Undecided Senate Elections

It's still not clear who won U.S. Senate elections in three states.

I wrote about the Georgia situation here.

Outcomes are also unsettled in Alaska and Minnesota.

In Alaska, they're still counting absentee ballots, and both sides have challenged some ballots. A final count is due later this month, but that could be challenged in court. Incumbent Senator Ted Stevens has a small, but not razor-thin, edge over his Democratic challenger Mark Begich. But if Stevens wins this vote, he still faces challenges, as I described in this post.

The Minnesota Senate race between Norm Coleman and Al Franken is headed for a recount. Coleman's 221-vote lead in unofficial returns is close enough to trigger an automatic recount, under that state's election laws. If the state's official count, due on November 18, is in line with those unofficial numbers, the recount will take place. Supposedly there is a December deadline on the recount, but court challenges could upset that timetable.

The most famous recount in Minnesota history occurred in the 1962 gubernatorial race between Republican incumbent Governor Elmer L. Andersen (Minnesota is so Scandinavian that, in discussing past governors, one must distinguish between multiple Elmer Andersons) and Democratic-Farmer-Labor Lieutenant Governor Karl Rolvaag.

Andersen had a tiny lead in the initial count. The recount came out in Rolvaag's favor, but he was not able to take office until late March 1963.

While both sides in the Coleman-Franken contest will probably put up as many challenges as they need to, I'm sure no one wants the Senate recount to drag on that long.

The Democrats' goal of 60 Senate seats is not quite out of reach. However, they need to do four things: 1) win the Georgia runoff, 2) prevail in the Minnesota recount, 3) one way or the other, take over Ted Stevens's seat in Alaska, and 4) keep Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman in the Democratic caucus. None of those four things is impossible, but stringing them all together seems somewhat improbable.