It's a common enough saying: "Every vote matters." It's common because it's so frequently true, and never more so than in the recent passage of President Trump's "Big, Beautiful Bill" by the House of Representatives - by one vote, 215-214. And, we should note, and Must Read Alaska's Suzanne Downing has, that one of the plus votes came from Alaska's at-large Representative Nick Begich III.

That vote could very easily have gone the other way.

In a nail-biter on Capitol Hill, House Republicans on Thursday morning passed a sweeping multi-trillion dollar budget reconciliation bill by the slimmest of margins — 215-214 — delivering a massive legislative win for President Donald Trump’s domestic policy agenda. 

The outcome hinged on a single vote, and had Alaska’s Rep. Mary Peltola still been in office, the result would likely have gone the other way. Not a single Democrat voted for the Big Beautiful Bill, the budget.

Begich announced on X: “I just voted YES on H.R. 1: The Big Beautiful Bill. Last year, voters gave Republicans a clear mandate: cut reckless spending, secure the border, and grow our economy – and we delivered. 

In the 2024 election, in which we note President Trump won the three electoral votes of the Great Land, Republican Nick Begich III edged out incumbent Democrat Mary Peltola by 6,722 votes out of over 300,000 cast. Thanks to our ridiculous ranked-choice voting system, we didn't know the outcome for some days after the actual election.

Ranked-choice voting, we note, should be back on the ballot in 2026 for another shot at repeal; the pro-repeal side only lost in 2024 by 743 votes despite having been massively outspent by the anti-repeal side, mostly with money from Outside. We haven't given up yet.

As Suzanne Downing points out:

Had one more vote flipped, the bill would have failed. The absence of Democrat Mary Peltola, Alaska’s former representative, was pivotal. With a single-vote margin, her continued presence in Congress could have killed the measure outright.

Forget about the Big, Beautiful Bill's content for a moment (and make sure to read all of our coverage of that content). Look at the logistics, here. This is why every vote counts. This is why every election counts. This is why turnout counts. There are, of course, any number of close House races in any cycle, and any one, flipped, would have stalled this GOP effort, as the Democrats are very good at one thing: Sticking together. Collectivism, after all, is in their DNA.

In every election, we have to get out and vote. Every election counts. If you have to crawl on your hands and knees to vote, do it. If your neighbor hasn't voted, offer them a ride to the polling place - unless they're a Democrat, in which case, leave them to their own devices. We shouldn't try to keep our Democrat neighbors from voting, after all, but we certainly don't have to assist them in doing so, either.

See Also: Breaking: The Big, Beautiful Bill Passes, Surviving Fractured GOP Caucus

Herding Cats, Moving Mountains, and Passing the 'Big, Beautiful Bill'

If Alaska's 2024 election had gone the other way - if a few more Alaskan Republican voters had stayed home - Mary Peltola would have retained her seat in the House of Representatives. The Democrats would have been able to halt this legislation, along with a lot of others. 

Every vote counts. Every election counts.

We won this one. Speaking as a proud Alaskan, I will say only this: You're welcome, America!

Editor’s Note: To celebrate the passage of the tremendous One Big, Beautiful Bill, we’re offering a fire sale on VIP memberships!

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