After 13 years, Sarah Palin is returning to politics.
The former Alaska governor and John McCain's vice-presidential nominee has joined the crowded primary field for Alaska's at-large congressional seat following the death of Congressman Don Young.
Per Fox News:
Palin released a statement on Facebook announcing that she is throwing her hat into the special election race to replace the late Republican Congressman Don Young who died in mid-March after almost 50 years in Congress.
“Today I'm announcing my candidacy for the U.S. House seat representing Alaska. 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,” Palin wrote. “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, because I share that passion for Alaska and the United States of America.”
Palin added that “America is at a tipping point” and that she has “watched the far left destroy the country.”
“I knew I had to step up and join the fight,” Palin said.
Friday was the filing deadline for the June 11 primary. The primary includes 40 candidates from all parties.
The election will be the first to use Alaska's new voting system, in which the top four vote-getters, regardless of their party affiliation, advance to the general election that uses ranked-choice voting.
Under the ranked-choice method, voters can rank candidates in order of preference. Officials first count ballots based on the voters' top choice. If a candidate has more than half of the first-choice votes, they win. If they don't, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and the voters who selected the eliminated candidate as their first choice have their votes added to their second choice.
The process continues until one candidate has more than half of the votes.
If I were an Alaskan, I would vote for Palin without hesitation.
I only voted for McCain because Palin was on the ticket.