Democrat Mary Peltola, the first Alaska Native to go to Congress, has beaten outspoken former Alaska governor and 2008 vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, in a special congressional election.
The vote follows the death in office of Republican Don Young.
The seat is up for grabs again in November.
Peltola, a former state representative, is the executive director of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, and campaigned as ‘Alaska’s best shot at keeping an extremist from winning’.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi lauded Peltola for ‘making history as the first Alaska Native ever elected to the Congress’, according to NBC News.
Peltola, 49, was declared the winner this week by three percentage points in a state that ex-President Donald Trump took by 10 points in 2020, according to the BBC.
Palin, who was endorsed by Trump, outspent her Democratic rival by four to one in the run-up to the 16 August election, according to Politico.
[Image: Senator Lisa Murkowski, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=116726609]