No winners yet in Senate races in Alaska, Washington - USA Today

The new Senate will remain under the control of a slimmer Democratic majority. That much is known.However, it could take days — or weeks — to call winners in at least two unresolved races in Alaska and Washington.

In Colorado, with about 97% of the vote counted, Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet declared victory Wednesday over Republican challenger Ken Buck, who did not immediately concede.

"We are still looking where returns need to be reported, as well as provisional ballots before making any decisions," Buck said in a written statement Wednesday.

Despite Bennet's apparent victory, the GOP picked up at least six seats that will give Republicans at least 47 seats in the 100-member body, as the as the nation awaits the results of the undecided contests.

The most complex of the undecided races is in Alaska, where state officials Wednesday are just beginning to review thousands of ballots cast as part of an unusual write-in campaign waged by incumbent Republican Lisa Murkowski against Tea Party-supported candidate Joe Miller.

Although the 41% write-in vote so far exceeds the 34% for Miller, the state has yet to determine how many of the write-in ballots were cast in the name of Murkowski, who launched the campaign after losing the Republican primary to Miller.

Alaska Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai said Wednesday that officials were "formulating" a plan to count the write-ins. She declined to say how long the count could take. Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell told the Associated Press that the actual count will begin next week in Juneau.

Miller campaign spokesman Robert Campbell said the process could likely take "a couple of weeks."

Robert Campbell said the campaign has assembled a legal team to oversee the review to "make sure all the ballots abide by the rules of the Division of Elections."

"Previous write-in campaigns in Alaska have demonstrated that as much as 5% to 6% of returned ballots have not met the standard to be counted as a valid vote," Miller said in a written statement.

"At this point, without a single write-in ballot counted, Lisa Murkowski has no claim on a victory ... In short, this campaign is not over."

Murkowski spokesman Steve Wackowski said the campaign was "encouraged" by the volume of write-in votes.

"We're very confident, but we're not declaring victory," he said.

In Washington state, incumbent Democratic Sen. Patty Murray was holding a small lead over Republican challenger Dino Rossi, but hundreds of thousands of ballots were left to be counted.

Rossi, a real-estate investor and former state senator, has twice lost races for governor.

Washington Secretary of State spokesman David Ammons said Wednesday that up to 1 million ballots may be left to count and 14,000 votes separate the two candidates.

About one-third of the outstanding votes, Ammons said, are believed to be from Seattle's King County, which traditionally favors Democrats.

"It's close," Ammons said. "I'm sure both sides are out there spinning their paths to victory. It should be clear by the end of the week."

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Colorado Senate: Michael Bennet Takes Razor Thin Victory - CBS News

November 3, 2010 6:14 PM Michael Bennet (D) and Ken Buck (R)

(Credit: AP Photo )

CBS News is now projecting that Democrat Michael Bennet will win the Colorado Senate race over Tea Party-backed Republican Ken Buck in what was an extremely close contest.

With 3156 out of 3246 precincts reporting, vote totals show Bennett leading Buck 794,724 to 779,280. That's a difference of just 15,444 votes.

The Associated Press, Fox News and the Denver Post projected the race for Bennet earlier today. CBS News declined to make such a call until now because of outstanding ballots and the possibility of a recount.

According to the Post, a recount takes place if the difference between the candidates' voter totals is less than one half of one percent. The difference between the two is about twice that now.

Bennet claimed victory this morning, thanking "the thousands of Coloradans who made this victory possible, who gave so much to our campaign, knocking on doors, making calls, and working tirelessly to ensure we leave more opportunity to the next generation."

"Yesterday, Colorado chose to move our state and this country forward. I will do everything I can to live up to the confidence you have placed in me," he said. Bennet was appointed to the seat to replace Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar.

Buck conceded and called Bennet to congratulate him this afternoon. His campaign said Buck told Bennet that "while the final margin in the race is very small, Colorado voters have spoken and he wishes Senator Bennet well."

Buck's apparent loss is a blow for the Tea Party movement, which on the Senate side had a rough night last night. There are now three Tea Party-backed candidates - Buck, Nevada's Sharron Angle and Delaware's Christine O'Donnell - who lost in seats that Republicans might plausible have won with stronger candidates.

Democrats are now projected to control at least 52 seats in the new Congress. Two races remain outstanding: Washington, where Democrat Patty Murray holds a slim lead with many precincts yet to report, and Alaska, where the results might not be known for weeks.

Brian Montopoli is a political reporter for CBSNews.com. You can read more of his posts here. Follow Hotsheet on Facebook and Twitter. Tags:Colorado ,Senate ,Ken Buck ,Tea Party ,Michael Bennet Topics:Campaign 2010

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Murray lead in King County grows; more vote totals coming - Seattle Times

UPDATE 4:58 p.m. Democratic U.S. Sen. Patty Murray slightly widened her lead over Republican challenger Dino Rossi as counties statewide counted about 143,000 more ballots this afternoon.

In King County, which counted 50,716 ballots, Murray's lead grew from 88,751 votes to 105,639. That gives her a lead of 62.6 percent to 37.4 percent -- a spread that widened slightly with the new votes. Based on King County's estimated voter turnout of 68 percent, there are may be 300,000 or more ballots still to count here.

The trend that bodes poorly for Rossi. He took 40 percent of the King County vote in his 2004 virtual tie with Gov. Chris Gregoire.

With results still trickling in, Rossi picked up a net gain of 3,262 votes out of Spokane County today, which counted an additional 23,218 ballots. That county, which Rossi is leading 56.4 to 43.6 percent, has about 80,000 more ballots to still to count.

In Pierce County, Rossi continued to lead Murray slightly. With about 20,000 more ballots counted today, Rossi led Murray by 1,920 votes out of 195,390 counted.

Snohomish County expects to release a count of about 15,000 votes later this evening. Murray is leading slightly there. We'll update as new numbers come in, and as we reach the campaigns for comment.

Statewide, Murray now leads 50.8 percent to Rossi's 49.2.

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