Democrat Takes Alaska Governorship

The unofficial final vote tally is in for the Alaska gubernatorial race, and it puts Democrat Tony Knowles ahead of Republican Jim Campbell by 588 votes.

Elections Division Director Joe Swanson said the last 217 absentee and questioned ballots were from Northwest Alaska, which had gone heavily to Knowles in the Nov. 8 general election.

Knowles had claimed victory Friday, when he was leading by 528 votes. On Saturday, Campbell said he had asked for a recount.

Swanson said the vote should be certified by Nov. 29-30, at which point the recount will begin.

Swanson said he's tentatively looking at starting the recount on Dec. 1 and completing it in three days.

The state will be picking up the tab for the recount because Knowles and Campbell finished within a half a percentage point of one another.

Knowles finished with 87,613 votes, or 41.1 percent of the total, to Campbell's 87,025 votes, or 40.8 percent.

Recount notwithstanding, inauguration ceremonies are scheduled for Dec. 5 in Juneau.