Is The Election Over Yet?

By Don Gonyea

Published November 13, 2014 at 3:29 PM CST

The Republican candidate for Arizona's 2nd Congressional District, Martha McSally, speaks at a news conference on Nov. 5, the morning after the election. McSally's race against Democrat Ron Barber is so close it triggered a recount.

The election is over, right? Republicans gained control of the U.S. Senate and padded their majority in the House.

So the big drama of the campaign may have subsided, but there is still a handful of congressional contests up in the air.

There are runoff elections scheduled. A couple of races that are still too close to call. And at least one official recount coming.

U.S. Senate Races

In Louisiana — a place where politics are always interesting — three-term Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu finds herself in a runoff against Republican congressman Bill Cassidy, because both failed to get more than the 50 percent required to claim victory last Tuesday.

In Louisiana, Rep. Bill Cassidy is in a tight runoff election against Democratic incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu.

Even though control of the Senate doesn't hang on the outcome, their battle now goes into an extra month of overtime.

The TV attack ads are back too. The Landrieu campaign introduced a new one this week, as did the National Republican Senatorial Committee on behalf of the challenger.

The other Senate seat that's been undecided is in Alaska, where incumbent Democrat Mark Begich faced Republican Dan Sullivan. The Associated Press has called the race for Sullivan. But Begich hasn't conceded.

On Capitol Hill Wednesday, incoming Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell posed with 10 new GOP senators-elect. He's looking for the number of newcomers to increase. "We're excited to have a great bunch here and we hope they're going to be joined by Bill Cassidy and Dan Sullivan shortly," he said. Sullivan, having claimed victory, has since flown to D.C. to begin new-member orientation.

House Races

There are two races in Louisiana, Congressional Districts 5 and 6, where runoffs will decide the winner. The latter involves Democrat Edwin Edwards, 87, who has a resume that includes Congress, the governorship — and eight years in federal prison for corruption.

The Associated Press has called the Alaska Senate race for challenger Dan Sullivan. But incumbent Sen. Mark Begich (above) has not conceded.

In Arizona, the battle for the 2nd District is heading for an automatic recount. It features incumbent Democrat Ron Barber, a former aide to Rep. Gabby Giffords who was shot and wounded along with Giffords by a gunman in January 2011. Barber trails Republican Martha McSally by just 133 votes. Nearly all of the votes have been tallied, and state law requires a recount if the margin is fewer than 200 votes.

Finally, there are two undeclared races in California: in the 7th District, near Sacramento, and the 16th, which includes parts of Fresno.

Both feature incumbent Democrats who currently hold very narrow leads.

So Election Day has come and gone.

We just don't know yet when it will all be officially ... and finally ... and mercifully over.