Mark Begich apparently still has a decent chance of winning the Alaska Senate race against the infamous felon, Sen. Stevens. He's trailing right now by 3353 votes, but there are 60,000 or more votes still remaining to be counted (absentee, early, provisional ballots). According to Begich, 25% of the ballots still remain to be counted! I had sent him a donation previously (Kos Act Blue), so I received an email from him this morning requesting continuing support for his campaign while the additional votes are counted (text after the fold).
Here's that email:
Thank you for your previous support of Mark's campaign. Like three other senate races, ours is not yet over - we're still confident Mark will be the next U.S. Senator from Alaska.
There are tens of thousands of ballots yet to be counted and thousands more in question. We need your support again so we can keep the campaign going as the final votes are counted.
Please contribute $25, $50, $100, $250 or more today so we can make sure all votes are counted.
https://donate.begich.com/...
We've been through this before. In 2003 Mark, for the first time in Anchorage's history, beat an incumbent Republican mayor - by 18 votes. He's won close elections before - but needs the resources required to do so again.
Mark currently trails Senator Stevens by 3353 votes. There are approximately 60,000 (and possibly as many as 70,000) absentee, early, and provisional ballots yet to be counted - up to 25% of the total cast. We ran an aggressive campaign to get people to vote early and absentee and have seen good results from those efforts in ballots counted so far.
Alaska statute mandates that all votes be counted within ten days of the election. With weekends, we expect that count to be completed no later than Friday, November 21.
At a press conference yesterday afternoon Mark said "We will be monitoring closely the vote counting by the state. We must do everything possible to make sure every vote is counted. Alaskans deserve that."
We will be sending staff to Fairbanks, Juneau, Nome, Wasilla, as well as here in Anchorage. This unexpected turn in the race means additional costs and we need your help one last time to raise an additional $50,000.
Will you send whatever you can - $25, $50, $100, $250, or more - to help us ensure EVERY ballot cast is counted and counted fairly?
https://donate.begich.com/...
Mark will be an amazing addition to the U.S. Senate - leading the fight for renewable energy, working with the new administration to fix our broken economy, and restoring ethics and integrity to Alaskan's representation in Washington.
It's understandable most people want to move on after Tuesday's election, but if you can help us one last time, Mark will stand up for you and your values for the next six years.
With appreciation,
Heather Rauch
Campaign Manager
Alaskans for Begich
----
Paid for by Alaskans for Begich
Contributions to Alaskans for Begich are not tax deductible
The good news was reported this morning that Democrat Jeff Merkley won his Senate seat in Oregon; Al Franken still has a shot in Minnesota. A 60-vote majority is still a possibility for the Democrats!
If a veto-proof Democratic majority isn't enough to convince you, there are other good reasons to give Begich just a little more additional support (although most of us are probably experiencing donation-request-overload). I don't know about you guys, but to me, the idea of allowing a convicted felon to remain in the Senate, or, possibly even worse, allowing Sarah Palin to appoint the next Senator from Alaska as Sen. Stevens replacement (if only on a temporary basis until a special election could be held) are absolutely appalling possibilities.
You know what to do...