Dan Sullivan has defeated Democratic incumbent Mark Begich in the Alaska Senate race, the Associated Press reported late Tuesday evening.
The Republican challenger led by more than 8,000 votes with 100 percent of precincts reporting the day after last week’s midterm elections. The AP had been waiting on Alaska to begin counting more than 53,000 absentee, early-voting and questioned ballots.
Begich was hoping he could repeat his 2008 victory, when he made up a difference of about 7,000 votes after provisional ballots had been counted. “Every Alaskan deserves to have their vote counted, and past experience indicates that counting these votes will favor Begich and draw this race closer,” a Begich spokesman told the AP on Monday.
But Alaska officials counted roughly 20,000 votes on Tuesday, and Sullivan’s lead remained at about 7,900 votes.
NEXT: Why Begich lost
