ALASKA: NRSC Chairman John Cornyn: “We just have to be patient and wait for the judge to decide,” said Cornyn, a former judge, yesterday per Roll Call. “I understand that could be as early as [Thursday], and I hope it doesn’t go on much longer because I think the people of Alaska deserve to have a Senator when we reconvene again in January, and not still have that up in the air.”

ALASKA: “An Alaska judge will rule by Friday on Republican candidate Joe Miller’s lawsuit concerning the counting of write-in ballots for his Senate race, the Associated Press reported Wednesday,” per Roll Call.

MINNESOTA: “'Now the real work begins.’ So said Democrat Mark Dayton during his first public appearance Wednesday after the Minnesota canvassing board certified him the winner of the 2010 election for governor,” the Pioneer Press writes.

Today is the day the 2010 elections finally ended.

Tom Emmer (R) is reportedly set to concede in the Minnesota gubernatorial race to former Sen. Mark Dayton (D).

And Newsday reports that in the lone remaining uncalled House race, Randy Altschuler (R) has conceded to incumbent Rep. Tim Bishop (D).

That means the official number of Republican net-gains in the House for this cycle is +63.

For the full list of GOP and Dem House picks ups, click here for the full list begun on Election Night. Overall, 55 incumbents lost, including 53 Democrats.

It’s Over: “Republican Tom Emmer will concede the 2010 Minnesota governor's race this morning to Democrat Mark Dayton,” the Pioneer Press reports. “Emmer's 10:30 a.m. concession means he will not contest the election in court — thus averting a scenario that could have kept Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty in office past the scheduled Jan. 3 swearing-in of the next governor.”

NY-1: Newsday says that Republican Randy Altschuler picked up four votes on Rep. Tim Bishop yesterday as Suffolk county election officials counted 100 ballots. “Bishop's margin over Altschuler is now either 263 votes (according to Altschuler spokesman Rob Ryan) or 270 votes (according to Bishop spokesman Jon Schneider).”

ALASKA: Joe Miller has an op-ed in the Washington Times criticizing Lisa Murkowski on earmarks, calling the practice “corrupt” -- and he hits the Native Alaskan community and even Ted Stevens. “Lisa Murkowski proved this past week that she has learned nothing from the message of the midterm elections. The main issues that drove people to the polls and created a Republican landslide were the beliefs that our nation is on the wrong track and that government spending has gotten completely out of control,” Miller writes.

(Of course, that’s not what drove them to the polls in the general election in Alaska to vote for a write-in candidate over Miller. Just sayin’…)

Why is Miller keeping up the fight? Might it be all about the money? “Joe Miller is raising money like it is going out of style,” The State Column writes. “The Republican U.S. Senate candidate has reported raising nearly $250,000 since Election Day. The Miller campaigned reported that it has raised an additional $241,000 since last month’s Alaska Senate election.”

MINNESOTA: “The Minnesota GOP is punishing two former governors and a former U-S senator for backing Independence party candidate, Tom Horner, in the governor's race,” local Fox affiliate KEYC reports. “At a meeting this weekend, party leaders voted to bar 18 republicans from Party activities for two years, including the 2012 Republican National convention.”

Former Minnesota Gov. Al Quie “laughed” when he found he had been banned from the state Republican Party, Minnesota Public Radio writes. “I've got a long history," Quie said. “My grandfather supported Lincoln. That's the first time the Republican Party won the presidency!’”

NEW YORK: NY-1: Newsday wonders if Randy Altschuler (R) is running for 2012 already. He trails incumbent Tim Bishop (D) by about 270 votes (depending on which campaign you ask).

Alaska Sen. Mark Begich (D) has just issued a press release asking Joe Miller (R) to quit his legal challenge against Lisa Murkowski's (R-write-in) apparent victory.

"It is time for Joe Miller to put Alaska interests ahead of personal ambition and allow the State of Alaska to certify Lisa Murkowski as the winner,” Begich said.

“Failure to certify the election could prevent Senator Murkowski from being sworn into office in early January when other new senators officially take office.

