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Republican Ousted By Democrat in Shock Election Defeat Published
Newsweek ^ | 10/8/25 | Khaleda Rahman and Shane Croucher

Posted on 10/08/2025 5:36:06 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Alaska's City of Fairbanks Mayor David Pruhs, a Republican, conceded to Mindy O'Neall, a Democrat, in the mayoral election on Tuesday night.

According to unofficial election night results made available by the city of Fairbanks, O’Neall received 1,808 votes (54 percent) and Pruhs received 1,528 votes (45.7 percent).

Newsweek has contacted Pruhs and O'Neall for comment via emails sent outside regular business hours.

Why It Matters

The ballot in mayoral elections in Fairbanks does not list party affiliations next to candidates’ names, but Republicans have held the role in Fairbanks for nearly a decade.

Pruhs, a conservative backed by local Republicans, was elected mayor in 2022. O’Neall, the presiding officer of the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly, was endorsed by the Alaska Democratic Party.

Democrats flipping the seat comes as the party hopes to compete in statewide contests for the Senate and House in 2026. The state has only elected one Democratic senator since 1981 and only one Democratic House member since 1973. President Donald Trump easily won the state by double digits in 2016, 2020 and 2024.

What To Know

Pruhs conceded the race to O’Neall on Tuesday night as he trailed by more than 250 votes.

“The race is over. Mindy O’Neall won. A few votes yet to be counted, but I'm down by 250 votes. The voters have spoken,” he told Alaska’s News Source.

Pruhs blamed low voter turnout and O’Neall having the support of the state Democratic Party for his defeat.

“It was a perfect storm for her to take the seat, and she did that. So congratulations to Mindy O’Neall,” he said.

O’Neall “had a very engaged Democratic Party statewide and local parties to help her,” he said. “When you have an entire state Democratic Party focused on one race, it's hard to rebuff that.”

(Excerpt) Read more at newsweek.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: Alaska
KEYWORDS: alaska; democrats; fakenews; khaledarahman; newsweak; oneall; pruhs; rankedchoicevoting; republicans; riggedelections; rino; shanecroucher; uniparty

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1 posted on 10/08/2025 5:36:06 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

3336 total ballots cast?

Sounds like nobody showed up.


2 posted on 10/08/2025 5:38:41 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (Je suis Charlie Kirk.)
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To: nickcarraway

IN A POPULATION OF OVER 30,000—ONLY 3500 VOTED????????


3 posted on 10/08/2025 5:39:20 PM PDT by ridesthemiles (not giving up on TRUMP---EVER)
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To: nickcarraway

Only Democrats care about voting in off-year elections.


4 posted on 10/08/2025 5:43:32 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: nickcarraway

We too often get the government we deserve.


5 posted on 10/08/2025 5:44:15 PM PDT by ConservativeMind (Trump: Befuddling Democrats, Republicans, and the Media for the benefit of the US and all mankind.)
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To: nickcarraway

A loss in the middle of nowhere and suddenly it’s the end of the world. HaHa...


6 posted on 10/08/2025 5:44:19 PM PDT by Fungi
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To: nickcarraway
Why It Matters...

It doesn't.

But the media is desperate for any Democrat win to hype as some kind of bellwether against Trump.

7 posted on 10/08/2025 5:46:24 PM PDT by montag813
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

There was probably a blizzard and the real count was 1-0 because she voted for herself.


8 posted on 10/08/2025 5:47:23 PM PDT by doc maverick
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To: ConservativeMind

We haven’t yet. But we are beginning to. Once President Trump is gone, we will.


9 posted on 10/08/2025 5:49:07 PM PDT by sport
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To: ridesthemiles
IN A POPULATION OF OVER 30,000—ONLY 3500 VOTED????????

That is a major problem.

There was a city that had a.... let's just call it a problem town board. But they were elected with 80% of the vote.

The vote was held at an odd time and only about 2% of the people voted.

People kept asking how this could happen. Because you didn't go vote.

10 posted on 10/08/2025 5:50:45 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (It's like somebody just put the Constitution up on a wall …. and shot the First Amendment -Mike Rowe)
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To: E. Pluribus Unum

About 3200 Federal employees are in the Fairbanks area. Roughly 10% of the population. Looks like they may not have chosen to support the Republican this time around. I fear this may be the tip of the iceberg. We’ll see if they avoid Republican candidates in Va & NJ too in a couple of weeks.


11 posted on 10/08/2025 5:51:03 PM PDT by XRdsRev (Justice for Bernell Trammell, black Trump supporter, executed in the street in broad daylight 2020.a)
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To: Fungi

“””A loss in the middle of nowhere and suddenly it’s the end of the world. HaHa...””””

A small town mayor race could set the tone for the entire world and collapse society as we know it. Maybe.


12 posted on 10/08/2025 5:51:21 PM PDT by shelterguy
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To: montag813
But the media is desperate for any Democrat win to hype as some kind of bellwether against Trump.

It's quite a shame that democrats hate when anything good gets done for America and Americans.

13 posted on 10/08/2025 6:12:20 PM PDT by Bullish (My tagline ran off with another man, but it's ok---- I wasn't married to it.)
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To: nickcarraway

According to the borough website, 961 absentee ballots remain outstanding, while 489 question ballots remain to be examined by the canvassing board, meaning a potential 1,450 ballots could be added to the total, although some of the absentee ballots may not be returned, and some ballots may not be deemed eligible by the board.

Yes, a very low turnout election, but I don’t know why the mayor is conceding as there are 1450 ballots outstanding in a race with less than a 300 vote margin.

October election day seems odd. I can’t beleive they get snowed in by November 1.

The vote tally report show 3,362 total votes and a registration of 22,248, so a third of the population is not even registered to vote.


14 posted on 10/08/2025 6:14:10 PM PDT by Steven Scharf
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To: XRdsRev

New jersey? They love their democrats.


15 posted on 10/08/2025 6:17:46 PM PDT by Ronald77 ( )
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To: nickcarraway
“When you have an entire state Democratic Party focused on one race, it's hard to rebuff that.”

That's correct...so why wasn't the entire state Republican Party focused on it in response?

Once again, our side naps while the other side plots.

16 posted on 10/08/2025 6:31:41 PM PDT by Republican Wildcat
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To: Republican Wildcat

Naps?

FWICS, Pruhs is yet another RINO loosely posing as a real Republican. For the GOP to have real viability, they have to purge the de-facto Democrats—but remember that this has been going on in the GOP for over a century.


17 posted on 10/08/2025 6:33:41 PM PDT by Olog-hai ("No Republican, no matter how liberal, is goings to woo a Democratic vote." -- Ronald Reagan, 1960)
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To: Ronald77

NJ is primarily democrat in the Rt 1 corridor. On either side of that, it is even or Republican. Unfortunately the Rt 1 corridor is where the heaviest population lives.


18 posted on 10/08/2025 6:38:20 PM PDT by XRdsRev (Justice for Bernell Trammell, black Trump supporter, executed in the street in broad daylight 2020.a)
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To: nickcarraway

Alaska has ranked choice voting. I wonder if that applies in local elections too.


19 posted on 10/08/2025 7:14:35 PM PDT by wjcsux (On 3/14/1883 Karl Marx gave humanity his best gift, he died. )
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To: wjcsux

The ranked voting didn’t cause this. This should not have happened. The rats have never been more motivated. They are lit. This is not the first time. Our side better wake up.


20 posted on 10/08/2025 7:36:03 PM PDT by iamgalt
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