New Poll Shows Dem Challenger Leading Don Young
Big news out of Alaska: A new poll from Ivan Moore Research shows Democrat Ethan Berkowitz leading 18-term incumbent Don Young (R-AK) by a 51%-45.5% margin.
The poll also finds that a near-majority of Alaska voters have grown sour on the scandal-tainted Young, with almost 50% of likely voters having a negative feeling toward the incumbent, and 43% still feeling positive.
Berkowitz, the 2006 nominee for Lt. Governor in the state, is one of three Democrats in the race to take on Young, but the poll only tests his strength against Young. Another surprising finding from the poll: only roughly 15% of respondents did not recognize his name.
Comments (3)
Daniel wrote on October 15, 2007 10:10 AM:Meanwhile another Republican named Young, this time in FL-10, reported raising an abysmally low amount in the 3rd quarter, prompting speculation that he might retire. FL-10 is extremely competitive, as it went for Kerry by 2 points.
Steve wrote on October 15, 2007 11:32 AM:Congressman Young, it's time to retire.
Ed*ard Teller wrote on October 15, 2007 2:57 PM:It has been predicted that as soon as Berkowitz declared, which he did last week, he would engage pollster Moore. The methodology of the poll seems secure. But Berkowitz is running in a long primary contest that won't end until August of 2008. His other challengers have viable campaigns going. Berkowitz has bolted out of the gate this week, and is sure to bring in a lot of campaign money from outside the state. But he has stronger negatives among those who will be voting in the Dem primary than Moore's publicly released data suggests, perhaps by a telling margin.
The reason Young's voter ID is so high is that he had been in office for 18 years when Berkowitz moved to Alaska from San Francisco. When Democratic primary challenger Diane Benson was 18, and challenger Jake Metcalfe was 14, Young took his seat in the U.S. House. Every other year since 1973, Alaskans have been subjected to folksy Don Young propaganda on TV, radio, yard signs, bumper stickers and bus sideboards. He had been in office for 13 years when my daughter, who is now a senior in college, was born. He is the only national-level statewide office politician in the history of the USA to have had his message thumped out so often for so long.
