Democrat Mary Peltola won the special election to fill Alaska’s House seat for the remainder of 2022, according to unofficial results released by the Alaska Division of Elections, halting former Gov.Sarah Palin’s bid at a political comeback.

Palin, the Republican Party’s 2008 vice presidential nominee, will get another shot at the House race in a few months, as she and Peltola are among those vying to fill the full term in a separate election in November.

Peltola emerged as the victor Wednesday when Alaska’s Division of Elections tabulated ranked-choice ballots in the state’s first use of the system.

“Though we’re disappointed in this outcome, Alaskans know I’m the last one who’ll ever retreat. Instead, I’m going to reload. With optimism that Alaskans learn from this voting system mistake and correct it in the next election, let’s work even harder to send an America First conservative to Washington in November,” she said

Palin; Peltola; Nick Begich III, a Republican businessman from the state’s most famous Democratic political family; and independent Al Gross were the four that advanced.

Peltola, meanwhile, sought to seize on the Supreme Court’s decision ending federal abortion rights protections, campaigning as a pro-abortion rights, pro-labor union candidate with a deep connection to issues like fishing that are closely tied to Alaska’s identity and economy.

Peltola also has connections to Young’s family: Her father taught school with Young before he was elected to Congress.

Alaska’s Division of Elections ran its ranked-choice calculation at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, more than two weeks after Election Day.

The state’s voters in 2020 approved a measure to adopt a ranked-choice voting system: In open primaries that include candidates of all parties, voters cast one ballot for their top choice, and the top four vote-getters advance.