Does Al Gross Actually Have A Chance In The Alaska Senate Race?

Squinting into the sun and clad in a puffy orange Patagonia jacket, Dr. Al Gross made his case.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1343791
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Based on the current numbers and taking into account the 157k outstanding votes to count, he’d have to win about 70% to take a small lead. Doable, but doubtful.

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Sadly, no. Moving on.

Help Stacy Abrams help all of us in Georgia.

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Has no one else met people from Alaska? It’s Alabama with snow.

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Seems quite a long shot, but I would take it. Anything to make #moscowmitch a minority “leader” again.

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The one person I know in Alaska is a democrat. He’s also Jewish. In college he used to say that he went to high school with the popstar Jewel.

Just saying.

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Broad generalizations don’t help, as an Alaskan who is a little more aware of the diversity of opinions up here. Ohio Dan is no gem, but he and the RNC did a full scale job of painting Gross as a Californian, conveniently glossing over his own lack of time in Alaska.
Turnout on Election Day was surprisingly busy, and I saw more supporters of both sides out than the last election here in interior Alaska.

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Well that explains Gross’s vote total. Also, one exception doesn’t change the broader landscape. You have to go back to the 1964 election to see a Blue Alaska. Even Alabama has a better record than that.

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To: Democrats
Re: Winning the US Senate

Send Lawyers, Guns Canvassers, and Money!

(In reverse order please.)

Signed,
Raphaele & Jon

PS: Send c/o Stacey Adams

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Bummer, Gross is a genuinely good guy, from a natural resources standpoint in particular.

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OTOH? Pennsyltucky managed to put Joe over the top.

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Welcome. Local perspectives are always nice.

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I didn’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings, but history is what it is. I am a Democrat in Alabama and I, too, am aware of some slight diversity of opinion in my state, but that isn’t going to change the state’s overwhelming number of gops.

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Seems that ballots coming in this late would be from the more remote areas, right? Native villages and the like. Is there any info on where these ballots are from or what that might mean?

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We know a couple who live in Juneau. He’s a republican, she’s a democrat, and they get along. Both very nice people. Life is full of mystery.

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“… received by Thursday the 13th will be counted.”
Which is it Thursday which in fact is the 12th or Friday the 13th?

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True, but Pennsylvania’s vote has been within a few percent since at least 2000. Alabama is HEAVILY gop with 60+% every election… So is Alaska at 50+% gop and the Dems usually pulling mid 30s (largely due to the plethora of “independent” or minor party candidates).

So, can we win Alabama or Oklahoma? No. Not that we shouldn’t try, but as things stand currently, these people would rather swallow a live frog twice a day than vote for a Democrat. My recommendation is to study a targeted state in detail for some years to understand what drives the voters and then see if there are viable Democratic policies that can constructively address their issues.

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I don’t understand the James Carville/Mary Matalin marriages. I certainly don’t understand the George and Kelly Ann Conway marriage.

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These are the mail-in ballots — all of them, not just ones from remote areas. Probably the vast majority are from Anchorage, Juneau, etc. — which are Democratic. And they should skew Democratic even beyond what the general D lean of the cities is — so it seems possible for Gross to get 68% of them or so (the article, as another commenter noted, seems incorrect in saying that Gross needs 80% of the remaining ballots to catch Sullivan). Keeping hope alive!

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I think that would be an amazing upset!

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