Stevens Still Narrowly Ahead As Alaska Counts Ballots

November 10, 2008 4:28 p.m. EST

Juneau, AK (AHN) - Sen. Ted Stevens' (R-AK) bid for a seventh term hangs in the balance as the counting of votes in Alaska continues. Tallying is expected to be completed by Friday at the earliest.

Absentee ballots and votes from three of 438 precincts have yet to be counted, and more than 18,000 questionable ballots also need to be examined. Stevens currently leads Anchorage Democratic Mayor Mark Begich 48 percent to 47 percent, or by 3,353 votes.

A win for Stevens will not ensure him another term, since Senate Republican leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), have called for his expulsion or resignation. Speculation is rife that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who also urged Stevens to resign, is a likely replacement.

Senate Majority Harry Reid (D-NV) has said "a convicted felon is not going to be able to serve in the United States Senate. And as precedent shows us, Senator Stevens will face an ethics committee investigation and expulsion, regardless of his appeals process."

Stevens, the Senate's longest-serving Republican, was found guilty eight days before election day of concealing $250,000 worth of gifts, including home improvements, from now-defunct oil services company VECO Corp.