United States House of Representatives election in Alaska, 2008

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United States House of Representatives election in Alaska, 2008
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←  2006 November 4, 2008 2010  →
  Don Young, official photo portrait, color, 2006.jpg Ethan Berkowitz.jpg
Nominee Don Young Ethan Berkowitz
Party Republican Democratic
Popular vote158,939142,560
Percentage50.14%44.97%
Representative At-large before election

Don Young
Republican

Elected Representative At-large


Don Young
Republican

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]

U.S. state constituent political entity of the United States

In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are currently 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory and shares its sovereignty with the federal government. Due to this shared sovereignty, Americans are citizens both of the federal republic and of the state in which they reside. State citizenship and residency are flexible, and no government approval is required to move between states, except for persons restricted by certain types of court orders. Four states use the term commonwealth rather than state in their full official names.

Alaska State of the United States of America

Alaska is a U.S. state in the northwest extremity of North America, just across the Bering Strait from Asia. The Canadian province of British Columbia and territory of Yukon border the state to the east and southeast. Its most extreme western part is Attu Island, and it has a maritime border with Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. To the north are the Chukchi and Beaufort seas—southern parts of the Arctic Ocean. The Pacific Ocean lies to the south and southwest. It is the largest U.S. state by area and the seventh largest subnational division in the world. In addition, it is the 3rd least populous and the most sparsely populated of the 50 United States; nevertheless, it is by far the most populous territory located mostly north of the 60th parallel in North America: its population—estimated at 738,432 by the United States Census Bureau in 2015— is more than quadruple the combined populations of Northern Canada and Greenland. Approximately half of Alaska's residents live within the Anchorage metropolitan area. Alaska's economy is dominated by the fishing, natural gas, and oil industries, resources which it has in abundance. Military bases and tourism are also a significant part of the economy.

United States House of Representatives lower house of the United States Congress

The United States House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they comprise the legislature of the United States.

Contents

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.

Don Young U.S. Representative from Alaska

Donald Edwin Young is an American politician serving as the U.S. Representative for Alaska's at-large congressional district, currently serving in his 24th term in the House, having served since 1973. A member of the Republican Party, he is the longest-serving member of the United States House of Representatives from the Republican Party and from State of Alaska, the longest currently serving member of Congress, and the last remaining member of Congress who has been in office since the Nixon Administration. He is also the oldest current member of either chamber of the U.S. Congress. He became Dean of the House of Representatives on December 5, 2017, after the resignation of John Conyers from Michigan.

Ethan Berkowitz American lawyer and politician

Ethan A. Berkowitz is an American politician who is the current mayor of Anchorage, 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 to a second term in 2018.

Donald Rose Wright was an American politician from Alaska.

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]

Diane E. Benson is an Alaskan politician, inspirational speaker, video production consultant, published writer and dramatist. On August 24, 2010, she became the 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.

Jake Metcalfe is an attorney, union manager, and politician, a former chair of the Alaska Democratic Party and a former Anchorage School Board President. On July 30, 2007, Metcalfe announced his intention to run for Alaska's At-large congressional district in 2008. In May 2008, he dropped out of the race, after a former campaign worker was accused of establishing fake websites about one of his primary opponents, Ethan Berkowitz.

Sean Parnell Alaska governor

Sean R. Parnell is an American politician of the Republican Party. He succeeded Sarah Palin in July 2009 to become the tenth governor of Alaska and served until 2014. Parnell 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 statehood. In 2014, he narrowly lost his bid for re-election and has since returned to work in the private sector.

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'.

Research 2000 was a U.S. opinion polling and marketing research company based in Olney, Maryland. It began doing research on upcoming elections in 1999 after its President, Del Ali, moved on from Mason-Dixon Political Media Research. Research 2000 clients have included KCCI-TV in Des Moines, Iowa;, WCAX-TV in Burlington, Vermont; WISC-TV in Madison, Wisconsin; WKYT-TV in Lexington, Kentucky; Lee Enterprises, the Concord Monitor, The Florida Times-Union, WSBT-TV/WISH-TV/WANE-TV in Indiana, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Bergen Record, the Reno Gazette-Journal, and the political blog Daily Kos.

Daily Kos Political blog focused on the Democratic Party and liberal American politics

Daily Kos is a group blog and internet forum focused on the Democratic Party and liberal American politics. The site features a participatory political encyclopedia ("DKosopedia"), glossaries, and other content. It is sometimes considered an example of "netroots" activism.

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

Candidates

Alaskan Independence

Democratic

Alaska House of Representatives lower house in the Alaska Legislature

The Alaska House of Representatives is the lower house in the Alaska Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alaska. The House is composed of 40 members, each of whom represents a district of approximately 17,756 people per 2010 Census figures. Members serve two-year terms without term limits. With 40 representatives, the Alaska House is the smallest state legislative lower house in the United States.

The Alaska Democratic Party is the affiliate branch of the United States Democratic Party in the state of Alaska, headquartered in Anchorage.

Domain name identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within the Internet

A domain name is a label that identifies a network domain: a distinct group of computers under a central administration or authority.

Republican

Polling

SourceDateBerkowitz (D)Young (R)
Research 2000 May 12-14, 200850%40%
Research 2000 Dec 3-6, 200749%42%

Results

Primary elections were held on August 26, 2008. [9]

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]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Ethan Berkowitz 39,78453.17
Democratic Diane Benson 28,34737.89
Alaskan Independence Don Wright6,6908.94
Total votes74,821100.00

Republican primary

Alaska Republican House of Representatives primary, 2008 [10]
CandidateVotesPercentage
Don Young (incumbent)48,19545.47%
Sean Parnell 47,89145.19%
Gabrielle LeDoux9,9019.34%
Totals105,987100.00%

General election

Alaska's at-large congressional district election, 2008 [11]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Don Young (incumbent)158,93950.14
Democratic Ethan Berkowitz 142,56044.97
Alaskan Independence Don Wright14,2744.50
Independent Write-in candidates 1,2050.38
Valid ballots316,97896.83
Invalid or blank votes10,3633.17
Total votes327,341100.00
Turnout  66.03
Republican hold

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References

  1. ↑ Alaska Division of Elections
  2. ↑ Sutton, Anne Young's slim lead grows a bit more in Alaska House race 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 2008-06-17. Retrieved 2008-07-17.
  6. ↑ ap.google.com, Young retains US House seat in Alaska [ dead link ]
  7. ↑ kfor.com, Young retains US House seat in Alaska
  8. ↑ Web site flap prompts Alaska Democrat to give up House race AP, May 7, 2008[ dead link ]
  9. ↑ GEMS elections results
  10. 1 2 "Official Primary Election Results" (PDF). State of Alaska: Division of Elections. 2008-09-18. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 27, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
  11. ↑ "Official General Election Results" (PDF). State of Alaska: Division of Elections. 2008-12-03. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 27, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
General
Preceded by
2006 elections 		United States House election in Alaska
2008		Succeeded by
2010 elections
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