(NewsNation) — Democrat and Alaska native Mary Peltola defeated former Gov. Sarah Palin (R) in a special election to fill a vacant seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Peltola, now the first Native American to represent Alaska in Congress, will only hold the seat until January. She will have to hold off Republicans Palin and Nick Begich III again in November to stay longer.

The seat has been vacant since Rep. Don Young’s death earlier this year. Peltola won in a ranked choice election held Aug. 16.

The state last elected a Democrat to the House in 1970. Young held his seat from 1973 until his death in March. Alaska has only sent one other Democrat to Capitol Hill this century: former Sen. Mark Begich, elected in 2008.