Despite having run on the 2008 presidential ticket with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. — a never-Trumper — Alaska House GOP primary candidate Sarah Palin said she would run with former President Donald Trump in 2024 if she were asked.
Palin told The Associated Press this week, if Trump runs for president in 2024 and asks her to be his running mate, she would consider it.
Palin admits she would be a longshot choice and added she has not had that conversation with Trump, who has come out quickly to endorse Palin for Alaska's June 11 special-election primary to fill the seat of the late Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska.
Trump is also targeting a primary against Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, after she criticized him and voted to impeach the former president after he left office.
The contest in Republican-leaning Alaska will do little to change the balance of power in Washington. But the election is being closely watched as a barometer of Trump's connection to the GOP's most loyal voters.
In Wasilla, Alaska, Trump 2020 or Trump 2024 banners fly from several homes, the few political signs seen so far this election year.
Palin said Trump was among those who contacted her after Young's death asking if she would be willing to run. She said this is a good time in her life to seek a return to office, politically and personally. Her family life has changed, she noted, with her four older children grown. Her youngest, Trig, is in middle school. Palin was divorced from Todd Palin, her husband of more than 30 years, in 2020.
Palin said she feels like she has "nothing to lose" in running. After having her political and personal life in the media glare for so long, "What more can they say?" she said, adding later: "To me, it's freedom."
The June 11 special primary will be the first statewide by-mail election in Alaska. The four candidates who get the most votes will advance to an Aug. 16 special election, in which ranked-choice voting will be used. The winner will serve the remainder of Young's term, which expires in January.
There also will be an August primary and November general election to determine who will serve a two-year term starting in January. Palin is one of 16 candidates so far to have filed for the regular primary.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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