Sarah Palin advances to general election for Alaska House seat

JUNEAU, Alaska — Alaska U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski and fellow Republican Kelly Tshibaka have advanced from Tuesday’s primary, while Republican Sarah Palin, seeking a political comeback, was among the candidates advancing to the November general election in the race for Alaska’s only House seat.

Under a voter-approved elections process being used for the first time in Alaska elections this year, party primaries have been replaced with open primaries in which the top four vote-getters in each race advance to the general election,. In the general election ranked voting will be used.

Murkowski and Tshibaka, who was backed by former President Donald Trump, earned two of the slots in the Senate race with results still being tabulated. The other two slots have not yet been decided.

In the House primary, Palin, Republican Nick Begich and Democrat Mary Peltola have advanced to the November election. The last slot also had not yet been determined. The winner of the November race will be elected to a two-year term.

Peltola, Begich and Palin were also vying in a special election to serve the remaining term of the late-U.S. Rep. Don Young, which ends early next year. Young died in March.

The special election and primary races were on opposite sides of Tuesday’s ballot. The winner of the ranked choice special election may not be known until the end of the month.

In the race for Alaska governor, Republican Mike Dunleavy, Democrat Les Gara and independent Bill Walker advanced to the November general election. Other candidates in the race include Republican state Rep. Christopher Kurka and Charlie Pierce, a Republican borough mayor.