At the Alaska primary on August 26, two ballots were available for voters who wished to vote for candidates. One contained only Republican candidates, and could be chosen by registered Republicans and registered independents. The other ballot contained the nominees of the Democratic, Libertarian, and Alaskan Independence candidates, and could be chosen by any voter.

The Alaskan Independence Party candidate for U.S. House, Don Wright, received 8.67% of the vote on the ballot he was on. Since most voters using that ballot were Democrats, that is an impressive showing. There were also two Democrats running for U.S. House on that ballot. Ethan Berkowitz received 53.97% and Diane E. Benson received 37.36%. No Libertarian ran for U.S. House. In 2006, Wright had only received 2.24% in the primary as a candidate for Governor.

In the U.S. Senate August 2008 primary, Alaskan Independence Party candidate Bob Bird got 5.39%, and Libertarian candidate Frederick Haase received 1.71%.

On August 20, a U.S. District Court ruled that the Committee for a United Independent Party may intervene in the case Idaho Republican Party v Ysursa. That lawsuit is an attempt by the Idaho Republican Party to obtain a closed primary for itself. The Committee for a United Independent Party is headquartered in New York, and holds itself out to the public as a force for the rights of independent voters. As far as is known, this is the first time CUIP has participated in any constitutional election law litigation anywhere in the United States, although it actively lobbies state legislatures around the nation. For example, CUIP was very active earlier this year, opposing a bill in Missouri to move the petition deadline for independent candidates from July to March.