Voters mull future of predator control program

Indictments don't spoil Stevens' re-election bid
By STEVE QUINN
Associated Press Writer

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) _ Don Young, Alaska's lone congressman for the last 35 years, remained locked in a tight race with the lieutenant governor Wednesday, a day after the state's primary election, and the winner may not be decided for days.

U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens breezed to an expected primary win Tuesday, even as he faces federal charges. The 84-year-old Republican, feisty as ever, immediately proclaimed the November election a "piece of cake."

That's despite some major hurdles Stevens faces in the next few months.

Stevens has a September trial that will keep him off the campaign trail for weeks, and he's up against his toughest opponent in his 40 years in office: popular Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich.

Stevens won the race Tuesday with 63 percent of the vote, beating six other opponents, including his closest competitor Dave Cuddy by more than 35 percentage points.

Begich easily won the Democratic primary over two minor challengers with 91 percent of the vote.

Young, himself the subject of a federal investigation for his ties to oil field services company VECO Corp., eeked out a slim lead Wednesday with votes in the Republican primary counted in 98 percent of the state's precincts. He trailed Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell for most of election night, and the outcome remained uncertain as elections officials faced counting absentee ballots.

Young led Parnell by 145 votes — 42,461 to 42,316 — in the latest figures provided by the state Divisions of Elections.

On the Democratic side, former state Rep. Ethan Berkowitz won the Democratic race with 59 percent of the vote.

In Florida, meanwhile, Tom Rooney, a lawyer and former Army officer won a tight three-way Republican primary to compete in November for the office once held by disgraced Rep. Mark Foley.

Most everyone expected a Stevens-Begich matchup in the general election, but some questioned whether the indictment would cost Stevens votes in the GOP race.

In last month's indictment, federal prosecutors allege Stevens lied on Senate disclosure reports to conceal more than $250,000 in home renovations and gifts from executives at oil services contractor VECO Corp.

Stevens, the Senate's longest-serving Republican, has pleaded not guilty, and his trial in Washington starts Sept. 22.

That means he will spend weeks off the campaign trail, leaving the state largely to Begich.

Even so, Stevens doesn't seem worried.

"I'm doing my job," he said. "Alaskans trust me. This is still a Republican state."

Supporters gathered at Stevens' headquarters, and set off a loud cheer when the first results were announced. When they were posted, Stevens walked closer to the big screen television, adjusted a new pair of eyeglasses and said, "Looks good to me," before flashing a huge grin.

"The fight's on," Stevens said after his win. "I've got the troops behind me."

Begich has refused to bring corruption into the campaign, saying those are Stevens' challenges. Instead, he says he's trying to focus on issues like energy development, health care and education.

"A new style of leadership is needed in the U.S. Senate. People see the need. People like the new ideas. We need to look at the issues as Alaskans, as Americans," he said.

Stevens was ensnared in a federal corruption investigation of Alaska politics that has seen three state lawmakers sent to federal prison and two more awaiting trial. All five are Republicans.

Young said he was confident final results will give him a primary victory, but Parnell has the blessing and backing of his popular boss, Gov. Sarah Palin.

"What a night," Young said in a statement e-mailed shortly before 2 a.m. Wednesday. "This has been an extremely spirited and hard-fought primary and now it appears as if we won't know the results until sometime Wednesday, at the earliest."

Alaska voters also rejected a ballot measure to restrict the pollutants released into salmon streams or drinking water by new, large-scale mines.

Supporters said the measure was needed to protect the world's most productive wild salmon streams from the proposed Pebble Mine, a huge gold and copper deposit in southwest Alaska. Opponents feared the initiative would have threatened Alaska's economy, which has more than 5,500 mining jobs.

One voter, Thor Evenson of Anchorage, said he backed Begich simply because he's a Democrat.

"Right now I don't trust the Republicans, especially at the local level," Evenson said. "It's not an intuitive thing. There are people who have been convicted in federal court."

But another voter, Noel Janda of Anchorage, said he trusts Stevens, calling him a man who is "strictly business" and good for Alaska.

"I don't see anybody out there who is better," Janda said. "We need him in Washington. I don't think we can afford to lose him there."

The race in Florida had been closely watched nationally as Republicans try to take back the congressional seat lost after Foley resigned amid reports he sent lurid messages to teenage male congressional pages.

Rooney captured 37 percent of the vote and state Rep. Gayle Harrell came in second with 35 percent. Rooney will now face Democrat Rep. Tim Mahoney.

Election officials reported light turnout for Florida's primary, which featured no statewide races and few local and legislative races that have drawn intense interest.

Republicans consider Foley's old district, which extends from Palm Beach County across the state to Charlotte County on the Gulf coast, their only chance to boot a sitting Democrat. Mahoney barely beat the Republicans' last-minute replacement for Foley there two years ago.

August 27, 2008

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