Don Young Just Edging Out Parnell In Alaska GOP Primary

By John Bresnahan

(The Politico)  It looks like longtime Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) may have narrowly won his primary last night, but the race is not officially over yet.

As of 4 a.m. in Alaska, Young was & nbsp;beating challenger Sean Parnell by more than & nbsp;just 145 votes out of more than 84,000 cast (42,461 to 42,316). That's with 98 percent & nbsp;of the ballots counted, according to the Alaska Secretary of State's office.

In the last few days, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee dumped some money into the race to bash Parnell, fearing that Parnell could win and be a tougher opponent in the general election.

But it looks like Young, a 36-year veteran of the House, may have pulled off the victory despite being linked to the VECO corruption scandal. Thus, the DCCC may have gotten its best possible scenario & nbsp; & mdash; a weakened Don Young facing off against Democrat Ethan Berkowitz, a former state representative.

As my colleague Josh Kraushaar noted, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who is under indictment for lying on his annual financial disclosure forms, easily won his primary challenge and now faces Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D) in the general. Stevens' corruption trail is scheduled to begin on Sept. 24 in Washington, D.C.

DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen told Politico yesterday that Democrats would prefer to run against Young in a general election, but said they are preparing to contest the seat no matter who wins.

& ldquo;We are going to compete in that district no matter what. But the lessons from the last election were that if you & rsquo;ve got a incumbent being investigated by the FBI who has the ethical problems that Don Young & rsquo;s got, that presents a big opportunity, & rdquo; said Van Hollen. & ldquo;Clearly if Don Young is the candidate, the campaign will take a different kind of focus on all the problems he & rsquo;s had. & rdquo;

The DCCC has been involved in the Republican primary, sending out mailers accusing Parnell of supporting tax increases.