Too Close To Call: Update On Deadlocked Races
Election Day was nearly two weeks ago, but nine races are still up in the air. Here is a breakdown of what's left.
Senate
Alaska: Looks like the writing is on the wall for Republican Joe Miller. Sen. Lisa Murkowski is maintaining 89 percent of the write-in votes unchallenged by the Miller camp, which should be enough to get her the victory.
Murkowski's camp had thought that the number of write-in ballots counted for Murkowski would have outnumbered Miller's total on Sunday, but the Alaska Division of Elections only counted fewer than 5,000 ballots. As of Monday morning, Miller has 87,517 ballots to Murkowski's 78,697 uncontested write-in ballots.
Another eight percent of the write-in ballots, or 7,059 votes, were counted for Murkowski but have been challenged by Miller.
More than 98,500 write-in ballots have been cast and there are around 8,700 left to be counted this week. Murkowski could officially take the lead before counting is completely on Monday.
The write-in ballot hand count is expected to run through Wednesday.
Another good sign for Murkowski? Lawyers from both campaigns are leaving the state.
Governor
Minnesota: The Minnesota gubernatorial race appears to be in a holding pattern. Former Sen. Mark Dayton (D) leads state Rep. Tom Emmer (R) by 8,755 votes after canvassing board results - a tally that is virtually unchanged from early last week. The race is still heading for a recount, but it looks difficult for Emmer to overtake Dayton without an allegation of widespread voter fraud.
House
Democrat Leading
California 11: Rep. Jerry McNerney (D) declared victory last week, but attorney David Harmer (R) is still holding out hope that McNerney's 1,700-vote edge can be wiped out. But with just 8,500 provisional ballots (most of which likely won't be valid) to be counted in the Harmer's San Joaquin County base, it appears that Harmer's running out of hope.
California 20: Farmer Andy Vidak (D) actually picked up a handful of votes when Rep. Jim Costa's (D) base of Fresno County reported a new batch of numbers late last week. But with nearly 18,000 ballots left to count in Costa-friendly counties, Vidak shouldn't count on that trend continuing.
Democrat Trailing
Illinois 8: Businessman Joe Walsh (R) holds a slim 347-vote edge over Rep. Melissa Bean (D), but with just 200 uncounted ballots from Bean's stronghold of Cook County -- and hundreds left to count from GOP-leaning Lake and McHenry counties -- Bean's chances appear slim.
New York 1: Businessman Randy Altschuler (R) leads Rep. Tim Bishop (D) by 383 votes. Officials will begin counting 11,000 outstanding absentee ballots beginning on Tuesday.
New York 25: Republican Ann Marie Buerkle holds a 729-vote lead over Rep. Dan Maffei (D) after two Buerkle-leaning counties reported their absentee totals. But this race will be decided when Maffei's base of Onondaga County -- the largest in the district -- begins counting its 6,000 absentees. In order for Maffei to topple Buerkle's current lead (which is likely to grow larger after another GOP county reports its totals this week), he'll need to win 56 percent of Onondaga's absentees -- higher than the 54 percent he won on Election Day.
North Carolina 2: The state Board of Elections has certified the results, which show Rep. Bob Etheridge (D) trailing nurse Renee Ellmers (R) by 1,489 votes. But because Ellmers' winning margin is less than one percent, Etheridge is entitled to ask for a recount. He has done so, and the recount started today. Ellmers says she can't find any instance of a recount in the state overturning such a large lead.
Texas 27: Officials have approved Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D) request for a recount, which will begin sometime this week. Attorney Blake Farenthold (R) currently holds a 797-vote lead.
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