As the polls close and Election Day comes to an end in Alaska, candidates, campaign workers and supporters gather at Anchorage's Election Central and at events around the state to await the results of the most expensive election in memory.

We're following the returns -- and the reactions. Check back here for updates throughout the evening.

An emotional reaction

12 a.m., Anchorage

Marijuana legalization supporters at a party in south Anchorage hosted by advocate Charlo Greene reacted with cheers -- and tears -- to the almost-certain passage of Ballot Measure 2. (Of course, the question on many minds now: Will Snoop Dogg make good on his promise to visit Alaska once marijuana is legal?)

Photo ops

11:45 p.m., Anchorage

The fervor is dying down at Election Central, although there are a few hundred folks still hanging out. With 85 percent of the votes tallied and Dan Sullivan holding his lead, media at Flattop Pizza and Pool were told Sen. Mark Begich had gone home for the evening. Sullivan, meanwhile, posed for photos with supporters at the Hotel Captain Cook.

Election Central in fast-forward

11 p.m., Election Central

Right now, the Egan Center is packed with volunteers, candidates and members of the media. But just a few hours ago it was a quiet place, empty except for a few dozen journalists and event staffers getting set up for the night. Here's a glimpse of the flurry of activity before the storm:

Mallott stranded no more

10:20 p.m., somewhere over the Panhandle

After a weather-related setback, lieutenant governor candidate Byron Mallott and his wife Toni are headed for Anchorage.

Fellow passenger and photographer Brian Adams, who sent in this photo, was on the plane from Sitka to Juneau when it was struck by lightning. It was a little scary, he said, but "they got us a new plane."

Stuck in Southeast

10 p.m., Juneau

One face notably absent from the festivities in Anchorage: lieutenant governor candidate Byron Mallott. Mallott, who was campaigning in Yakutat earlier today, had planned to be in Anchorage for the evening, but he encountered an unforeseeable hiccup in his travel plans. The Alaska Airlines plane on which he was supposed to fly from Juneau to Anchorage was struck by lightning in Sitka, Mallott told KTOO-FM from a Walker-Mallott campaign party in Juneau. The airline is sending a replacement plane, but until it arrives, Mallott will be watching returns in his home region.

Marijuana supporter: No surprise

9:50 p.m., Anchorage

At the smoky south Anchorage party hosted by Charlo Greene, James Decker watches election coverage intently. Early returns are favoring the legalization of marijuana.

Decker, an lifelong Alaskan, said it's no surprise the measure is leading the polls. He's confident it will pass.

"I think it's time we sensibly regulate marijuana," he said.

Greene said she isn't surprised, either -- and with numbers coming in, she appears to be relaxing.

"I feel like -- oohoohooh," Greene said, exhaling a stream of smoke.

-- Megan Edge

At journey's end

9:45 p.m., SubZero Bistro and Microlounge

Laurie Hummel, a candidate for state House, was met by applause when she entered SubZero, attached by a hallway to Flattop Pizza and Pool, where the Mark Begich campaign is holding its watch party.

"I'm with friends. I'm celebrating the end of a long journey," she said. "It's a win to be done with campaigning."

-- Tegan Hanlon

Early returns favor Sullivan, Walker, marijuana

9:25 p.m., Election Central

With 27.9 percent of precincts reporting, things look good for Dan Sullivan, Bill Walker, and marijuana aficionados. Early numbers show Sullivan leading Begich by close to six points, while the Walker-Mallott "unity ticket" holds a narrow two-point lead over Gov. Sean Parnell. Ballot Measure 2, which would legalize and regulate marijuana, is currently at 53.24 percent yes, 46.76 percent no. Sullivan and Measure 2 supporters at Election Central are breaking out in cheers, although so are supporters of Democratic U.S. House candidate Forrest Dunbar, currently trailing Rep. Don Young by 13 points.

