Parnell and Young are neck-and-neck in early polling
Candidates are separated by 3 points, LeDoux trails both
Published Monday, May 12, 2008
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Stumble It!WASHINGTON, D.C. — The latest poll by the Hays Research Group shows incumbent Don Young with a slight lead over challenger Sean Parnell in the Republican primary for the U.S. House of Representatives.
The poll gives Young 45 percent of the vote, while Parnell captures 42 percent among registered Republicans. State Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, of Kodiak, comes in a distant third with only 2 percent of the vote in the primary.
However, the survey included just 128 registered Republicans, giving it a margin of error of nearly 9 percentage points. It also failed to include unaffiliated voters, which account for about half of all possible voters.
Ann Hays, owner of the Anchorage polling firm, said the poll reflects the larger trend she’s seeing among Republican opinions of the candidates.
“It definitely shows that Young and Parnell are close,” she said, “and that Gabrielle LeDoux is not really a component in the race.”
Hays said she conducted the survey for herself and focused solely on GOP candidates.
Ivan Moore, who does polling for Democratic candidate Ethan Berkowitz, said he would expect to see Young do better among registered Republicans than with nonpartisan voters.
Lt. Gov. Parnell would likely be in the lead if unaffiliated voters were included, Moore said.
The question about whom Republicans would vote for in the primary was part of a wider statewide survey of 403 likely voters, regardless of party affiliation, that Hays conducted Tuesday and Wednesday.
The larger poll shows 59 percent of likely voters have an unfavorable opinion of Young, while 37 percent of respondents said they had a very favorable or somewhat favorable opinion of him. The survey question has a margin of error of about 5 percentage points.
Young, 74, has struggled to build momentum for his re-election campaign because of ongoing federal investigations into his ties to lobbyists. Young denies any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.
The Cook Political Report recently switched its assessment of the House race from leans Republican to a toss-up between Republicans and Democrats.
McKinley defender retires
Ohio Republican Rep. Ralph Regula is retiring, but Alaskans aren’t likely to be able to rename their favorite mountain anytime soon.
Regula has repeatedly introduced legislation during his 35 years in Congress to prevent Alaska from switching the name of Mount McKinley to Denali.
Regula has recruited Ohio Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan to continue his tradition of blocking any attempt to change the mountain’s federal designation.
The mountain was named after then-governor of Ohio McKinley in 1896 by William Dickey, a prospector.
Dickey, in an account published in 1897, said he chose the name because the first news he heard on emerging from the wilderness was McKinley’s nomination as the Republican candidate for president.
The only problem is that the mountain already had a name. The local Athabascan people, who consider the mountain sacred, called it “Denali,” which means “great one.”
When Denali National Park and Preserve was established in 1980, the Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the name of the mountain back to Denali and it is the name most Alaskans use.
However, the U.S. Board on Geographic Names will not consider changing the name of a federal landmark as long as legislation exists to keep the status quo — so McKinley stays on the map.
Rep. Don Young, the ranking Republican on the House Natural Resources Committee, has offered to name another federal landmark in Ohio after McKinley, but he’s never been able to convince Regula to go along with the trade.
Steve Hansen, a spokesman for Young, told Congressional Quarterly that Young doesn’t have a problem naming a federal landmark after a president, but he objects to the fact that McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901 during his second term in office, never visited Alaska.
All three members of Alaska’s congressional delegation declined to comment on Regula’s retirement.
Community Discussion
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Shake off them chains, what a poor choice to have to live with, a nondescript loser of a president.
Right up there with Mt Carter or Bush.
I want to know where this pollster found almost 50 people to VOTE FOR Don Young?!?!? I would be surprised if they could find that many statewide who think he deserves another day, much less another term!! My vote is Don Young for retirement!!
IF doh doh (don) has three percent ahead of parnell, i guess we know where the 800,000 is going besides the hidden lawyer fees of near or more than a million dollars, if doh doh did committ a crime why is he wasting his money or more like contribution money which is illege as well on lawyer fees. Doh Doh should retire so he can at least be picked up as being RETIRED instead of an officially re-elected criminal, granted he is a good liar but there is a point liars are always caught. Right but if he pays well to lie, well should he get away with it??????????????????????????????????????????????
Remember May of '06, when Sarah Palin was just a blip on the radar? Let's make history repeat. It's time for Don to get Franked.
I'm personally hoping Ted gets Franked too... or Don'ed.
Where on earth did Ann Hays find her registered Republicans? I am a Republican and so are my friends (I have one friend who is a Democrat, but he is alright). I thought that might be funny, but the only joke here is Don Young. In my opinion Young should be in prison not Congress. I think a slightly broader poll would result in a much different result.
It is time for our delegation to be replaced. Don and Ted are arrogant and beyond usefull. Lisa was appointed by her father and does not deserve to stay.
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