United States House of Representatives election in Alaska, 2008
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The 2008 congressional election in Alaska was held on November 4, 2008 to determine who will represent the state of Alaska in the United States House of Representatives. Alaska has one seat in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States Census. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; whoever is elected will serve in the 111th Congress from January 4, 2009 until January 3, 2011. The election coincides with the 2008 U.S. presidential election. The primary election was held August 26, 2008.[1]
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[edit] Background
Alaska's At-large congressional district covers the entire state, and has been represented by Republican Don Young since 1973. He was challenged by Democratic nominee Ethan Berkowitz and Alaskan Independence candidate Don Wright.
Berkowitz won the Democratic primary against Diane E. Benson and Jake Metcalfe. The Republican primary was so close that Young and Sean Parnell needed to wait for the overseas absentee ballots, which had until September 10, 2008 to arrive and be counted. Young held a narrow lead of 239 votes after counting the other absentee and questioned ballots on September 6, 2008.[2] Final results on September 18 showed Young winning by 304 votes, and Parnell announced that he would not seek a recount.[3]
According to the 9/15-17 Research 2000 poll for Daily Kos, Berkowitz led Young in the General election by a 53%-39% margin, with a ±4% margin of error.[4] After the Primary, CQ Politics changed its forecast to 'Leans Democratic'.[5] The Cook Political Report ranked it 'Republican Toss Up' and The Rothenberg Political Report rated it 'Democrat Favored'.
On November 12, 2008, Young was declared the winner, retaining the seat for his 19th term, despite a strong challenge from Berkowitz. Young was proclaimed winner, getting 50% of the vote compared to Berkowitz's 45%.[6][7]
[edit] Candidates
[edit] Alaskan Independence
[edit] Democratic
- Ethan Berkowitz, nominee — Former Minority Leader, Alaska House of Representatives
- Diane E. Benson — 2006 nominee, 2002 Green Party nominee for Governor
- Jake Metcalfe — Former chair of the Alaska Democratic Party. He suspended his campaign amid allegations that his political adviser, Bill Scannell, had purchased domain names — containing Berkowitz's name — that re-directed users to a mock blog, and a San Francisco LGBT Web site.[8]
[edit] Republican
- Don Young, nominee — Incumbent Congressman
- Gabrielle LeDoux — State Representative
- Sean Parnell — Lieutenant Governor of Alaska
[edit] Polling
| Source | Date | Berkowitz (D) | Young (R) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research 2000 | May 12-14, 2008 | 50% | 40% |
| Research 2000 | Dec 3-6, 2007 | 49% | 42% |
[edit] Results
Primary elections were held on August 26, 2008.[9]
[edit] ADL primary
The "ADL" ballot contained all of the primary candidates for the Alaska Democratic Party, the Alaskan Independence Party, and Libertarian Party of Alaska.
| Alaska "ADL" House of Representatives primary, 2008[10] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Democratic | Ethan Berkowitz | 39,784 | 53.17% | |
| Democratic | Diane Benson | 28,347 | 37.89% | |
| Alaskan Independence | Don Wright | 6,690 | 8.94% | |
| Totals | 74,821 | 100.00% | ||
[edit] Republican primary
| Alaska Republican House of Representatives primary, 2008[10] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Votes | Percentage |
| Don Young (incumbent) | 48,195 | 45.47% |
| Sean Parnell | 47,891 | 45.19% |
| Gabrielle LeDoux | 9,901 | 9.34% |
| Totals | 105,987 | 100.00% |
[edit] General election
| United States House of Representatives election in Alaska, 2008[11] | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | |
| Republican | Don Young (incumbent) | 158,939 | 50.14% | |
| Democratic | Ethan Berkowitz | 142,560 | 44.97% | |
| Alaskan Independence | Don Wright | 14,274 | 4.50% | |
| Independent | Write-in candidates | 1,205 | 0.38% | |
| Invalid or blank votes | 10,363 | 3.17% | ||
| Totals | 327,341 | 100.00% | ||
| Voter turnout | 66.03% | |||
| Republican hold | ||||
[edit] References
- ^ Alaska Division of Elections
- ^ Sutton, Anne Young's slim lead grows a bit more in Alaska House race Anchorage Daily News, September 6, 2008
- ^ Anne Sutton, "No recount in GOP race for Alaska's House seat", Associated Press, September 18, 2008.
- ^ AK-Sen, AK-AL: No "Palin bump" for House and Senate races kos, Daily Kos, September 18, 2008
- ^ CQ Politics Forecast
- ^ ap.google.com, Young retains US House seat in Alaska
- ^ kfor.com, Young retains US House seat in Alaska
- ^ Web site flap prompts Alaska Democrat to give up House race AP, May 7, 2008
- ^ GEMS elections results
- ^ a b "Official Primary Election Results" (PDF). State of Alaska: Division of Elections. 2008-09-18. http://www.elections.alaska.gov/08prim/data/results.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-12-03.
- ^ "Official General Election Results" (PDF). State of Alaska: Division of Elections. 2008-12-03. http://www.elections.alaska.gov/08general/data/results.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-12-03.
- 2008 Competitive House Race Chart The Cook Political Report, November 4, 2008.
- 2008 House Ratings The Rothenberg Political Report, November 2, 2008
[edit] External links
- Race ranking and details from CQ Politics
- U.S. Congress candidates for Alaska at Project Vote Smart
- Alaska U.S. House Races from 2008 Race Tracker
- Campaign contributions for Alaska congressional races from OpenSecrets.org
- Young (R-i) vs Berkowitz (D) graph of collected poll results from Pollster.com
- 2008 Election from The Anchorage Daily News newspaper
- Official campaign websites
- Don Young for Congress, Republican Incumbent
- Sean Parnell for Congress. Republican
- Gabrielle LeDoux for Congress, Republican
- Diane Benson for Congress, Democratic
- Ethan Berkowitz for Congress, Democratic
- Jake Metcalfe for Congress, Democratic
| Preceded by 2006 elections |
United States House election in Alaska 2008 |
Succeeded by 2010 elections |
