Poll: Democrats ahead in red state of Alaska, for both Senate and House

Big political news might be coming from Alaska, with new numbers from local pollster Ivan Moore showing Democratic Sen. Mark Begich ahead for re-election in this red state — and longtime GOP Rep. Don Young trailing among likely voters, in the wake of his recent controversial comments about suicide.

Begich has 50 percent support against Republican former state Attorney General Dan Sullivan, who has 42 percent. Begich narrowly won his seat in 2008, becoming the first Democrat to represent the state since the 1970s, and he has been a top target for Republican efforts to win the Senate.

In the House race, Democratic candidate Forrest Dunbar has 46 percent support, ahead of Young with only 41 percent. Young recently apologized for public comments he made, claiming that government aid to people leads to suicides. Young has been the state's sole representative in the House since 1973.

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The survey was conducted from Oct. 24 to 26, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.5 percentage points for its likely voter sample.