1970 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska

1970 United States House of Representatives election in Alaska

← 1968 November 3, 1970 1972 →
 
Nominee Nick Begich Frank Murkowski
Party Democratic Republican
Popular vote 44,137 35,947
Percentage 55.1% 44.9%

Results by state house district
Begich:      50–60%      60–70%      70–80%      80–90%
Murkowski:      50–60%

Representative at-large before election

Howard Pollock
Republican

Elected Representative at-large

Nick Begich
Democratic

The Alaska congressional election of 1970 was held on Tuesday, November 3, 1970. The term of the state's sole Representative to the United States House of Representatives expired on January 3, 1971. Incumbent Howard Wallace Pollock retired to run for Governor of Alaska. The winning candidate would serve a two-year term from January 3, 1971, to January 3, 1973. Nick Begich defeated former Alaska Commissioner of Economic Development & Anchorage banker Frank Murkowski, by a margin of 10.2%.[1]

Begich would go missing on October 16, 1972, posthumously win the 1972 election, be declared dead on December 29, 1972, and be succeeded by Don Young, who won the 1973 special election. Young would hold the seat for 49 years, until his death in 2022. Murkowski would be elected U.S. Senator in the 1980 Senate election, and later become Governor for one term in the 2002 gubernatorial election.

  1. ^ Chinn, Ronald E. “The 1970 Election in Alaska.” The Western Political Quarterly, vol. 24, no. 2, 1971, pp. 234–42. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/446868. Accessed 5 Mar. 2023.