UPDATE: Begich Leads by 814

UPDATE 7:53PM AST — BEGICH NOW AHEAD BY 814 VOTES

At the DOE tonight, the end count for the day showed Begich 814votes ahead.

“I’ve always said that this would be a close race. After watching the votes today, I remain cautiously optimistic. As I have said before, we ran an aggressive campaign, especially when it came to early voting and absentee. From what we’re seeing, thousands of Alaskans, like me, did come out and vote early. I’m confident that Alaskans, like the rest of the country, want a new direction in Washington , and ultimately that will be reflected in the results.”

— Mark Begich

While Georgia has moved to a run off, Minnesota is knee deep in a recount. Alaska is still trying to get the votes counted. Save the jokes. No, they don’t come in on dog sled.

Today a third of the remaining 30% of the votes are now being counted. The race has narrowed to a 814 vote margin, with Mayor Begich ahead. This has the Ted Steven’s camp missing the 3533 vote margin they enjoyed this morning. Begich: 132,196 at 47.41% and Stevens:131,382 at 47.24%. There are still about 40,000 votes to count. The Alaska Independence Party Candidate Bob Bird is sitting with 4.12%.

Ethan Berkowitz has gained 2% in his race with Don Young. Should this trend continue, the race could tighten up more than has been reported. Berkowitz was polling consistently between 6 and 12 points ahead of Young. Current standing has Young at 50.66%, Berkowitz at 44.71, and the Alaskan Independence Candidate Don Wright at 4.39%.

Updating here as the numbers come in. I think both sides can say the Alaska Independence Party wins as “the spoiler.”

Alaska is still reporting less votes than the 2004 election. The McCain/Palin ticket still holding at about 61% and Obama/Biden at 37%. No real change from election night 2008 or 2004.