The Division of Elections has issued the official results, and in the far-north District 40, Democrat Dean Westlake is ahead of Democrat Representative Ben Nageak by 4 votes, 819-815.
Evidently there were 14 absentee-in-person votes that came into Nome from Barrow and those went heavily for Nageak.
The four-vote difference means that the state will have to do a recount at its own expense for District 40. Yet it will likely certify the results, and there will probably be a legal challenge. The vote summary is here:
http://www.elections.alaska.gov/results/16PRIM/data/results.htm
Shungnak results are: 47 Westlake 3 Nageak, whereas before today it was reported as 48 Westlake and 2 Nageak. The Division shows 100 cards cast in Shungnak, where 50 voters got to cast two ballots — one for Democrats and one for Republicans. That means the vote in Shungnak was illegal.
The precinct breakdown is here:
http://www.elections.alaska.gov/results/16PRIM/data/sovc/hd40.pdf
The Alaska Democratic Party weighed heavily in this primary race, pouring tens of thousands of dollars into challenger Westlake’s race against the elder incumbent.
Westlake, who has a record of domestic violence incidents with the Alaska Court system, is in his second attempt to unseat Nageak, who is a conservative Democrat.
