ANCHORAGE — Trailing in the race for Alaska’s contested Senate seat, incumbent Democrat Mark Begich gave no indication Wednesday he expected defeat, but the counting of remaining ballots, Begich’s only chance at a comeback, would have to buck the trend seen so far to give him a win.
Meantime, more-detailed election results available Wednesday showed Republican challenger Dan Sullivan carried four of the seven House districts in Fairbanks and the surrounding area and took a higher percentage there than in Alaska as a whole.
Statewide, Sullivan held an 8,149-vote lead over Begich, representing a 3.61-percent gap in the Election Day vote-counting that stretched from Tuesday night to the early morning hours Wednesday. The total count so far includes some absentee and early ballots, but there are about 2,500 early and 19,700 absentee ballots left to tally, a task that will begin Nov. 11, according to the Division of Elections.
There are also some 13,800 absentee ballots that were requested and not returned yet, Elections Director Gail Fenumiai said Wednesday. It is unknown how many questioned ballots — which voters are given, for example, if they vote at a precinct they’re not registered to vote at — were cast on Election Day. There were about 13,000 questioned ballots cast in 2010, the last midterm election, elections officials said.
Of the absentee votes already counted, Sullivan had 10 percent more than Begich. By contrast, Begich won nearly 11 percent more early votes than Sullivan so far.
If that trend continues, Begich would still lose the election. But in a written statement Wednesday, Begich campaign manager Susanne Fleek-Green said the candidate would wait for the final results before making a statement on the race.
Via newsminer.com
