Former US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is likely to lose her bid for a political comeback after this month’s midterm elections.
In the race for a seat in the US House of Representatives in Alaska, the Republican suffered his second loss in three months to Democrat Mary Paltola.
Meanwhile, Senator Lisa Murkowski appears likely to defeat a fellow Republican challenger in her re-election bid.
The results will not affect which parties control Congress after the midterms.
Republicans will still hold the House, while Democrats will retain the Senate.
The Alaska race took two weeks to call because the state uses a new ranked-choice voting system.
JEE News, reported the results for the at-large House seat of Alaska on Wednesday night with 88% of the vote counted, with Ms Paltola at 55% and Ms Palin at 45%.
Ms Paltola won the seat by three percentage points in a special election this August, her first victory over Ms Palin.
The Democrat’s victory is notable in a conservative state that former President Donald Trump carried by 10 points in 2020 and in a district that has been held by Republicans for nearly five decades.
Senator Murkowski – a moderate Republican incumbent who voted to impeach Mr Trump on charges of inciting insurrection after last year’s US Capitol riots – has also been vying for re-election.
With nearly all votes counted, she has defeated Trump-backed intraparty challenger Kelly Shibaka by more than seven points,
In 2020, Mr Trump vowed to campaign against Ms Murkowski, saying: “Any candidate, good or bad, I don’t care, I’m endorsing. If you have a pulse, I’m with you.” Yes!”
The former president – who has just launched another campaign for the White House – traveled to Anchorage in July to attend a rally for Ms Palin and Ms Shibaka.
Ms Peltola, who is Yupik and grew up in a rural part of Alaska, has campaigned for abortion access, climate action and the state’s salmon population.
He served in the State House for a decade in Juneau, overlapping with Ms. Palin as governor of Alaska from 2006-09.
Despite their political rivalry, the two say they bonded at the Capitol because they were both pregnant at the time.
