For sure. I think Peltola was always going to have a tough race even if Harris could close the gap somewhat I think this is/was the reddest seat we held? The Rs settling on Begich post-primary this time around was a big deal. Still, it feels like one of the 4-5 red states Dems need to invest in long-term to have a shot at a durable Senate majority.
That was a big part of my assessment. I think if it was another year with another non-gadfly republican in that Peltola would have won.
Wiki has the RCV totals up. There were 4,021 undervotes out of 17,155 votes for eliminated candidates. Works out to a rate of 23%.
Not a shocking result but it's frustrating. A slightly better year and she would have held on and would be better positioned to run for senate in the future. On the bright side, the modern penalty for a once-loser has been relatively minimal and we've seen candidates who successfully move up from their initial target, because they didn't have any currently held seat to lose (eg Ossoff).
Let's not forget that the late Don Young served in the House for nearly 50 years. While I don't think the GOP will have another Young type of Republican who will be serving Alaska At-Large for decades, that doesn't mean Nick Begich won't have a chance to hold on to the seat for a good number of years.
This is one where I want to definitely look at where the vote (turnout and margins) changed geographically.
For sure. I think Peltola was always going to have a tough race even if Harris could close the gap somewhat I think this is/was the reddest seat we held? The Rs settling on Begich post-primary this time around was a big deal. Still, it feels like one of the 4-5 red states Dems need to invest in long-term to have a shot at a durable Senate majority.
That was a big part of my assessment. I think if it was another year with another non-gadfly republican in that Peltola would have won.
Wiki has the RCV totals up. There were 4,021 undervotes out of 17,155 votes for eliminated candidates. Works out to a rate of 23%.
Not a shocking result but it's frustrating. A slightly better year and she would have held on and would be better positioned to run for senate in the future. On the bright side, the modern penalty for a once-loser has been relatively minimal and we've seen candidates who successfully move up from their initial target, because they didn't have any currently held seat to lose (eg Ossoff).
Let's not forget that the late Don Young served in the House for nearly 50 years. While I don't think the GOP will have another Young type of Republican who will be serving Alaska At-Large for decades, that doesn't mean Nick Begich won't have a chance to hold on to the seat for a good number of years.