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| Al Grillo / The Associated Press |
 Casting a vote: Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, casts an absentee ballot Monday in Anchorage. Young faces Democrat Diane Benson for the congressional seat in today's general election. |
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ANCHORAGE - In the 11th hour in the race to be Alaska's 11th governor, the three top candidates each campaigned with a confidence that belied their own uncertainty on who voters would pick in this unusual election year.
"After nine months and one week on the campaign trail, you feel like that clock is ticking," said independent candidate Andrew Halcro. "I think a lot of people will be surprised."
The lead that Republican Sarah Palin took after the Aug. 22 primary appears to have diminished or even vanished, depending on whose poll is being cited.
Given Alaska voters' unpredictability in past races, and remembering incumbent Gov. Frank Murkowski's ouster in the primary, the candidates were bracing for anything on Tuesday.
"I'm sure it's going to be a wild one. We've had a wild day and I'm sure it's going to be wild tomorrow, too," Palin said Monday.
Democrat Tony Knowles has clawed into the race by hammering at Palin's lack of political experience, saying the decisions the next governor are too important for on-the-job training when it comes to issue No. 1: Closing a deal for a North Slope natural gas pipeline.
"You know the stakes are high and you want to place your support where you think you have the best chances of succeeding," Knowles said.
Palin, a former Wasilla mayor, has struck back, saying Knowles had his chance as a two-term governor and that it is time to let some new blood into government. She says not only can she get a gas pipeline, but she promises to do it with more transparency than Murkowski did in negotiating a deal.
The wild card is Halcro, who figures to have only the slimmest of chances to win the race, but whose candidacy could affect the outcome if the election is close.
Knowles spent Monday campaigning in Fairbanks and Juneau. Palin and Halcro stayed in Southcentral Alaska, each phoning in to radio talk shows and making public appearances.
In the race for Alaska's only U.S. House seat, Don Young believes voter antipathy on the war in Iraq will creep into the election, but not enough to make him break a sweat.
"It won't be close, it's just it won't be 70-30. There's no doubt about that," predicted Republican Young, who is seeking his 18th term as Alaska's at-large representative.
Young, who has pulled 70 percent or more of the vote in his past three elections, faces his toughest challenge in recent memory against Democrat Diane Benson. Benson, an actress and writer, has made the Iraq war and veterans benefits her top issue.
Young, who cast his vote Monday in Anchorage, is sticking to his prediction that the Republicans will keep control of Congress, but he is sounding less sure on the eve of the election.
"I think a lot of people are going to be extremely disappointed on the other side Wednesday," Young said at his campaign headquarters. "If not, you know, I can live with it. I've been there before. I was 22 years in the minority, I can be in the minority again. Because I'm just as effective there as I am in the majority.
"But it's going to give me a great deal of pleasure on Wednesday to say I told you so," he added.
With the Iraq war abroad and corruption and corrosion investigations into the oil industry at home, will Alaska voters be compelled to head to the polls in a non-presidential election year?
The initial indication is yes. More absentee ballots have been requested this year than in the 2002 gubernatorial election, according to Division of Elections Director Whitney Brewster.
