Bart LeBon has won the Fairbanks District 1 House race by one vote.
If he survives a court challenge by Democrats over the vote counting, he’ll be heading back to Juneau in January as the newest House representative. He’s been in Juneau for the past 24 hours to observe the ballot recount for the seat.
Before today, the election had been certified as a tie with Democrat Kathryn Dodge, 2,661 to 2,661. Then it was 2,662 to 2,662. And by 3:20, the final tally was 2,263 to 2,662.
The fate of the House of Representatives power structure depends largely on this seat. Without it, there would be no majority for either the Democrats or Republicans.
Amazingly, the vote that decided the matter came from a felon, whose vote was challenged by the Democrats who were observing the process today. They thought he didn’t have his voting rights restored. Then the ballot was also challenged by Republicans for the same reason.
The felon was automatically registered when he filed for his Permanent Fund dividend.
The Division of Elections looked into it and said the felon had had his voting rights restored. They decided to count the ballot.
It was for LeBon.
LeBon said he was impressed by the professionalism of the Division of Elections. But he also expects a court challenge from the Democrats.
“With elections law, this world is still really new to me. I thought after the election the dust would settle out really quickly. I never dreamed three weeks later we’ve be here in Juneau, hammering it all out,” he said. He said he has learned a lot about elections in recent weeks.
“I had an expectation that when folks step into the booth they vote the whole ballots. I discovered a lot of people will skip races. I didn’t expect to see as much of that as we did.”
Lawyer up, Bart. The fight is only beginning.
Republicans appeal to their base, felons like their President. Voting rights restored by Putin.
Thank God the felon was already from Alaska. Dems were praying a few illegals would bust down the fence at Tijuana in time to catch a flight to Alaska and cast their vote for Dodge.
Does it bother anyone that the felon’s vote WASN’T SECRET?!?!? Apparently it doesn’t trouble the author in the slightest. Hello! Wake up! When has it been ok for the state to know how you voted?
Obviously you have never voted here in Alaska.
Bart, we told you that you were going to have a fight on your hands. Kathy Dodge is getting too old to run again in 2020. She wants your job……..today. Don’t let her steal your win. Get a good lawyer and light a fire under the Repubs. Make sure that your other votes that were discarded are back in play. Fight the Dems and Kathy Dodge with full force. That’s how you stay in the game.
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