(NewsNation) — Two states held primary elections Tuesday. Voters in Wyoming determined the fate of U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin hoped for a return to politics.
Cheney lost her election against Trump-endorsed Harriet Hageman, conceding to Hageman before votes were fully counted.
She was widely expected to lose against Hageman due to her involvement on the Jan. 6 committee and her stance against former President Donald Trump, which found her down over 20 percentage points in multiple polls.
Cheney has served in the Capitol since 2017.
In Alaska, U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski fights to keep her seat in the Senate, especially since she was one of the seven senators who voted to impeach Trump after the Capitol riots. She is running against Trump-endorsed Kelly Tshibaka. The race had not been called as of 7 a.m. CT Wednesday.
Palin‘s name is on two ballots: one in a special election to complete the term of U.S. Rep. Don Young, who died in March 2022, and another for a full two-year House term starting in January.
If Palin advances to the November general election, she could still have a chance to join Congress, even if she loses the special election this week, according to The Hill.
Due to Alaska’s new voting system, final results may not be known for days. The state switched to ranked-choice voting, which means the top four candidates who receive the most votes move on and advance to the ballot in November.
Also, voters don’t vote for one specific candidate; rather, they rank their top choices in a list-like fashion.
As of 7 a.m. CT, Decision Desk HQ reported that Palin still trails Democrat Mary Peltola on Alaska’s U.S. House top-four primary at-large primary.
Here are the results of each state called by Decision Desk HQ:
The results pages were updated through the night as results were tabulated and races were called.
Results highlights
- As expected, Cheney was defeated by her Trump-backed challenger Hageman. Cheney was one of — if not the most — high-profile critics of Trump. She serves as the vice chair of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots.