The long 2014 election season looks to finally be over after the last contested race ended late Monday with Senator Mark Begich’s concession to his opponent, Republican Dan Sullivan.
In a concession statement posted on his campaign website, Begich encouraged Sullivan to adopt a bipartisan resolve in the Senate, stressing the need to work toward a “strong and prosperous rural Alaska.”
The concession followed Governor Sean Parnell’s ceding the governor’s race to independent challenger Bill Walker over the weekend. In a post on his Facebook page, Parnell said continued counting of votes by the Division of Elections made it “clear that while a win for the Parnell-Sullivan ticket was numerically possible, it is highly improbable.” With the swearing-in for the Alaska governor-elect set for Dec. 1, Parnell said “he deemed it in Alaskans’ interest to begin coordinating transition activities now with the Walker-Mallott ticket.”
The final outstanding ballots will be counted by the end of this week. The election should be certified by the end of the month.
