Nov 13 2008
Senator Palin, Not So Fast: Begich Leading Stevens Now
The race for one of Alaska’s two Senate seats is getting tighter.
Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, the Republican incumbent who was convicted of corruption two weeks ago, fell behind Democratic opponent and Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich in the latest vote tally in their neck-and-neck race.
After counting 60,000 absentee, provisional and early ballots on Wednesday, Begich grabbed an 814-vote lead over Stevens, the U.S. Senate’s longest-serving Republican. Stevens had held a 3,257-vote lead after a count of regular ballots cast on Election Day.
There are nearly 40,000 uncounted ballots, with a large portion classified as provisional “questioned” ballots, said Gail Fenumiai, director of Alaska’s Division of Elections.
The intriguing part would be the consequences of Stevens somehow manages to win reelection:
But the more dramatic impact is on Sarah Palin’s presidential hopes. The presumed scenario was that Stevens would be elected, then expelled from the Senate as a convicted felon – perhaps pardoned by George Bush – triggering a special election that would send Palin to Washington as Senator for Alaska. It now seems evident that is not going to happen. Since no newly elected incumbent is likely to surrender a cherished Senate seat to Sarah Palin, that will leave her to serve out her term as Governor of Alaska.
Keep your eyes up to the northwest a little longer (you know, that place just outside the windows of Russia) to see what happens next.
