2022 Alaska's at-large congressional district special election

The 2022 Alaska's 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 was elected in a 3-way race against former governor Sarah Palin and Nick Begich III in the election, becoming the first Alaska Native and 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 ranked-choice 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 pundits and activists, with FairVote, a pro-RCV lobbying group, arguing 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.

However, experts in social choice criticized the election procedure for its pathological behavior called a center squeeze. Begich was eliminated in the first round, despite being preferred by a majority of voters to each one of his opponents, with 53% of voters ranking him above Peltola. However, Palin spoiled the election by splitting the first-round vote, leading to Begich's elimination and costing Republicans the seat. The final winner, Mary Peltola, was not listed at all on most voters' ballots.

The election was also an example of a no-show paradox, where a voter's ballot has the opposite of its intended effect, with high Republican turnout by Palin supporters leading to a Democrat (Peltola) winning. Peltola won the race because of 5,200 ballots ranking her last, behind Palin and Begich. Similarly, the election was an example of negative (or perverse) responsiveness, where a candidate loses as a result of having too much support (i.e. receiving too high of a rank, or less formally, "winning too many votes").

In the wake of the election, a poll found 54% of Alaskans, including a third of Peltola voters, supported a repeal of RCV, leading some to compare it to the 2009 Burlington mayoral election, where similar pathologies resulted in a 2010 initiative repealing the system. Observers noted such pathologies would have occurred under Alaska's previous primary system as well, leading some to suggest Alaska adopt a rule without similar behavior.