Race for Senate still too close to call

The 2008 race for the long held seat of Senator Ted Stevens is as close as ever with Stevens holding a slim lead over the democratic challenger, Mayor Mark Begich. Although Stevens holds a 3,300 vote lead, not counting the over 55,000 absentee and the almost 6,000 provisional ballots, both men say this race is not over yet.

"We're delighted with the results so far and pray to god it will still be that way on November 21st. The last votes will be counted by November 21st," said Senator

Stevens, when he spoke to his supporters on election night.

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

And as the wait begins for the final votes to be counted, both sides have continued their push for the U.S. Senate. Senator Steven's reelection campaign issued the following statement on Monday saying, "Yesterday Alaskans finally had their say and the voters stood by Ted Stevens. From the posting of the first results and in every subsequent update, Senator Stevens held a solid lead. We look forward to the remaining ballots being counted. It is almost mathematically impossible for Mark Begich to pull ahead if the trends from last night continue."

Bucking trends is

exactly what Mark Begich says his wins throughout the state show this race has only just begun.

"I would just say to Senator Stevens and his team, this race ain't over yet, we've got a long haul, I've on been this path before," said Begich.

With the words "not over" being echoed by both Stevens and Begich, looking at the way Alaskans voted, it's clear that the opponents and voters can agree on something.

With only about 3,000 votes separating Stevens and Begich, many are wondering

how Stevens despite his seven federal convictions of fraud, can still claim a possible victory.

"It's hard to not vote for a relative right and he is Uncle Ted," said Carl Shepro, a political science professor at UAA.

Here's the vote breakdown:

Both candidates split the city of Anchorage with Mark Begich pulling the Southeast. Ted Stevens captured the Interior, Mat Su Valley, and the Kenai Peninsula in holding onto his slim lead, which has been the pattern using strong republican communities.

"He basically carried the same areas that Governor Palin did in 2006 and the Senator Murkowski carried in 2002," said Shepro.

"He has a long history and there is a lot of loyalty to Senator Stevens," said Begich. "But I have to point out, that almost every race he is has been in he has received 75-percent. He is below 50-percent, more than 50 percent of Alaskans voted against Senator Stevens."

Begich says, he is not worried about a special election. He says he will continue to be patient. The mayor has a history of being involved in close elections, such as his run for mayor.

So now it's in the hands of absentee voters and how they voted, a process, which will include legal teams from both the Begich and Stevens camps to observe and verify the ballot counting. Officials say they hope to have a final result by November 21st as it could take as long as ten consecutive days, which includes weekends to determine a winner.

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