Democrat takes lead in Alaska Senate race (!)

[Wretched Excess]

oh, jeeez.  AL was the ONE unexpected gift on election night.  no one expected him to win this one, but when he had a seemingly comfortable, ableit narrow lead after election night was over, the conventional wisdom was that he would carry 50% of the 90,000 absentee votes left to be counted, and retain his seat.

with the franken theft going on in minnesota, the run off in GA becomes hypercritical.  if they run the table in alaska, minnesota, and georgia, they have 60.  and then we are well and truly screwed, glued, and tattooed.

Democrat takes lead in Alaska Senate race

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Just as Sen. Ted Stevens appeared set to return to Congress, felony conviction and all, his re-election bid has faltered. If he loses, it also closes a possible door into the Senate anytime soon for Gov. Sarah Palin.

As counting of early and absentee ballots continued in Stevens' race against Democrat Mark Begich, the contest for Alaska's only House seat was settled Wednesday, with the re-election of Republican incumbent Don Young for his 19th term.

In the Stevens race, Begich jumped to an 814-vote lead, after trailing by 3,200 when the day began. The tally late Wednesday was 132,196 to 131,382, with an estimated 30,000 ballots remaining to be counted, some on Friday and some next week.

"After watching the votes today, I remain cautiously optimistic," Begich, a two-term Anchorage mayor, said in a news release. "We ran an aggressive campaign, especially when it came to early voting and absentee."

Stevens' campaign did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

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on edit : corrected the wrong number of absentee ballots.

[Wretched Excess]

like everything else in alaska, the law governing election recounts is a little bit different:

Should the result remain close a recount is possible. In Alaska, the losing candidate or a collection of 10 voters has three days to petition for a recount unless the vote was a tie, in which case it would be automatic.

If the difference between the candidates is 0.5 percent of the total votes cast, the state pays for the recount, to be started within three days of the recount petition. The state Elections Division has 10 days to complete the recount.

I know this is unseemly, but we really, really need the convict to win this one.

[Ralph Wiggum]

like everything else in alaska, the law governing election recounts is a little bit different:

I know this is unseemly, but we really, really need the convict to win this one.

And then Palin can appoint someone (perhaps herself) to the Senate in place of Stevens, who is going to get booted by the Republican caucus.  That's assuming that Alaska replaces Senators the same way a lot of states do.

[Wretched Excess]

They will have a special election, but Sarah can run in it. Then she can be said to have earned the seat democratically.

[Ralph Wiggum]

They will have a special election, but Sarah can run in it. Then she can be said to have earned the seat democratically.

Gotcha.  Every state is different and I won't even pretend to know each one's rules.

[TheSarge]

The Dems are bound and determined to get their filibuster proof majority in the Senate aren't they?

And they'll keep recounting until they get what they want.

I've never seen a group so EAGER to screw over a group of people before in my life!

[Ralph Wiggum]

The Dems are bound and determined to get their filibuster proof majority in the Senate aren't they?

And they'll keep recounting until they get what they want.

I've never seen a group so EAGER to screw over a group of people before in my life!

The backlash will be fierce in 2010, TRG.  Much like 1994.

[djones520]

I can't say that I'll be 100% against him losing his seat.  I think it's absolutely total horse shit that he can get convicted on 7 felony charges, and then reelected to Congress later that week.

[Wretched Excess]

Gotcha.  Every state is different and I won't even pretend to know each one's rules.

I had to look it up on election night.

their state law was a governor appointee, but there was an uproar when murkowsky appointed his daughter.  they changed it in 2004, twice;  once by ballot measure, and once by legislation.  the courts will have to decide which law takes precedence, but they both call for a special election within 30-90 days;  one (I forget which) allows for the governor to appoint an interim senator, but both laws wind up in the same place, a special election.

[Wretched Excess]

I can't say that I'll be 100% against him losing his seat.  I think it's absolutely total horse shit that he can get convicted on 7 felony charges, and then reelected to Congress later that week.

democracy in action, DJ. 

[Wretched Excess]

The Dems are bound and determined to get their filibuster proof majority in the Senate aren't they?

And they'll keep recounting until they get what they want.

I've never seen a group so EAGER to screw over a group of people before in my life!

we're probably already screwed.  they will probably have two reliable votes for cloture that aren't democrats;  lieberman and saunders.  so, we're dead at 58, not 60.

[TheSarge]

The backlash will be fierce in 2010, TRG.  Much like 1994.

I hope so Ralph.  I see the corruption and vote fraud going on via ACORN and the unchecked donations flowing to Dear Leader and my first thought is that the Dems are NOT going to ever let their be a repeat of 1994.

Everything they've done since then has been designed to shut the door on any future Republican majority in Congress or another Republican President once they got the levers of power back in their hands.

[Wretched Excess]

alaska division of elections -- election returns page

updates are extremely sporadic.

[Ralph Wiggum]

we're probably already screwed.  they will probably have two reliable votes for cloture that aren't democrats;  lieberman and saunders.  so, we're dead at 58, not 60.

But according to the uber-Libs, Lieberman is really a Republican.

[Wretched Excess]

I hope so Ralph.  I see the corruption and vote fraud going on via ACORN and the unchecked donations flowing to Dear Leader and my first thought is that the Dems are NOT going to ever let their be a repeat of 1994.

Everything they've done since then has been designed to shut the door on any future Republican majority in Congress or another Republican President once they got the levers of power back in their hands.

ya know, it's odd.  i think ACORN failed in 2008, or at least failed to do anything significant in a presidential sense.  turnout on OH was flat, and actually down in cuyahoga county.  mccain won missouri, so they failed in st. louis county as well.  indiana could have very well gone democrat through fraud in lake county, but by then mccain was already toast.

[Wretched Excess]

But according to the uber-Libs, Lieberman is really a Republican.

yeah, they would cut off their nose to spite their face.  he votes with the republicans on GWoT issues, and a few other minor things.  his LQ from the ADA is still well over 80.  take the war out, and his voting record is very liberal.

[Ralph Wiggum]

yeah, they would cut off their nose to spite their face.  he votes with the republicans on GWoT issues, and a few other minor things.  his LQ from the ADA is still well over 80.  take the war out, and his voting record is very liberal.

I know, Wretch.  I apparently read way too much how the DUmmies hate Lieberman.

He's actually a solid centrist, along with a lot of the RINO's, and the conservative Dems.  Which isn't entirely a bad thing.

[rich_t]

Why would governor Palin want to be a member of the U.S. senate at this point in time?

[Chris]

Why would governor Palin want to be a member of the U.S. senate at this point in time?

It would be a step down for her to join that gaggle of idiots.