AK-Sen: Statement From the Begich Campaign

Fresh off the presses:

Begich: “This Race is Far From Over”

U.S. Senate candidate Mark Begich delivered the following comments at a news conference today in Anchorage:

“Let me say right up front that I have every reason to be optimistic about last night’s election results. I’ve been in this position before – Alaskans know every vote counts.

As you know, we ended the evening last night within less than two percent of winning this race, a spread of about 3,330 votes over the more than 220,000 cast in the Senate race. Each new wave of results last night put us a little closer.

I’m confident that Alaskans, like the rest of the country, want a new direction in Washington, and ultimately that will be reflected in the results.

Let me congratulate Senator Stevens on a hard-fought race. He has 40 years of accomplishments for our state and I believe Alaskans remembered that last night.

But he is no position to declare victory.

Let me be clear, this race is far from over. A lot of the information about what happens now is still being determined. But this is what we do know.

The rest of the statement is available below the fold.

There could be 20 percent or more of the ballots in this election still to be counted. We’ve heard numbers as high as 60,000 ballots still out there, including absentees, early voting, and question ballots.

We will do everything possible to make sure every vote is counted. Alaskans deserve that.

We ran an aggressive campaign and especially when it came to early voting and absentees. Just yesterday, over at the University, we had volunteers strongly encouraging students and faculty to vote, with significant results. Those votes have not been counted.

Lines have been long for weeks at City Hall and other early voting locations. We strongly encouraged our supporters to turn out. Those votes have not been counted. My vote has not been counted.

We will be monitoring closely the vote counting by the State. Already we’ve heard a few interesting reports at precincts that don’t make much sense.

For example, in the North Slope village of Wainwright, the Division of Elections doesn’t show a single vote for me, while the Libertarian candidate got 90, the non-partisan candidate received 84 and Senator Stevens got 8. That just defies common sense. I flat out won five of the other seven villages on the North Slope.

Before this election, we set up a legal team to monitor the vote counting and that team is in place to make sure every vote is counted properly.

It’s a little unclear to us when the outstanding votes will be counted. Some have said it could be as late as November 21st.  We hope it doesn’t take that long.

Alaska has serious business in the United States Senate and delaying our full attention there is a disservice to Alaskans.

Meanwhile, I will continue to devote my full energies to my responsibilities as mayor. We’re in the middle of our Fiscal ’09 budget cycle with the Assembly, so I’ll be working to pass that budget.

I think back just six years ago when I was first elected mayor of Anchorage. After several weeks of recounting, we ended with an 18-vote margin.

I’d settle for a little larger spread than that, but I’m optimistic in the end I’ll be setting a new direction for Alaska families in the United States Senate.”