WASHINGTON (Washington Insider Magazine) – Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska and a former Republican vice presidential contender, declared her candidacy for Congress on Friday, her first since 2008.
Palin, who rose to prominence 14 years ago as Senator John McCain’s running mate, entered the contest to fill the position occupied by GOP Rep. Don Young for over 50 years before his death last month, according to NBC NEWS.
Palin lambasted high gas prices, bare shelves, and out-of-control inflation in her introduction, vowing to “combat the left’s socialist, big-government, America-last agenda.”
Palin has not filed to campaign for re-election to a full term. She simply stated that she had thrown her hat into the ring for the special election called as a result of Young’s passing. For the open special election, over 40 candidates have already filed.
Palin’s road to Congress would be long and winding. The extraordinary primary is set for June 11 and is accessible to anybody regardless of party affiliation. The top 4 vote-getters in the extraordinary general election on August 16 will proceed. The winner of the extraordinary general election will be decided using ranked-choice voting.
The victor will only be in office for a few months, the balance of Young’s tenure.
Palin has flirted with a return to Washington before, having helped bring in a new type of GOP governance more than a decade ago.
NBC News reported in 2016 that she had indicated interest in a possible role with the Trump administration and had spoken with Trump transition aides about it.
She was recently in the headlines for a defamation case she filed against The New York Times. So far, she has lost 2 legal battles.
Palin came under criticism for going to a downtown restaurant 2 days after testing positive for Covid-19 while being in New York for the judicial proceedings. She was spotted dining indoors despite the fact that she had not been immunized against the virus.
