Palin is back on the national Republican stage - and to a Party created in her image

The former VP candidate returns to politics for the first time since her ill-fated 2008 campaign alongside John McCain

- RICHARD HALL

When John McCain chose Sarah Palin as his running mate in the 2008 presidential election, she was seen by his own team as something of a wildcard; a Hail Mary for a campaign that was losing steam. The former Alaska governor and self-described "hockey mom" was a rarity at the top tier of national politics: she was notoriously averse to facts and policy detail, she fully embraced culture war issues, and smeared her political opponents with innuendo and falsehoods.

But, as she makes a return to the national stage by way of a congressional race in Alaska, she is welcomed back by an altogether different party to the one she left behind - one in which her brand of anti-intellectualism and populism is the norm. Today, it is Sarah Palin's Republican Party and Donald. Trump's, more than it is John McCain's. Ms. Palin has thrown her hat into the ring in a special election to replace Rep Don Young, who held Alaska's lone congressional seat for almost 50 years before his death in March. The winner will only serve what remains of Mr Young's term, which ends in January.

The race began with an initial cross-party primary with 48 candidates on the ballot, before being whittled down to the top four. Ms Palin came out on top in the first round, but the special election winner will be determined by ranked-choice voting - a first for Alaska, and a method that favours less divisive candidates who can draw in votes from their rival's supporters.

She faces off against Republican businessperson Nick Begich III and Democratic former state Rep Mary Peltola. While the winner won't be known until the end of August, when all the mailed ballots have been counted, Ms Palin's return may offer a litmus test for a Republican Party at a crossroads. It is the first time the former governor has sought elected office since the 2008 campaign that made her a household name, and in the eyes of many, set the GOP on the path to its current form.