First Native elected to Congress as former governor Palin loses

Anchorage: Mary Peltola, a Democratic former state lawmaker, won a special election to fill Alaska’s sole US House of Representatives seat, becoming the first Alaska Native to represent the state in Congress, the Alaska Division of Elections announced on Wednesday.

She defeated Republican former Governor Sarah Palin by 51.47pc to 48.53pc. Palin is widely known for her unsuccessful vice presidential run with John McCain in 2008.

Peltola will finish the remainder of the term of Republican Representative Don Young, who died earlier this year, and will face re-election on Nov 8.

She is the first Alaska Native to represent a state where almost 20pc of the population is Indigenous, the highest proportion in the United States.

Palin’s campaign for the House seat was her first run for public office after the McCain loss. She is seen as having helped open the door to a more far-right wing of the Republican Party.

During her campaign, Peltola ran as “Alaska’s best shot at keeping an extremist from winning,” according to her campaign website.