2022 Alaska's at-large congressional district special election

The 2022 Alaska at-large congressional district special election was held on August 16 to fill the seat left vacant after the death of Republican incumbent Don Young. Mary Peltola defeated former governor Sarah Palin in the election, becoming the first Alaska Native or woman to represent Alaska in the House.

The election was the first to use Alaska's new ranked-choice voting (RCV) method, approved by voters in 2020. The winners of the top-four blanket primary advanced to the instant-runoff election, but only three candidates competed (as Al Gross withdrew and endorsed Peltola). Peltola was declared the winner on August 31 after all ballots were counted. Peltola's victory was widely seen as an upset in a traditionally Republican state. She became the first Democrat to win a statewide election in Alaska since 2008 and was sworn in on September 13.

The results were praised by many pundits and activists. FairVote, a pro-RCV lobbying group, argued the low number of spoiled ballots proved Alaskans could use and understand the system. Former presidential candidate Andrew Yang said the election served as a model for electing moderate candidates to office, regardless of partisan affiliation.

By contrast, many social choice theorists criticized the instant-runoff procedure for its pathological behavior. The final winner, Mary Peltola, received no support on a majority of ballots. Begich was eliminated in the first round, despite a majority of voters preferring him to each of his opponents. However, Palin spoiled the election by splitting the first-round vote, leading to Begich’s elimination and costing Republicans the seat. The election was a center squeeze, where the candidate closest to the center of public opinion is eliminated. It was also a negative voting weight event, where a voter's ballot has the opposite of its intended effect (e.g. a candidate being eliminated for having "too many votes"). In this race, Peltola won as a result of 5,200 ballots that ranked her last (after Palin then Begich), and would have lost if she had received more support from Palin voters. However, observers noted such pathologies would have occurred under Alaska's previous primary system as well, leading several to suggest Alaska adopt any one of several alternatives without this behavior.

Advanced to general election

 * Nick Begich III (Republican), Alaska Policy Forum board member, grandson of former U.S. Representative Nick Begich, nephew of former U.S. Senator Mark Begich and Alaska Senate Minority Leader Tom Begich
 * Sarah Palin (Republican), former governor of Alaska (2006–2009) and nominee for vice president of the United States in 2008
 * Mary Peltola (Democratic), former state representative (1999–2009) and executive director of the Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission

Withdrew after advancing to general election

 * Al Gross (independent), orthopedic surgeon, commercial fisherman, son of former Alaska Attorney General Avrum Gross. He was endorsed by the Democratic Party as nominee for U.S. Senate in 2020 (After placing fourth, he withdrew and endorsed Peltola)

Eliminated in primary

 * Dennis Aguayo (independent)
 * Jay R. Armstrong (Republican), gold miner
 * Brian Beal (independent)
 * Tim Beck (independent), former Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly member (1998–2004, 2005–2011), candidate for FNSB mayor (2000) and Alaska Senate (2006)
 * Gregg Brelsford (independent), lawyer and former manager of Bristol Bay Borough (2018–2020)
 * Robert Brown (independent), veteran
 * Chris Bye (Libertarian), fishing guide
 * John Callahan (Republican), public affairs officer for the Alaska Air National Guard
 * Arlene Carl (independent), retiree
 * Santa Claus (independent), North Pole city councillor (2015–2018, since 2019) and mayor pro tem (endorsed Peltola)
 * John Coghill (Republican), former majority leader of the Alaskan State Senate (2013–2017), former state senator (2009–2021), former majority leader of the Alaskan House of Representatives (2002–2006), former state representative (1999–2009), son of former lieutenant governor Jack Coghill, and U.S. Air Force veteran
 * Christopher Constant (Democratic), Anchorage Assembly member since 2017
 * Lady Donna Dutchess (independent), judicial reform activist
 * Otto Florschutz (Republican), former Wrangell Port Commissioner
 * Laurel Foster (independent), paralegal
 * Tom Gibbons (Republican), business manager
 * Karyn Griffin (independent), political organizer and activist
 * Andrew Halcro (independent), former Republican state representative (1998–2003) and Independent candidate for governor of Alaska in 2006
 * Ted Heintz (independent), Corporate Contract Services Professional
 * William Hibler III (independent), former glaciologist with the University of Alaska Fairbanks and Democratic candidate for Alaska's at-large congressional district in 2016 and 2020
 * John Howe (Alaskan Independence Party), machinist and Alaskan Independence Party nominee for U.S. Senate in 2020
 * David Hughes (independent), program manager
 * Don Knight (independent)
 * Jeff Lowenfels (independent), attorney and gardening writer
 * Robert "Bob" Lyons (Republican), case manager
 * Anne McCabe (independent), former president of the Kenai Peninsula Educational Support Association
 * Mikel Melander, blue collar worker
 * Sherry Mettler (independent), businesswoman
 * Mike Milligan (Democratic), former Kodiak Island Borough Assembly member, Green Party nominee for U.S. House (1992) and lieutenant governor (1998)
 * J. R. Myers (Libertarian), behavioral health clinician, founder of the Alaska Constitution Party and its nominee for governor in 2014
 * Emil Notti (Democratic), engineer, former commissioner of the Alaska Department of Commerce, former chair of the Alaska Democratic Party, and nominee for Alaska's at-large congressional district in 1973
 * Robert Ornelas (American Independent Party), perennial candidate
 * Silvio Pellegrini (independent), cyber security manager, IT project manager, and intelligence analyst for the US Air Force Reserve
 * Josh Revak (Republican), state senator for District M (2019–present) and U.S. Army veteran
 * Maxwell Sumner (Republican), homebuilder
 * Tara Sweeney (Republican), former assistant secretary of the Interior for the Bureau of Indian Affairs (2018–2021) (ran as write-in candidate in general election)
 * David Thistle (independent)
 * Ernest Thomas (Democratic)
 * Clayton Trotter (Republican), college professor
 * Bradley Welter (Republican)
 * Jason Williams (independent)
 * Joe Woodward (Republican)
 * Adam Wool (Democratic), state representative (2015–present)
 * Stephen Wright (Republican), candidate for Alaska's at-large congressional district in 2016, candidate for Alaska State Senate in 2020, and U.S. Air Force veteran

Withdrawn

 * Breck Craig (independent), candidate for U.S. Senate in 2016
 * Richard Morris (independent)
 * Jesse Sumner (Republican), member of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough Assembly

Declined

 * Les Gara (Democratic), former state representative (2003–2019) (running for governor)
 * Mead Treadwell (Republican), former lieutenant governor of Alaska (endorsed Sweeney)

General election
Under Alaska's top-four primary system, if a general election candidate drops out, the director of elections may replace them with the name of the fifth-place finisher. Shortly after the primary, Al Gross dropped out of the general election, but Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai did not advance Tara Sweeney in his place because there were less than 64 days remaining until the general election as required by law. After a lawsuit, the Alaska Supreme Court upheld Fenumiai's decision.

Polling

 * Al Gross vs. Sarah Palin vs. Lora Reinbold vs. Josh Revak
 * Al Gross vs. Sarah Palin
 * Al Gross vs. Josh Revak