What a night

Incumbent Ted Stevens, a Republican, holds a 3,353-vote lead over Democratic challenger Mark Begich with nearly all of the precincts reporting. However, since the Division of Elections has said it will not tally the absentee ballots for several days, it could be 10 days before we know the outcome of the U.S. Senate race.

Meanwhile, Republican Don Young is celebrating his victory over challenger Ethan Berkowitz. Young has a 16,887-vote lead over the Democrat with 99 percent of precincts reporting.

Here's a quick look at some of the more interesting legislative race results:

In the Senate, Republican Gary Wilken's old Fairbanks seat is projected to go to Joe Paskvan, a Democrat. Paskvan received 51 percent of the vote, but has only 214-vote lead over Republican Cynthia Henry. Absentee ballots could make a real difference in this race, so we'll just have to wait.

Incumbent Tom Wagoner, a Republican, easily defeated challenger Nels Anderson, a conservative Democrat for Kenai's Senate seat with 61 percent of the vote.

Former Rep. Kevin Meyer won a 71-percent majority in his race for Senate District 0 in Anchorage. Democrat Douglas Van Etten received 30 percent of the vote.

If Paskvan's lead holds, it would mean the Senate is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, 10-10.

In the House, Peggy Wilson successfully defended her Southeast House seat against Democrat Lily Herwald. Wilson captured 58 percent of the vote compared to Herwald's 42 percent.

Democrat Andrea Doll lost her re-election bid, earning just 46 percent of the vote compared to 54 percent who voted for Republican Cathy Munoz.

Fairbanks Rep. Mike Kelly, a Republican, proved the pundits wrong by holding onto his House seat with nearly 51 percent of the vote. Challenger Karl Kassel received 49 percent of the vote.

Another surprise was Democrat Scott Kawasaki, who won 51 percent of the vote. Republican Sue Hull received 49 percent.

And despite some pundits saying Rep. Jay Ramras was trailing in the polls, the Fairbanks Republican won re-election with 52 percent of the vote. Democrat John Brown got 47 percent of the vote.

Democrat Pete Petersen upset Republican Bob Roses with 51 percent of the vote in House District 19.

Democrat Bob Buch squeeked past Republican Bob Lewis in House District 27 with a 1-percent margin, 50.39 percent to 49.30 percent.

Republican Craig Johnson won 57 percent of the vote to hold on to his seat against challenger Valerie Baffone, who got 43 percent.

Democrat Chris Tuck won as expected with 51 percent of the vote to fill the seat left open by Ralph Samuels exit.

And the final surprise of the night was Republican Charisse Millett's victory over Democrat Lynda Zaugg for Kevin Meyer's Anchorage district seat.

In Bethel, former city manager Bob Herron was picked to fill the seat vacated by Rep. Mary Nelson. Herron ran unopposed.

It appears my prediction that the House would remain 23-17 was correct – but I had some of the individual races wrong.

Comments

[Dillon]

I didn't say it was a surprise she won convincingly. I said that my sources in Juneau and Anchorage thought she faced an uphill battle. I made no judgment on who was the more qualified candidate - only on who was thought more likely to win.

[Dillon]

I didn't say it was a surprise she won convincingly. I said that my sources in Juneau and Anchorage thought she faced an uphill battle. I made no judgment on who was the more qualified candidate - only on who was thought more likely to win.

[Globalist]

Why is it a surprise that Charisse won convincingly - she was the better candidate.