Stevens loses rural Alaska, and his Senate seat

Rural Alaska's lack of support for embattled Republican Ted Stevens, left, may have been the difference in the loss of his U.S. Senate seat, confirmed yesterday as all but a few ballots remained uncounted.

"Bush Alaska has benefited handsomely from Sen. Ted Stevens’ money-producing magic, but it broke with other parts of the state on Nov. 4," Alex DeMarban of Alaska Newspapers noted last week. "Registered voters in the six districts extending from Kodiak to the North Slope sided with Democrat Mark Begich, some of them quite heavily." (Read more)

"Begich trounced Stevens throughout rural Alaska, long a Stevens stronghold, as well as in Southeast Alaska," notes Sean Cockerham of the Anchorage Daily News. (Read more) For background on Stevens' careet, from Tom Kizzia of the ADN, click here. (ADN photo)