Begich may win after all

The election for president is over, but the election between Alaska's two candidates for senator is not.  The election ended with Sen. Stevens holding a lead of 3,200 votes over Begich, but that might change.  A report published by fivethirtyeight.com analyzes the possibilities.

"The reasoning behind this is simple: some early ballots have been processed, and among those ballots Begich substantially leads Stevens. A tally of Alaska's 40 house districts as taken from Alaska's Division of Elections webpage suggests that Begich has won about 61% of the early ballots counted so far, as compared with 48% of ballots cast on Election Day itself."

There is no word on when the official results may be given.  Whatever the result, the outcome will be close.

What happened in Alaska...

Alaska voted for Sen. McCain for president of the U.S.  Alaska's 3 electoral votes, however, could not assist McCain's bid for the white house.  

Sen. Stevens and contender Begich are still in a heated battle.  Stevens leads Begich by a slim margin with 99 percent of the vote tallied so far.  About 4000 votes separated the two candidates and the race might not  be decided for another 2 weeks.  If the lead holds up, Stevens will be the first candidate for senate to win an election after being convicted in a court of law.

A Resolution of Troopergate

Gov. Palin has been cleared of any possible ethics violations she faced in the Troopergate saga.  The report, issued the day before polls opened to voters, stated that Gov. Palin legally fired Monegan.

"Petumenos concluded that the Legislature's special counsel, former state prosecutor Steve Branchflower, used the wrong state law as the basis for his conclusions and also misconstrued the evidence.

"(Branchflower) assumed that the governor knew about things and should have stopped them, when the evidence we induced is that she didn't know about them in the first place," Petumenos said at a Monday afternoon press conference."

In Alaska, this matter does not carry much weight as many voters going to the polls today are sided with John McCain.  In other states however, this might give voters an amount of assurance that who they're voting for is a credible politician.

One Final Day, One Final Push!

The general presidential election results for Alaskans has been crystalized a long time ago.  Sen. McCain is expected to win in the state from whence Gov. Palin came from.  The polls show Sen. McCain has a sizeable lead over his rival Sen. Obama with a 57-40% margin.

What is unclear however, is the race for Senate.  Though Sen. Stevens has been convicted in a court of law for illegally accepting bribes, he is still in the race and still insistent about his innocence saying that he has not been convicted until the appeals court rules against him.  This has caused long lines at the early voting centers.

"With long lines forming for early voting at regional election centers, Alaskans are already deciding whether to return 40-year veteran Stevens and 36-year veteran Young, or send Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich or former state House Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz in their place.

If voters throw out the old for the new, neither Democrat would have the clout that seniority carries, particularly in the Senate. They would have the advantage of belonging to what is likely to remain for now the majority party in both bodies."

"Stevens and Young are masters at the game of bringing home federal dollars, which account for a third of the state's economic base. Without the veteran lawmakers, Haycox said the state would likely see a drop off in transportation funds and earmarks -- the controversial provisions added to legislation that directs money to a particular organization or project in a politician's home state.

But both Stevens and Young also are weighed down by a continuing federal corruption probe that has reached deep into Alaska's political structure. Juneau economist George Rogers, who was a consultant to the 1955 Alaska Constitutional Convention, said the election is momentous because the federal corruption inquiry has exposed a need for fundamental change. He said too many political leaders have strayed from the ideals that launched the young state, allowing greed and partisan politics to prevail instead."

Whoever wins the race for Senate, the ramifications of such a win will be enormous.  Alaskans have a voice with their vote and will send someone packing for good.  My best guesstimation is that Sen. Stevens will be sent packing.