It's looking more likely that convicted Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) may not be able to hang onto his Senate seat after all. With about 35,000 ballots left to be counted, Democrat Mark Begich now leads Stevens by 814.votes.



“I’ve always said that this would be a close race. After watching the votes today, I remain cautiously optimistic. As I have said before, we ran an aggressive campaign, especially when it came to early voting and absentee," Begich said in a statement.



"From what we’re seeing, thousands of Alaskans, like me, did come out and vote early. 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.”



More, from the Anchorage Daily News:

Mark Begich made a dramatic comeback Wednesday to overtake Ted Stevens for the lead in Alaska's U.S. Senate race.



Begich, who was losing after election night, now leads Stevens by 814 votes -- 132,196 to 131,382 -- with the state still to count roughly 35,000 more ballots over the next week.



The state Division of Elections tallied some 60,000 absentee, early and questioned ballots on Wednesday. The ballots broke heavily in the Democrat's favor, erasing the 3,000-vote lead Stevens held after election night Nov. 4.



Stevens, a 40-year incumbent, is trying to become the first person ever elected to the U.S. Senate after a being found guilty of felony crimes.



The state still needs to count at least 15,000 questioned ballots and an estimated 20,000 absentee ballots that made it to the Division of Elections after election day last Tuesday.



Most regional elections headquarters will count their remaining ballots on Friday. But the most populous region, based in Anchorage, won't count its ballots until either Monday or Wednesday, state elections chief Gail Fenumiai said.



Begich pushed hard in the campaign for people to vote early, a factor both Democrats and Republicans said contributed to his surge. More than 9,000 of those early ballots weren't counted until Wednesday in order to give the state time to double check and make sure people didn't vote early and then come back and vote election day as well.



If Begich hangs on, it will be the seventh GOP-held Senate seat the Democrats pick up.

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