Alaska: Tomorrow we can expect counts from about two-thirds of the 61,000 remaining absentee ballots and all of the 9,500 remaining early ballots to be included in the tally for the Alaska Senate race. There are also 20,000 questioned ballots, whose counting will reportedly continue right up until the final count, expected on November 19 (a week from tomorrow). The current count stands at 106,594 votes for convicted felon Ted Stevens and 103,337 votes for Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, a narrow 3,257 vote advantage for Stevens. There is much reason for optimism among those hoping that Begich overtakes Stevens, as Begich leads Stevens in the early votes that have been counted so far, by a large 59% to 37% margin.
Pennsylvania: Public Policy Polling tests Hardball host Chris Matthews against Republican incumbent Arlen Specter. PPP finds Specter leading Matthews 40-27. Key stats to start: 30% of Democrats back Specter, and Matthews leads among black voters by a relatively scant 31-25 margin.
North Carolina: Elizabeth Dole's 11th hour attack ads did her in. Who would have thought that attacking a Sunday School teacher for being "godless" would backfire? Kudos to Senator-elect Kay Hagan for running a classy campaign, even if her desperate Republican opponent didn't.
Draft websites for 2008 NH-Sen loser John Sununu and 2006 MD-Sen loser Michael Steele have sprung up in the race for who will be the next Chairman of the Republican National Committee. I love how Republicans turn to electoral losers over and over again to chart courses to victory.
