Begich declared winner of Alaska race

[IndianaGreen]

now breaking by AP (MSNBC)

On edit:

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens loses re-election bid

By MICHAEL R. BLOOD
The Associated Press
Tuesday, November 18, 2008; 8:46 PM

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has lost his bid for a seventh term. The longest-serving Republican in the history of the Senate trailed Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich by 3,724 votes after Tuesday's count. That's an insurmountable lead with only about 2,500 overseas ballots left to be counted.

Stevens, who turned 85 Tuesday, also revealed that he will not ask President George W. Bush to give him a pardon for his seven felony convictions.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/18/AR2008111803227.html

Begich defeats Stevens in Senate race

By SEAN COCKERHAM

Published: November 18th, 2008 05:06 PM
Last Modified: November 18th, 2008 05:07 PM

Democrat Mark Begich has defeated Republican Sen. Ted Stevens in the election for U.S. Senate.

The Anchorage mayor widened his lead to 3,724 votes in today's counting of absentee and questioned ballots. The only votes left to count are approximately 2,500 special absentees from people living outside the U.S. or in remote parts of Alaska with no polling place.

The state will count those final ballots on Nov. 25.

Begich issued a statement shortly before 5 p.m. claiming victory.

“I am humbled and honored to serve Alaska in the United States Senate,” Begich said. “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. I can’t wait to get to work fighting for Alaskan families.”

The Stevens campaign has made no comment.

http://www.adn.com/senateelection/story/593747.html

[valerief]

1. Hurray!

[IndianaGreen]

9. Details coming up on Olbermann's show

Commercial break now.

[KittyWampus]

2. hahahaha YEAH!

[JeffR]

3. All I can say is:

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[doublethink]

4. Just heard that !! Cool.

:kick:

WSJ link ..... http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122705929484939767.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[Lost-in-FL]

5. Party!!

:party: :party: :party: :party: :toast: :toast:

[Cleita]

6. WooHoo!

One down and two to go.

[vanderBeth]

7. Nice

:D

[Flabbergasted]

8. Woooooohoooo! nt

[LisaM]

10. No Senator Palin!

What a relief!

[tblue]

14. You owe me a Coke!

[1corona4u]

15. No shit!!!!

Whhheeewww.....

[Sebass1271]

25. Got that right... ciao Sarah palin..don't let the door hit you!!

yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuupie!! Thank God we don't have to see this woman on the Senate for now..

I am also glad a Democrat won.. i had lost faith in Alaskans...

[tblue]

45. And don't even THINK of plowin' thru it.

[catgirl]

99. Thank goodness!

And Begich seems like a cool guy too.

[DCBob]

11. YES!!! Another big victory for the good guys!!

Cheers!

[tblue]

12. You mean, NO Senator Palin?!!!!!!!

:bounce: WHOOOOOPPEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! :bounce:

[Sebass1271]

28. you betcha.."wink" "wink"..

LOL!!

[GOPNotForMe]

13. Yes! Now onto NORM. nt

[ddeclue]

16. One down TWO to go...

Buh-bye Stevens...

next up: NORM Coleman...

finally we got to get rid of Saxby in Georgia.


:)

[Sebass1271]

33. Saxby and Coleman..

that will be my dream team to bring down....

I really hope Martin wins..

[IndianaGreen]

75. Saxby in particular. He claimed he had a trick knee to get out of the draft

and then he savages a war hero!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

17. Ted's down the tubes...

[jaysunb]

18. Sorry Sarah

Looks like you'll not be coming down soon. :evilgrin:

[Sebass1271]

35. yes please.. she should stay in Alaska and continue seeing

Russia from her house..

[IndianaGreen]

52. and continue cooking her moose chili

keeping her brood fed and pregnant.

[Ichingcarpenter]

19. Just heard it too! Great News

Franken hopefully is next!

[David Zephyr]

20. Yeah! Great thread to kick! Hoo Hah!

K&R.

[patrice]

21. Thank Goodness! So does that make 56 or 57, please? nt

[globalvillage]

22. Awesome. k&r

[Hippo_Tron]

80. Guess that means the internet turns into a big truck again

A big truck for dumping Stevens back to where he belongs.

[Gregorian]

23. "NO!"

