Sullivan leads Begich in Alaska Senate race

The AP reports:

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan held a lead over Democratic Sen. Mark Begich in Alaska's hotly contested race on a night when the GOP regained control of the Senate.

Begich, who sounded an optimistic tone as votes began coming in Tuesday night, conceded nothing, with his campaign manager, Susanne Fleek-Green, saying every Alaskan deserves to have their vote counted.

"Begich will make a statement on the race after counts arrive from the seventy outstanding villages and when the number of outstanding absentee and questioned ballots is clear," she said in a statement.

A large number of ballots remained to be counted, though Sullivan held a lead as precincts reported Tuesday. Election officials said the state would count about 24,000 early and absentee ballots Nov. 11. There were also nearly 14,000 more absentee ballots that were requested and would be counted if returned in the next two weeks.

The Alaska update.