(Reuters) - Alaska election officials on Tuesday were tallying more than 50,000 ballots in a tight U.S. Senate race that could add to decisive Republican gains in last week's midterm elections.
A week after elections that gave Republicans control of the U.S. Senate and strengthened their grip on the U.S. House of Representatives, Alaska Democratic Senator Mark Begich was trailing Republican Dan Sullivan by 8,784 votes, unofficial results released late on Tuesday showed.
Votes were also being counted in a tight gubernatorial race that has Republican Governor Sean Parnell 3,019 votes behind challenger Bill Walker, an independent with a Democratic running mate, uncertified results showed.
The ballots still being tallied were cast by absentee and early voters as well as people who voted at the wrong polling places. More of the votes will be counted in coming days. Officials said they hoped to certify the results by Nov. 28.
Republicans said their candidates were sure to win more votes, while Democrats said they would get bigger boosts because thousands of votes came from regions more favorable to their side.
"Every Alaskan deserves to have their vote counted and their voice heard in this election," Begich campaign spokesman Max Croes said. "Voters who cast their vote by mail, voted early or used a historic new rural voting site have every right for their vote to be counted."
Ben Sparks, Sullivan's campaign manager, took to Twitter to express doubt the uncounted votes would be enough to push Begich ahead of Sullivan, a former Alaska natural resources commissioner and attorney general.
There were 228,242 votes counted as of Nov. 5.
One variable is the unknown number of ballots cast early at about 200 in-person statewide voting places, more than half of which were newly established in rural villages that may favor Democrats, the Alaska Dispatch News reported. There were about 5,200 such ballots as of Friday, but the exact number of those that have been counted and the total remaining was unknown.
Begich is no stranger to close elections, narrowly winning in 2008 after his Republican opponent, longtime Senator Ted Stevens, was convicted of fraud in a verdict that was later vacated.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Peter Cooney and Eric Walsh)