Pressure builds to call the Senate race

There are still as many as 50,000 uncounted ballots floating out there, but the trend isn’t looking good for Sen. Mark Begich. However, so far the Washington Examiner is the only media outlet that I know of that has called the race for Sullivan. It would be more reassuring, however, if it backed up the call with some hard numbers. Never fear, the ADN’s Nat Herz, is on the case:

The pressure to call the race is mounting:

Then there’s the pressure not to:

I expect the race to be officially called by a major news outlet or by Begich himself by tomorrow evening.

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16 thoughts on “Pressure builds to call the Senate race”

  1. Tom Bodett

    Because he has USMC duty this weekend Lynn. That’s why he can’t. Good lord you have gone from an informed and thought provoking poster to an asbolute irritant. Think.

  2. Lynn Willis

    Anonymous,
    If Begich resigns that could have an impact. What comes from him admitting defeat?

  3. Lynn Willis

    What law says he has to maintain an election office? The guy has access to millions of dollars so he can hire anybody he wants and rent any space he needs. He can start work today or do you think he is forbidden from, for instance, reading any material relative to his new position. These would be a practical actions he can take today. Tinfoil hats come in all sizes……

  5. Reality Check

    Linda –

    Linda –

    Mark’s ground game in rural Alaska was indeed “amazing.” So amazing, in fact, that out of the 19K absentee ballots they are counting on Tuesday, District 38 (Bethel region) has the LEAST amount of any district in the state (200 ballots). These are those absentee-in-person votes that the Democrats are spinning as making the big difference for Mark. There were dozens of paid staffers in this region for months and they were able to get 200 absentee votes? That is amazing. Just for comparison look at District 29 (Kenai Peninsula) – a District where Dan won by more than 2-1 over Mark – there are 1450 absentees to be counted. I’m thinking the Republican absentee chase program might be a bit better.

    You can spin all you want until facts and reality catch up. That time is now.

  8. Crude is Rude

    I think Mark Begich is the lucky one here…
    if Dan Sullivan wins, then he gets to learn all the gory details of just how bad Fukushima, WIPP, Hanford, Chernobyl, and 500 other man-made nuke-disasters worldwide really is.

    …..if you are the Real Hero field tactical artillery & drone guy, then you might have the skills & aptitude to help me clean up Fukushima.
    …it’s now Dan’s choice to make, he can hide behind all the chickens in the Congressional Chicken Coop, or he can step forward like Sen.Ron Wyden has and begin to learn what I already know about what it’s gonna take to keep mankind from going extinct from self-inflicted stupidity…
    ….much of the PAC money Dan has received comes from the idiotic Nuke Industry.
    …it’s not too late to chicken-out Dan.

  9. Tom Bodett

    Sullivan can’t begin closing down the election offices and transitioning to Senate offices and staffing until Begich concedes the race. He probably just wants to get to work. Be practical. It’s not as complicated a matter as you may think and the tin foil hats regarding everything politically in this state is getting silly.

  10. Lynn Willis

    I assume the purpose of this demand is have Begich resign early so Sullivan can be the most “senior” of the junior senators. What other purpose does this demand to “call the Senate race” serve? Just think how popular this stunt would be with Sullivan’s new peers and don’t you think this hasn’t been thought of by others? Just be patient…..

  11. jow blow

    Mark’s ground game was so amazing that he lost.

    The smart thing for Begich to do would be to call a press conference and say the numbers aren’t there and to congratulate ‘the new Senator from Alaska, Dan Sullivan.’ Say he’ll help with transition, want to move Alaska forward, blah blah. Then watch the votes because they have to be legally counted, anyway. If it gets close, make another announcement.

  12. Ethan

    I agree, it does not look good for Begich, but I’d rather see all the votes get counted before anyone tries to pronounce a victor. Why don’t all you Sully fans unbunch your tighty whities and just sit back and relax? When it becomes a statistical impossibility for Begich to win, you can jump up and down and ramble on about how right you were, but while it remains a statistical improbability, you may still be proven wrong.

  13. DB

    Time to call Eric Holder in. Oh, that’s right, he no longer is in the”Office of Public Integrity”.

  14. Woodstock

    Smarmy tweets from Dan’s fratty campaign staff hardly equates to “mounting pressure.” 50,000 votes is a lot and could swing the election. Just because it doesn’t fit your narrative doesn’t mean it can’t happen.

  15. Linda Kellen Biegel

    There is a reason Sullivan is pressuring Mark to call it…Sullivan had no ground game while Mark’s was amazing…Dan knows he had nothing to do with the large numbers of absentee. Those votes probably won’t be completely counted until next week.

  16. Gregg

    I’ve gone over the numbers too. Sullivan”s lead appears insurmountable. Arithematically speaking the oitstanding votes would have to trend substantially in a different direction than common sense would dictate. They wiill track with the regional vote mostly. Begich is done.

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