hmmmmmmm looks like buddy cianci doesn't win in alaska

(if you don't know who buddy cianci is, look him up)
why was the "first count" (i put it in quotes because obviously there was NO count prior to THIS ONE)

from the brad blog
(Updated) AP: STEVENS LOSES AK SENATE RACE
Earlier Today: Felonious Senator Says Will Not Ask Bush for Pardon, Still Has 'Faith' He's Going to Win Re-Election...
UPDATE: AP calls race for Begich...

Mark Begich, the Democratic Anchorage mayor, has defeated Sen. Ted Stevens in a closely contested, see-saw race for the United States Senate, according to Associated Press projections.

The Division of Elections has almost concluded an initial count of absentee, early in-person and questioned ballots Tuesday. That, coupled with the numbers culled from Election Day, gave Begich a 3,724-vote lead over Stevens, the 40-year Republican incumbent, with about 2,500 ballots left to count.

and from the wapo
Ted Stevens Loses Battle For Alaska Senate Seat

By Paul Kane

Washington Post Staff Writer

Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D) defeated Sen. Ted Stevens, ending the tenure of the longest-serving Republican in Senate history, after the counting of more ballots yesterday gave him a larger lead than the number of votes still untallied, Alaska elections officials said.

Begich's win gives Democrats control of 58 seats in the Senate, including two independents who caucus with them. That is two shy of the number needed to prevent Republicans from filibustering, with two races still undecided. Democrats have not controlled 60 seats since 1978.

Begich leads Stevens by more than 3,700 votes, according to the Alaska secretary of state. Gail Fenumiai, the head of the state's election division, said about 2,500 absentee votes from overseas and Alaska's most remote regions remain to be counted...........