent them for the remainder of Young’s term through January and who they want in the seat long-term — and it could be two different people.
