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| Photo Credit: AP. |
Republican member of U.S. House Sarah Palin has been defeated by a Native American Democrat Mary Peltola in a special election held for Alaska’s at-large House seat. Peltola was declared winner after the counting of ballots on Wednesday, making the GOP chances of retaking the House even grimmer.
She is the
first Alaska Native to serve in Congress and first Democrat to represent Alaska
in 50 years as well as the first-ever woman to represent the state in the
House, Newsweek reports.
Palin who is
the former governor of Alaska and also a vice presidential candidate in the 2008
election, admitted defeat but said she was “disappointed” by the outcome, blaiming
Alaska’s “crazy” new ranked-choice-voting system for her defeat, according to
The Associated Press.
Peltola will
contend with Palin and additional candidates she faced in the special election
such as Republican Nick Begich III and Libertarian Chris Bye in this year’s
regular election, that will take place alongside the nation’s other midterms on
November 8, according to Newsweek.
In a tweet,
Peltola said she believes "the broad coalition we're building has the real
chance of building the momentum we need to win in November."
The Republicans
were favored to win in the closely watched election.