2008 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska

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2008 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska
Flag of Alaska.svg
  2006 November 4, 2008 2010  
  Don Young, official photo portrait, color, 2006 (cropped).jpg Ethan Berkowitz.jpg
Nominee Don Young Ethan Berkowitz
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote158,939142,560
Percentage50.1%45.0%

2008 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska by State House District.svg
Results by state house district
Young:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%
Berkowitz:      40–50%     50–60%     60–70%

Representative At-large before election

Don Young
Republican

Elected Representative At-large

Don Young
Republican

The 2008 United States House of Representatives 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 was elected would serve in the 111th Congress from January 4, 2009, until January 3, 2011. The election coincided with the nationwide presidential election. The primary election was held August 26, 2008. [1]

Contents

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]

AK01 109.png

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.

Candidates

Alaskan Independence

Democratic

Results

2008 Alaska "ADL" House of Representatives primary [9]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Ethan Berkowitz 39,784 53.17
Democratic Diane Benson 28,34737.89
Independence Don Wright 6,690 8.94
Total votes74,821 100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

Results

2008 Alaska Republican House of Representatives primary [9]
CandidateVotesPercentage
Don Young (incumbent)48,19545.47%
Sean Parnell 47,89145.19%
Gabrielle LeDoux9,9019.34%
Totals105,987100.00%

General election

Polling

SourceDateEthan
Berkowitz (D)
Don
Young (R)
Research 2000 [10] May 12–14, 200850%40%
Research 2000 [11] December 3–6, 200749%42%

Results

2008 Alaska's at-large congressional district election [12]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Don Young (incumbent) 158,939 50.14
Democratic Ethan Berkowitz 142,56044.97
Independence Don Wright14,2744.50
Write-in 1,2050.38
Valid ballots316,97896.83
Invalid or blank votes10,3633.17
Total votes327,341 100.00
Turnout  66.03
Republican hold

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethan Berkowitz</span> American politician

Ethan Avram Berkowitz is an American attorney, businessman, and politician from Alaska. From 1997 to 2007 he was the Alaska State Representative for District 26, serving as the Democratic Party Minority Leader from 1999 to 2007. He was the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 2006, for Alaska's at-large congressional district in 2008, and for governor in 2010. He was elected mayor of Anchorage in 2015, and reelected in 2018. Berkowitz resigned as mayor of Anchorage in October 2020 after admitting to being in a "consensual, inappropriate messaging relationship" with a reporter.

Diane E. Benson is an Alaskan politician, writer and dramatist. She was the 2010 Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor of Alaska, defeating three other opponents in the Democratic primary. Benson's running mate for governor was former state House minority leader Ethan Berkowitz; they lost in the general election to the Republican ticket of Sean Parnell and Mead Treadwell by 22% of the vote.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Parnell</span> American politician (born 1962)

Sean Randall Parnell is an American attorney and politician who was the tenth governor of Alaska from 2009 to 2014. He succeeded Sarah Palin in July 2009, and was elected governor in his own right in 2010 with 59.06% of the vote, as the largest percentage margin of any Alaska governor since the state's admission into the United States. In 2014, he narrowly lost his bid for re-election and returned to work in the private sector. He is a member of the Republican Party.

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References

Specific

  1. Alaska Division of Elections
  2. Sutton, Anne Young's slim lead grows a bit more in Alaska House race Archived September 19, 2008, at the Wayback Machine Anchorage Daily News , September 6, 2008
  3. Anne Sutton, "No recount in GOP race for Alaska's House seat", Associated Press, September 18, 2008.[ dead link ]
  4. AK-Sen, AK-AL: No "Palin bump" for House and Senate races kos, Daily Kos, September 18, 2008
  5. "CQ Politics Forecast". Archived from the original on June 17, 2008. Retrieved July 17, 2008.
  6. ap.google.com, Young retains US House seat in Alaska [ dead link ]
  7. kfor.com, Young retains US House seat in Alaska [ permanent dead link ]
  8. Web site flap prompts Alaska Democrat to give up House race AP, May 7, 2008[ dead link ]
  9. 1 2 "Official Primary Election Results" (PDF). State of Alaska: Division of Elections. September 18, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 27, 2008. Retrieved December 3, 2008.
  10. Research 2000
  11. Research 2000
  12. "Official General Election Results" (PDF). State of Alaska: Division of Elections. December 3, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 27, 2008. Retrieved December 3, 2008.

General

Preceded by
2006 elections
United States House election in Alaska
2008
Succeeded by
2010 elections