2008 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska

The 2008 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska was held on November 4, 2008, to determine who would 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]

2008 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska

← 2006 November 4, 2008 2010 →

Nominee Don Young Ethan Berkowitz Party Republican Democratic Popular vote 158,939 142,560 Percentage 50.1% 45.0%

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

Alaska's at-large congressional district covers the entire state and had 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]

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

• Don Wright

Democratic

• Diane E. Benson, 2006 nominee, 2002 Green Party nominee for governor
• Ethan Berkowitz, nominee, former Minority Leader, Alaska House of Representatives
• 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 website.^[8]

Results

2008 Alaska "ADL" House of Representatives primary^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Ethan Berkowitz	39,784	53.17
	Democratic	Diane Benson	28,347	37.89
	Independence	Don Wright	6,690	8.94
Total votes			74,821	100.00

Republican primary

Candidates

• Gabrielle LeDoux, state representative
• Sean Parnell, lieutenant governor of Alaska
• Don Young, nominee, incumbent congressman

Results

2008 Alaska Republican House of Representatives primary[9]
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%

General election

Polling

Source	Date	Ethan Berkowitz (D)	Don Young (R)
Research 2000[10]	May 12–14, 2008	50%	40%
Research 2000[11]	December 3–6, 2007	49%	42%

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
The Cook Political Report[12]	Tossup	November 6, 2008
Rothenberg[13]	Likely D (flip)	November 2, 2008
Sabato's Crystal Ball[14]	Lean D (flip)	November 6, 2008
Real Clear Politics[15]	Lean D (flip)	November 7, 2008
CQ Politics[16]	Lean D (flip)	November 6, 2008

Results

2008 Alaska's at-large congressional district election^[17]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Don Young (incumbent)	158,939	50.14
	Democratic	Ethan Berkowitz	142,560	44.97
	Independence	Don Wright	14,274	4.50
	Write-in		1,205	0.38
Valid ballots			316,978	96.83
Invalid or blank votes			10,363	3.17
Total votes			327,341	100.00
Turnout				66.03
	Republican hold