'He never wins by a landslide'

9:20 p.m., Flattop Pizza and Pool

Hundreds of people packed into Flattop, a downtown Anchorage pizzeria, crowded around the bar for free pizza and appetizers. Some hoisted Mark Begich signs into the air or erupted into a "Begich" and "six more years" chants as precincts began reporting around 9 p.m.

With Begich down by about 5 percent, Suzanna Snyder, 19, of Anchorage, said she was still betting on Begich.

"We still have more than half of the votes to count yet, so I'm really hopeful," Snyder said. "I think it's definitely going to be close."

Anchorage Assembly member Elvi Gray-Jackson also said she expected Begich to win the election, but not by many votes.

"He never wins by a landslide, but that doesn't matter, as long as he wins," she said.

-- Tegan Hanlon

Mixed optimism among marijuana supporters

8:30 p.m., Anchorage

At a home on the Anchorage Hillside, Charlo Greene was feeling nervous -- not about the marijuana ballot initiative, but about the celebration she was in the middle of hosting.

"I'm more anxious about the party than the vote," Greene said. "I'm confident it will pass."

Greene was out encouraging voters to go to the polls all day. As she arrived, partygoers cheered and thanked her. She said all of the support is overwhelming.

Kelly Lee Williams, local entertainer, voted to support marijuana. "I thinks it's ridiculous that you can't smoke a plant in your own home. Marijuana is not a job." It's just as safe as alcohol, he added.

Williams is not optimistic Ballot Measure 2 will pass, he said; the people of Alaska are not ready. But if it doesn't pass this time he doesn't think it will be very long before change comes.

-- Megan Edge

Unions nervous but upbeat

8 p.m., Ship Creek

At the Anchorage labor union campaign headquarters in a warehouse on First Avenue, people gathered around a bonfire at the end of a tightly packed parking lot.

Inside the building, owned by Grubstake Auction, workers were still putting in their last days' worth of data from canvassing. Joelle Hall, director of operations for the Alaska AFL-CIO, estimated that labor unions have knocked on at least 90,000 doors in Anchorage over the last two weeks.

The atmosphere was nervous, but upbeat, and relieved. People munched on tacos and candy, and there was beer, champagne and wine.

Union leaders said they were just glad that the campaigns were over. The building is the headquarters of the "No on 1" campaign, the 2014 labor campaign and Working Families of Alaska.

"This is the end. The work is done," said Gerard Asselin, president of the Anchorage Coalition of Unions and an Anchorage police sergeant. "We're just waiting for the result."

-- Devin Kelly

Brothers for Begich

8 p.m., ?Flattop Pizza and Pool

Alaska brothers Kirk and Joe Pichler sipped red wine at Flattop Pizza and Pool Tuesday evening, awaiting the arrival of Democratic incumbent Sen. Mark Begich.

Born in Anchorage in 1959 and 1960, respectively, the two called themselves "true Alaskans."

Joe Pichler, a staff member for the Special Olympics Alaska, said Begich could help people with disabilities and who are on social security. He lauded Begich for his frequent appearances around Anchorage while on the campaign trail.

"I haven't seen the other guy out in the community like Mark Begich," he said, referring to Begich's Republican opponent, Dan Sullivan.

"We're not going to have someone from Outside buy our office," he said.

Begich is expected to arrive at the downtown pizzeria around 9:30 p.m., according to his campaign.

-- Laurel Andrews

Count of absentee and early ballots begins

8 p.m., Egan Center

Polls are now closed across the state, and at Election Central at Anchorage's Egan Civic and Convention Center, five large screens are set up, ready to project early returns.

According to Elections Director Gail Fenumiai, 10,500 absentee ballots and 19,600 early votes will be counted Tuesday evening. Another batch of absentee and early votes -- approximately 2,000 early votes and 20,000 absentee ballots -- will be counted starting next Tuesday, and Fenumiai said in an email that she expects the number of absentee ballots to be counted to increase in the days ahead. Questioned ballots will also be counted starting next Tuesday; there were 13,000 such ballots in 2010.

The beginning of the end

7:55 p.m.