Based on election night results, it looked like Stevens had it, but it is almost official now that Begich won. Expect there to be a recount though.
(CNN) -- Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, the Republican lawmaker convicted on felony corruption charges in October, appears to have lost his bid for re-election to Democrat Mark Begich, according to a release from Begich's campaign and unofficial results from state officials.
Democrat Mark Begich (left) has claimed victory over Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska.
The statement and results Tuesday come two weeks after the election, after absentee ballots were counted.
With 100 percent of Alaska's precincts reporting, Begich, the mayor of Anchorage, had roughly 47.7 percent of the vote, compared with about 46.6 percent for Stevens, according to unofficial results posted on the Alaska Secretary of State's Web site.
He appears to have bested Stevens by 3,724 votes, according to the posted results.
Alaska elections Director Gail Fenumiai said 2,500 overseas ballots remain to be counted.
She said officials hope to make an official announcement during the week of December 1 -- and that Stevens would then have five days to request a recount.
Stevens, who turned 85 on Tuesday, was convicted in October of filing false statements on his Senate financial disclosure forms. Prosecutors said Stevens hid hundreds of thousands of dollars in "freebies" from an oil-field services company in his home state.
On Tuesday, his fellow Senate Republicans postponed a vote they had planned on whether to kick Stevens out of their caucus pending the final vote results.
Stevens maintained his innocence even after the conviction. At a debate days before the election, he said he had "not been convicted of anything."
In his statement claiming victory, Begich said he was "humbled and honored" by the apparent results.
"It's been an incredible journey getting to this point, and I appreciate the support and commitment of the thousands of Alaskans who have brought us to this day," he said in the written statement. "I can't wait to get to work fighting for Alaskan families."
We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers…Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. –Raoul Duke
It is hard to shed anything but crocodile tears over White House speechwriter Patrick Buchanan's tragic analysis of the Nixon debacle. "It's like Sisyphus," he said. "We rolled the rock all the way up the mountain...and it rolled right back down on us...." Neither Sisyphus nor the commander of the Light Brigade nor Pat Buchanan had the time or any real inclination to question what they were doing...a martyr, to the bitter end, to a "flawed" cause and a narrow, atavistic concept of conservative politics that has done more damage to itself and the country in less than six years than its liberal enemies could have done in two or three decades. -Hunter S. Thompson
