Sarah Palin

The former vice presidential nominee placed in the top four in Alaska's open primary for the state's lone congressional seat. Aug. 16, 2022, 10:44 PM PDT.

The biggest news she has been involved in of late was her The absurdity and crassness she made her calling cards have been normalized. She embraced extremist views at the time, at one point claiming Barack Obama "pals around with terrorists.” And her willingness to spew bigoted and self-serving lies like that is why some claim she paved the way for Donald Trump to succeed in the Republican Party. but her roar isn’t nearly as menacing as it once was. Somewhat confusingly, Palin was also on the ballot Tuesday in a special election to finish the rest of Rep. Young died in March at 88.

In the Senate all-party primary, Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Trump-backed challenger Kelly Tshibaka are among the candidates advancing to the general election.

[finished first](https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/elections/sarah-palin-advances-special-alaska-house-race-primary-rcna33151) in a nonpartisan June primary to secure one of the four spots on Tuesday's special election ballot. Al Gross, an independent who finished third in the June primary, [later withdrew](https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-sarah-palin-alaska-campaigns-government-and-politics-f234dea296e5b808f7b5b8940c9eedfc), leaving three candidates. The candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and ballots cast for that candidate are recast for the voter’s second choice. That contest is the state’s first to use ranked-choice voting, and NBC News projects no candidate will receive a majority of the vote in the first round. Don Young’s term](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/gop-rep-don-young-alaska-longest-serving-member-congress-dies-88-rcna20719&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1660697433888064&usg=AOvVaw3P9N0rOq7jnmt835ZlCmRk) — a race that also features Palin, who has Trump's endorsement — is too early to call. It was too early to call the fourth finisher in that contest, as well.

The independent streak of Alaskan voters played a part in both races as Ms. Palin's attempt at a political comeback could be threatened.

On Tuesday in Anchorage, hours before the polls closed, she and Ms. Palin since Ms. Palin and Ms. His true ideological opponent over the direction of the state was Ms. Many voters disapproved of the persona and rhetoric that Ms. In a different analysis, the Republican pollster Matt Larkin believed it was most likely that Ms. Michener’s husband became a pastor at Ms. Murkowski’s main challenger, Ms. She and Ms. Murkowski and Ms. Trump, who made a rare visit to the state in July to promote Ms. Palin was governor and Ms.

Palin ran an unabashedly pro-Trump campaign in her first political foray since the 2008 presidential election.

Palin resigned as Alaska governor in June 2009, just months after McCain lost to Democrat Barack Obama, citing rising legal bills incurred due to a series of ethics complaints she [claimed](https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna31475715) were “frivolous” maneuvers by her political opponents. Under its system, the second choices on ballots that picked the candidate with the fewest votes will be redistributed and counted as first-choice votes until one candidate secures a majority. That made her the second-ever woman to appear on a major party's presidential ticket, and she remains the only woman to ever run on a Republican ticket. Don Young’s (R) term following his March 18 death, which left Alaska’s House seat open for the first time since 1973. Murkowski—who voted to They will be joined in the November general elections by two other candidates who are yet to be determined.