Alaska Dispatch

U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens has conceded to Democratic opponent Mark Begich, who commands an insurmountable lead in Alaska’s Senate election. Stevens, who learned of his defeat on his 85th birthday on Tuesday, released a statement Wednesday congratulating Begich and bidding farewell to his constituents.

“I am deeply grateful to Alaskans for allowing me to serve them for 40 years in the U.S. Senate,” Stevens said in his statement. “It has been the greatest honor of my life to work with Alaskans..."

Here's his full statement:

By Tony Hopfinger

For the first time in months, Gov. Sarah Palin addressed Big Oil on Wednesday, the industry she’s squabbled with for the past 18 months.

Since taking office, Palin has led efforts to raise taxes on oil producers, revoke leases at the Point Thomson oil and gas field, and provoke competition in the industry to jumpstart the long-sought natural-gas pipeline project. But speaking at an industry gathering in Anchorage, Palin’s tone was mostly nonconfrontational, stressing cooperation between the state and industry to show “the lower 48 we protect our environment up here.”

By Tony Hopfinger

U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest-sitting Senate Republican in history, has lost his seat to Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, who now commands a 3,724-vote lead over the senator.

“It doesn't appear that we have enough ballots on hand for him [Stevens] to make up the difference," said Gail Fenumiai, director of the Alaska Division of Elections, which still must count some 2,500 votes.

Stevens' defeat comes on his 85th birthday and three weeks after he was convicted in federal court for lying about gifts he received from friends, including oilman Bill Allen.

“I am humbled and honored to serve Alaska in the United States Senate,” Begich said in a statement Tuesday afternoon. “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."

Wasilla resident Zane Henning reports that she's filed an ethics complaint against Gov.Sarah Palin for violations of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. 

Henning accuses Palin of using her official position and office in an attempt to repair her damaged political image on the national scene. "She’s talking [in media interviews] about the recent Republican McCain/Palin campaign platform and strategy in a state office that belongs to the people of Alaska,” Henning says in a press release. “Sarah Palin campaigned on the ethics ticket and she continues to break the rules she claims to have improved.”

By the end of today, we may know if convicted felon Ted Stevens will hold on to his 40-year-old Senate seat. The Division of Elections will be counting ballots throughout the day. So far, Stevens’ opponent, Mark Begich, leads him by more than 1,000 votes.

One interesting difference between Begich and Stevens that never got much play in the election coverage was the fact that Begich, a two-term mayor of Anchorage, never earned a college degree. Stevens earned a law degree from Harvard as a young man and requires his staffers to hold law degrees.

We haven’t checked for ourselves, but according to media reports Begich would be the only member of the Senate to never complete college. This may or may not be a big deal. What do you think?

Starting Thanksgiving, an ad campaign kicks off to thank Sarah Palin for all she’s done for the nation, an effort led by Our Country Deserves Better, a political action committee that's pumping Palin as the next president.

By Amanda Coyne

Thought you might be able to eat your turkey and pie and ‘tators without the Thrilla of Wasilla making an appearance? Winking at your men through the pixels?  Her perfectly lipped-lined lips forming sentences that need some sort of decoding machine to decipher?

Thought that maybe you might be spared the notion that we should have Gov. Sarah Palin to thank for anything but saving the country from the “real America?"

TeamSarah.org, a blog and news site devoted to supporting Gov. Sarah Palin, proves many Americans love our governor and are gearing up to help her for the 2012 presidential race, should she decide to run.

Among other things the site offers petitions to boycott mainstream media and abortion, along with lots of Obama bashing. Also, backers of TeamSarah.org are trying to organize a trip to Alaska for July 4, 2009, with members representing the GOP from all states. Here's what they say:

Let's go to Alaska and start reclaiming this country! Let's go get our future! We need to rally behind Sarah. July 4th of next year sounds like an appropriate date.

By Dena Fox

While reading Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books to my daughter a few years ago, I came across a pithy piece of wisdom I have since remembered: 

“Least said, soonest mended,” Ma said.

Having found occasion to regret making thoughtless comments myself, I have discovered that this is good advice – advice that might serve Governor Palin in situations such as her recent interview with Larry King when she was asked about her reaction to unwed teenaged daughter Bristol’s pregnancy.

By Amanda Coyne

UPDATED: Question and absentee ballots from Wasilla, Fairbanks, Nome and some from Juneau have all been counted. Begich’s lead has now grown to 1,022 votes. About 25,000 remaining votes, to be tallied Tuesday, will come from Anchorage,  Juneau, Kenai and Kodiak. 

As of 7:30 Wednesday night, the Alaska Division of Elections is reporting that Democratic Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich has 814 more votes than Sen. Ted Stevens. The count is now 132,196 to 131,382. There are about 35,000 more ballots left to count over the next week. Immediately after the election, Stevens led Begich by more than 3,000 votes.

If you’re Ted Stevens, the lion of Alaska politics for 40 years and a convicted felon, and you’re going to lose an election, this isn’t really a bad way to do so. He got the glory of an initial win just eight days after a federal grand jury found him guilty of seven felony counts. And his fate is uncertain in the US Senate if he does return. Likely, he would be forced to step down, and this would save him that ignominy. It also puts a halt to Gov. Sarah Palin’s plan of winking and wiggling her way into his empty seat, which surely doesn't bother Stevens.