Begich Takes Lead in Alaska as Vote Counting Continues
Updated: Nov. 13, 8:33 a.m. Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D) held an 814-vote lead over convicted Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) Thursday morning with thousands of votes yet to be counted. Begich led Stevens 132,196 votes to 131,382 votes as of 7:33 p.m. Alaska Standard Time on Wednesday. Begich rebounded from a 3,200-vote deficit Wednesday, as state officials began to count a majority of outstanding ballots in the race. At least 90,000 early, absentee or questionable ballots had yet to be counted in Alaska as of earlier this week, making the winner of the close Senate race anyone’s guess. More than 56,000 early, absentee or questionable ballots were added to the unofficial Senate race count Wednesday. The final tally is scheduled to conclude on Dec. 1.