:)

[Ichingcarpenter]

30. "NO!" "NO!" "NO!".......... "Its just a bunch of tubes!'

[Gregorian]

48. Oh yeah, I forgot- And happy birthday!

He must be hurting. 85 years. Go take a rest.

[tridim]

24. Next up.. Minnesota.

Then Missouri, then Georgia.

Everythings goin' our way. :)

[Ichingcarpenter]

26. Stevens will have to pay for a recount too!!

If he wants it and Palin is out.

[IndianaGreen]

27. Stick a fork in him!

The goose is cooked!

[DCBob]

31. Doubt Stevens will request a recount.

It just extends the misery.

[Ichingcarpenter]

36. He will have to pay his lawyers first for his appeal

great news

[liberaldem4ever]

29. Great news! Bye Stevens, you crooked Rethug!

Hope you enjoy your stay in the Big House soon!!

:bounce: :toast: :applause:

[jenmito]

32. It looks like "god" is sending a CLEAR message to Sarah Palin-"I'm not opening any doors for you

to plow through."

[DCBob]

34. LOL! You betcha!

Wink wink.

[jenmito]

39. I betcha this will put a damper on the number of books she sells, too!

Since this probably makes any future she had even less promising.

[DCBob]

53. Indeed, Palin is the big loser tonight.

She should give the concession speech.

[DCBob]

54. Number 58!!

and maybe, just maybe two more.

[IndianaGreen]

56. Franken has a chance to beat Coleman

and if Obama campaigns in Georgia with Big Dog, we can bring draft-dodger Chambliss down.

[DCBob]

59. Yes, it is possible. Man oh man would that be great,

I didn't think we had a chance to get 60. Wow.

[jenmito]

74. Yeah...

since she was so eager to give MCCAIN'S concession speech! :rofl:

[Sebass1271]

40. Cheers.. fellow DUers...

:toast:

what a great occasion to mark my 800 post!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jenmito]

44. Congrats...

on your 800th post! :toast:

[Sebass1271]

73. thanks!!!

after a "hard to swallow" news of today.. this really has made my night....
: )))

[jenmito]

77. You're welcome...

Yeah, this made MY night, too! :hi:

[Hutzpa]

37. Wonderful News

Excellent!!!


:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[lordcommander]

41. i can see the end of sarah palin's political career from my house

Congrats to the new Democratic Senator from the Great State of Alaska Mark Begich :woohoo:

[Ichingcarpenter]

49. Welcome to DU... lordcommander

Yes its great news isn't it?

[lordcommander]

YOU BETCHA! lol

A great birthday present for Ted Stevens

[IndianaGreen]

51. God shut the door on her face!

Sorry, Sarah!

[Sebass1271]

57. WELCOME TO DU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ull get frustrated here, but you will also be happy. This is a huuuge community@!

[lordcommander]

64. Thanks for the warm welcome guys!

:hi:

[Doityourself]

63. Can I call ya Joe?

LOL! Welcome to DU...and Sarah can't be paling around with criminals...!

[lordcommander]

66. sarah palling around with a convicted felon......

:wow:

OOOPS!!!!

:rofl:

[Doityourself]

70. Oh shit!!! lol n/t

[Sebass1271]

71. LMAO!!!

Say it aint' so....

[IndianaGreen]

67. Welcome to DU, lordcommander

Great news from Alaska, and Sarah Palin won't be running for the Stevens' seat afterall.

[lordcommander]

68. yup yup n/t

[TripleKatPad]

38. Is that total over the mandatory recount threshold?

If so, who thinks the thugs will pay for a recount?

[DCBob]

42. Yes, way over. Stevens will have to pay for recount.

Doubt he will do it.

[IndianaGreen]

43. Stevens will have to pay for a recount

News is now on WaPo and MSNBC crawler.

[Skip Intro]

46. for real!!!!!!!!!!! WOOHOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU BETCHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[IndianaGreen]

50. Stevens better ask Bush for a pardon

His days are numbered.

[Ichingcarpenter]

55. Birthday begging day.... he is probably on the tubes right now

talking to Justice

[rhett o rick]

109. I am sure the pardons are for sale. nm

[Beaverhausen]

47. coolio

[DeschutesRiver]

58. Second happiest political day for me this year (Obama win was the first)

Thanks so very much for posting this!!!

