One more House seat appears to be moving closer to a Democratic pick-up, as the nearly complete count of absentee ballots shows ethically challenged incumbent Republican Representative Don Young expanding his lead over Sarah Palin's Lt. Governor Sean Parnell.
After reviewing and counting approximately 25,000 absentee and questioned ballots, the Division of Elections announced after midnight (Alaska time) Saturday morning that Young's lead over Parnell stood at 239 votes, up from the 151 votes reported after the initial primary count. Latest count shows:
Don Young - 48,006
Sean Parnell - 47,767
Gabrielle LeDoux - 9,856
The only remaining votes are any outstanding absentee ballots from overseas voters - which will still be accepted if they arrive by Wednesday. It seems highly unlikely that there would be enough of these ballots, or that Parnell would win them so overwhelmingly, to reverse these results.) Barring an unexpected development, Young appears to be headed to renomination.