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Results by state house district Begich: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% Young: 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||
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Elections in Alaska |
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The 1972 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska was held on November 7, 1972, to elect the United States representative from Alaska's at-large congressional district. Incumbent Democratic Representative Nick Begich went missing shortly before the general election, but still defeated Republican nominee Don Young. [1]
This was the last time that a Democrat won Alaska's House seat until 2022’s special election, when Mary Peltola was elected to succeed the late Young. [2]
On February 10, 1972, incumbent Representative Nick Begich announced that he would seek reelection to the House of Representatives. [3] He had considered running for the Democratic senatorial nomination against Republican Senator Ted Stevens, but chose to run for reelection and reaffirmed his intention on March 27. [4] [5]
On April 7, Don Young, a member of the Alaska Senate, stated that he was considering running for the Republican nomination for Alaska's congressional district. [6] At the Republican Party's state convention, the party gave its support to Young, although he had not formally announced his candidacy for the House of Representatives. [7] On May 22, Young announced his candidacy after filing to run in Juneau. [8]
On June 1, Bruce Dickerson Stevens filed to run for the Republican nomination, but did not actively campaign in the primary. [9] [10] [11]
On August 22, the open primary was held in which Begich placed first with nearly 70% of the popular vote, Young placed second with 25.60%, and Stevens placed third with less than 5%. [12]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Nick Begich (incumbent) | 37,873 | 69.45% | ||
Republican | Don Young | 13,958 | 25.60% | ||
Republican | Bruce Dickerson Stevens | 2,703 | 4.96% | ||
Total votes | 54,534 | 100.00% |
On September 6, 1972, Young challenged Begich to debate him, and Begich accepted on September 14. [13] [14] Four or five debates were planned to be held between Begich and Young, but Begich disappeared on October 16, while traveling by airplane with House Majority Leader Hale Boggs. [15]
On October 19, Young suspended his campaign activities until Begich was found, but later resumed campaigning on October 28. Young stated that he believed that he was "doing what I think is best for the state" as if Begich was never found or discovered to have died then Alaska could not have a representative for six months until a special election was held to fill Begich's vacancy. [16] [17] House Minority Leader Gerald Ford stated that Alaska would possibly risk its seniority in the House of Representatives and House committee assignments if Young was not elected. [18]
However, despite Young and Ford's statements, Begich won reelection with 56.24% of the popular vote against Young's 43.76%. [19] Begich never reappeared and was declared dead in absentia in December 1972. His body was never found.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic | Nick Begich (incumbent) | 53,651 | 56.24% | +1.13% | |
Republican | Don Young | 41,750 | 43.76% | −1.13% | |
Total votes | 95,401 | 100.00% |