[DCBob]

60. Yeah, Me too! This one feels soooo good in so many ways!!

Cheers!
:toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast:

[BumRushDaShow]

61. w00t

:fistbump:

[Doityourself]

62. YES!!!!! N/T

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

65. Yeah Baby!!!!!! Alaska Comes Through After All!

:bounce:

[treestar]

69. Yeah!

You betcha!!!

[mvd]

72. Very happy!!

and very satisfying! To me, all three of our Senate wins would be equally satisfying in their own way.

[dascientist]

76. I was here ...

[blogslut]

78. Wheee!

This almost makes up for my state having to keep box turtle Cornyn. Almost.

[d_b]

79. Now we need to get rid of Don and Lisa

finally a Dem representing alaska in congress :D

[ShadowLiberal]

81. Woohoo!!! Thank you for replacing that convict with an honorable dem Alaska

[Hieronymus]

82. Sweet Jesus.

[sonias]

83. Thank you Alaska!

You got it right! :woohoo:


Sonia

[BrklynLiberal]

84. Great news. 1 down, 2 to go.

[Connonym]

85. does this mean we have enough senators to tell Lieberman to go fuck himself?

[FKA MNChimpH8R]

86. Freeperland is, curiously, happy about this

but with all the psychotic rascist ranting and auto-cannibalizing going on over there, I wasn't moved to do any deep investigation.

[L. Coyote]

87. Close races, hard work getting early vote paid off in the end. The polls predicted this.

Albeit the exit polls were nowhere near close.

[Smuckies]

88. GREAT!!! NT

[ZeitGuy]

89. November 4, 2008: The Gift that Keeps Right On Giving.

:party:

[machI]

90. Republicans: Criminals one and all

Gentlemen, I present to you proof that the Republicans are just a bunch of criminals.

[Hope And Change]

91. K & R!

[Orsino]

92. No concession by Stevens.

I mean, "NO!!!1!" concession by Stevens.

[Alter Ego]

93. Hahaha....wonderful!

Now Uncle Ted can rot in prison.

[stark6935]

94. I was hoping the republicans would win :(

I mean how much respect would have been lost. They would have to announce him as Convicted fellon, and our senator.... TED STEVENS!!

[BREMPRO]

95. 58 and counting.... n/t

[nyc 4 Biden]

96. Down Goes Stevens! Down Goes Stevens!

Boot the most senior Repub Senator...Check.

[JawJaw]

97. 3 Cheers For Alaskans!!

High-Fives etc - You put the cherry on the cake!

[raventattoo]

98. Woooohoooooo!!!! nm

[nichomachus]

100. The fact remains

That nearly half of Alaskans voted to have a felon represent them in the Senate. Just as 58 million Americans voted for McStain/Failin' -- or so we're lead to believe.

Seriously, that's just sick.

[Blue_In_AK]

103. Old habits die hard.

This is a huge victory for us. We haven't had a Democrat in congress since Mike Gravel left in 1980. So many years Ted ran unopposed up here. This is a truly gratifying day for Alaska. As Ken Burch put it in the Alaska forum, "Somwhere Nick Begich is smiling."




(For those who don't know, Mark's father Nick was Alaska's Democratic congressman from 1970-1972 when he was killed in a mysterious plane crash. Even though he had been missing and presumed dead for three weeks when the election was held that year, he still easily defeated his opponent, Don Young. Young was later able to win the seat in a special election and has been in Washington ever since. Mark's win is poetic justice.)

[8 track mind]

101. Later Stevens! Don't let the cell door hit you in the ass! n/t

[barbtries]

102. now the republican caucus

will give him a big round of applause, whereas yesterday they were prepared to kick him out on his ass. this man seems to take the position that being convicted of seven felonies doesn't mean a thing.

[demokatgurrl]

104. no recount? n/t

[Piewhacket]

105. Kickin ASS! Todays Mission: Go taunt a Puke.

[budkin]

106. So long tubes... you WON'T be missed... at all.

[GinaMaria]

107. Oh Happy Day eom

[Christa]

108. The Repugs

The gift that keeps on giving :toast: :party:

[sofa king]

110. Thank you, Alaska.

I suppose I'll let Florida keep the special crown I made for it. You wouldn't want it, anyway.