Begich likely to win Alaska Senate race
Mark Begich has expanded his lead over convicted felon and incumbent Republican Ted Stevens as the votes continue to be tallied in Alaska.
With 14,626 votes left to be counted, Begich leads by 2,374 votes, or 0,7% of the total vote count. The remaining votes come from Anchorage (where Begich is mayor and is very favored), so that it is almost impossible that Stevens could significantly shorten Begich’s lead, much less flip it.
Though the current lead (which Begich could still slightly enhance) is outside the 0.5% margin that would lead to an automatic recount, Stevens can still request a recount at a cost of $16,000, or what’s known as “chump change” for your average Senator.
The Achorage Daily News says that such a recount is likely but that recent recounts have not resulted in big changes in results.
I’m glad I was wrong about Stevens winning this race. 40 years of his presence in the Senate is far too many and I’ll be glad to see the back of him, even at the cost of another Democrat in his place.