Benjamin Nageak facts for kids

Benjamin P. Nageak, born on March 26, 1950, is an American politician. He was a member of the Democratic Party. He served in the Alaska House of Representatives, representing District 40. His time in office was from January 18, 2013, to January 17, 2017.

Benjamin Nageak's Political Journey

Serving the North Slope Borough

In the 1990s, Benjamin Nageak began his political journey. He was elected to the assembly of the North Slope Borough. A "borough" in Alaska is like a county in other states. It is a local government area.

After serving for one year on the assembly, he was elected as the borough's mayor. He held the position of mayor for one three-year term. This was from 1996 to 1999.

Before he decided to run for the Alaska House in 2012, Nageak worked as a special assistant. He helped the borough's mayor at that time, Charlotte Brower.

Representing Alaska in the House

Benjamin Nageak decided to run for a seat in the Alaska House of Representatives in 2012. This is where laws are made for the state of Alaska. The person who held the seat before him, Reggie Joule, decided not to run again.

• In 2012, Nageak won the Democratic Primary election. This is an election where voters choose which candidate will represent their party in the main election. He received 714 votes, which was about 36% of the votes.
• He then won the General Election on November 6, 2012. This is the main election where people vote for their chosen representative. He received 3,444 votes, which was about 96% of the votes. He ran against write-in candidates, meaning people wrote in names not officially on the ballot.
• Like the representative before him, Nageak chose to work with the Republican majority in the House. This means he joined their group to help pass laws.

• In 2014, Nageak ran for reelection. He won the Democratic primary against Dean Westlake. Nageak received 1,104 votes (53%), while Westlake received 973 votes. Nageak then ran unopposed in the general election, meaning no one ran against him.

• In 2016, Nageak faced Dean Westlake again in the Democratic primary election. Westlake appeared to win by a very small margin. The initial count showed Westlake with 819 votes and Nageak with 798 votes.

Election Recount and Court Challenge

After the 2016 primary election, a recount was done. A recount is when votes are counted again to make sure the results are correct. The recount confirmed that Nageak had lost, but only by four votes. He decided to challenge the results.

A further review of the votes showed Westlake's lead grew to eight votes. Westlake had 825 votes, and Nageak had 817 votes. An Anchorage judge, Andrew Guidi, heard Nageak's challenge. The judge changed some vote counts, giving Nageak a two-vote victory.

However, this decision was then appealed to the state's highest court, the Alaska Supreme Court. The Alaska Supreme Court disagreed with Judge Guidi's decision. They reversed it, which meant Dean Westlake was declared the winner of the primary election.