Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Convicted felon loses - finally
Alaska’s vote for the Senate seat has been counted, and Democrat Mark Begich has narrowly edged out convicted felon Ted Stevens.
The final vote count, as certified by the Secretary of State of Alaska was 146,286 (47.56 percent), to 143,912 (46.76 percent), with Begich winning by almost 2,400 votes, making him the first Alaskan Democrat to serve in the Senate since the Reagan Revolution kicked out then-Senator Mike Gravel.
As far as our contest goes, this really only changes the numbers needed.
If the Republicans win both of the remaining Senate seats, John Cross wins. If the Dems win one, then oneisnotprime wins. If the Dems manage to take both of them, then Justin wins.
Norm Coleman’s victory has been certified, with the incumbent up by 215 votes. An automatic recount is starting immediately, so we shall see. And Saxby Chambliss is leading by a few points in most polls, but the whole point of the runoff election is that more than 50% voted for someone other than Chambliss, even if he ended up with more than anyone else.
No changes in any of the four House races:
- California’s 4th still has the Republican ahead, but by only 622 votes. The delay appears to be a process called “canvassing” by the County Registrars involved. They actually have 28 days (December 2nd) to report final tallies.
- Ohio’s 15th has no change, with the Republican incumbent up by 149 votes, and recounts are ongoing.
- Virginia’s 5th also has no changes, with the Democratic challenger up by 745.
Throw in Louisiana’s runoff, and I never quite realized how weird this was going to be… 
Sorry, folks…