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Rep. Don Young’s (R-Alaska) fate could be decided late Friday as Alaska prepares to count absentee and provision ballots. With 100 percent of precincts reporting on the August 26th primary, Young held a 151-vote advantage over Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell in the hotly contested GOP primary. Alaska Division of Elections spokeswoman Shelly Growden said Friday afternoon that she expects all of 20,000 to 25,000 outstanding ballots to be counted Friday evening, with results posted late in the day on the division’s website.A plurality of the outstanding ballots are from the Anchorage area, a cluster of voter districts that made up 54 percent of the total of votes cast in first count of the primary. In those districts, Young won 49.2 percent of those ballots, and Parnell won 42.5 percent. “We’re cautiously optimistic about tonight’s results,” said Young spokesman Mike Anderson. “It would be disrespectful to make any assumptions, though. “ Anderson said the campaign is preparing for a variety of scenarios, and said that a margin of 500 to 750 votes or above would indicate a comfort level from which the campaign could move forward. A candidate can request a recount if the margin is within half a percent. A spokesperson for the Parnell campaign was not immediately available for comment.
Parnell or Young will face Democrat Ethan Berkowitz in the general election, a highly-touted recruit who Democrats hope will win the at-large seat for the first time since Young’s election to Congress in 1973. A poll by Ivan Moore Research showed Parnell faring better against Berkowitz than Young. In a Parnell-Berkowitz matchup, Parnell has a 49-38 advantage. In a Young-Berkowitz race, Berkowitz would win, 54-37. The poll, conducted between August 30 and September 2, has a 4.4 percent margin of error.
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