by Evie Fordham
A potential investigation hangs over an Alaska State House Republican primary after the race came down to a few votes, but irregularities like 17 voter registrations that trace back to a single mobile home address caught the attention of the Alaska Division of Elections.
Incumbent Gabrielle LeDoux leads challenger Aaron Weaver by 113 votes after Tuesday’s election, but at least 26 absentee ballots for LeDoux are classified as “suspect” by the state Division of Elections, reported KTVA.
The state Republican Party Chairman Tuckerman Babcock is calling for an investigation. LeDoux fell out of favor with her party in 2016 after she abandoned the Republican caucus.
The 17 Republican voter registrations linked to a single mobile home are in a section of House District 15 that is home to members of the Chinese Hmong community. A woman who answered the door of the mobile home and identified herself as Laura Chang told KTVA she did not know many of the people who registered to vote using the address.
Another mobile home in the same park has 14 registered Republicans according to voter registrations, reported Anchorage Daily News.
The irregularities in voter registrations appear to trace back to a single man, Charlie Chang. LeDoux “reportedly flew Chang up from California and paid him $10,000 to help get out the vote in the Hmong community in her district” in July, according to campaign finance reports cited by KTVA.
“I hired him for a number of elections, for several elections, and I have no reason to think that he’s done anything wrong,” LeDoux told Anchorage Daily News.
Chang himself is registered to vote with an address in a mobile home in the Hmong neighborhood although other documentation states he lives in California, reported KTVA.
State attorney Margaret Paton-Walsh admitted there was evidence of voter fraud Monday, reported Alaska Public Media. Elections results are set to be certified Saturday.
LeDoux had a three-vote deficit on election night Tuesday but passed Weaver when absentee and other ballots were counted.
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Evie Fordham is a reporter at Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Evie on Twitter @eviefordham.
