Sarah Palin’s defeat in Alaska’s congressional race quickly turned into a free-for-all on Twitter, with users eagerly dunking on the former vice presidential candidate and “Tea Party” Republican for being the latest ally of Donald Trump to lose.
Mary Peltola declared victory on Wednesday after the race was finally called, weeks after voting ended across the country and most races were concluded. The Democrat becomes the first to represent Alaska in the US Congress in decades and did so with a strong backing of bipartisan support, including an endorsement from Senator Lisa Murkowski, one of the state’s two members in the upper chamber.
Ms Palin, by contrast, was supported by the far right of the Republican Party and former President Donald Trump. She blamed ranked-choice voting for her loss in a special election to Ms Peltola earlier this year, but in a head-to-head matchup in the second round of ranked-choice votes this fall lost by more than 20,000 votes.
Her defeat will contribute to the single-digit majority that the GOP will control in the lower chamber next year, and makes it that much harder for Kevin McCarthy to secure the votes he will need to become Speaker next year; a number of Republicans plan to vote against him.
Democrats on Twitter celebrated the news by ridiculing Ms Palin, whose career as governor ended in early resignation under a cloud of ethics investigations and whose vice presidential bid earned her a widespread following on the US far right and disgust from the left.
“I can see her defeat from my house,” one Twitter user wrote referencing the popular Saturday Night Live parody of Ms Palin performed by Tina Fey.
Another to reference Ms Fey’s portrayal was Congressman Ritchie Torres of New York, who quipped: “Sarah Palin will now have all the time to watch Russia from her porch.”
“Sarah Palin, in an effort to emulate Trump, lost yet again,” wrote an account called “Duty to Warn,” which described itself as representing a coalition of mental health professionals who oppose the former president.
A number of Twitter users wrote that they were thankful for the reboot of Ms Palin’s career being snuffed out before it began.
Others wrote that they hoped Mr Trump’s dismal track record through the 2022 midterms would continue into December’s runoff in Georgia.
“Good morning. Two more Trump picks: Sarah Palin and Kelly Tshibaka lost in Alaska. Anyway we can get him to campaign for Herschel [Walker]?” tweeted one.