“As many in Washington are united against securing funding for important road and public facility projects in individual states, it’s vital that Alaska have both senators putting our unique needs first and fighting for our state. Without both senators, Alaska’s interests will be at risk on critical issues from energy development to job creation and reducing the national debt in a way that’s fair to Alaskans.”

Lindsey Graham, who is not loved by the right wing, said in a floor speech on Sunday: "The House had a dramatic election. We picked up seats in the Senate. Some of us thought, maybe we could pick up two or three more, but we made some pretty poor choices when it came to candidates."

ALASKA: The Alaska Dispatch suggests several motivations that may be driving Republican Senate nominee Joe Miller’s legal challenge to Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s write-in victory. “Political analysts agree the various motives -- principle, image, weakening Murkowski, money -- are plausible, but don't think they're all wise undertakings. The balancing act between hurting your enemy and hurting yourself is one they're not convinced will work to Miller's advantage.”

CALIFORNIA: CA-11: “California Republican David Harmer has officially conceded defeat to Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.) more than a month after Election Day,” The Hill writes. “McNerney was declared the winner by the AP over a week ago and had already pronounced himself the victor, but it wasn't until late Friday that Harmer actually phoned the Democrat to concede.”

MINNESOTA: “The first stage of Minnesota’s gubernatorial recount ended Friday as Hennepin County finished hand tallying roughly 470,000 ballots cast on Election Day and joined the state’s other 86 counties in taking a breather before the State Canvassing Board meets this week,” Minnesota Daily reports. “Republican Tom Emmer still trails DFL opponent Mark Dayton by 8,675 votes… The board is scheduled to finish reviewing challenged ballots Friday and is set to declare the election Dec. 14.”

NEW YORK: NY-1: In the lone House race not yet called, Newsday writes, “[E]lections officials opened another batch of previously contested paper ballots Friday in the close race between Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Bishop and his Republican challenger, Randy Altschuler. After the most recent count was completed at midday, Bishop held a 271-vote edge, his spokesman said, while the Altschuler campaign said the Bishop lead was 264. However, more than 1,400 paper ballots remain to be counted.”

ALASKA: A state court judge on Thursday agreed to let Sen. Lisa Murkowski have a say in a legal challenge to Alaska's U.S. Senate race,” the Anchorage Daily News writes. “Miller contends the state did not follow the law, notably in its decision to use discretion in tallying write-in votes for Murkowski.”

MINNESOTA: “Despite rhetoric to the contrary, Republican Tom Emmer's campaign on Thursday seemed to step back from the ballot challenges that have engulfed the recount in the 2010 Minnesota governor's race,” the Pioneer Press writes.

“As the hand recount continues in the Minnesota governor's race, the State Canvassing Board plans to meet Friday afternoon to talk about thousands of ballot challenges local officials have determined to be frivolous,” Minnesota Public Radio said. “Those officials have said the vast majority of frivolous challenges have come from Republican Tom Emmer's side.”

NEW YORK: NY-1: “New York Rep. Tim Bishop continues to expand his lead over Republican challenger Randy Altschuler, as a Suffolk County judge reviewed a remaining batch of uncounted ballots,” Politico writes. “Bishop picked up 12 votes Wednesday, bringing his lead over the Republican to 271 votes. Both campaigns decided to remove their challenges to more than 174 ballots, and a judge decided to add another 10 previously uncounted ballots that the Altschuler campaign had challenged.”

ALASKA: “A state court judge has set arguments for next week in Republican Joe Miller's challenge of the Alaska U.S. Senate race,” the AP writes. “Judge William Carey, in granting the state's request for an expedited hearing, says there's a need to resolve the matter as soon as possible.”

MINNESOTA: “Former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton, top vote-getter in the disputed Minnesota governor's race so far, told a meeting of the Democratic Governors Association on Wednesday that he's confident he will be the state's next governor,” the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes. “‘We don't believe in boring, conventional elections in Minnesota any longer,’ Dayton told the annual gathering, where he was careful not to be introduced as a ‘governor-elect.’”

NEW YORK: NY-1: “New York Rep. Tim Bishop increased his lead over Republican challenger Randy Altschuler in the undecided 1st district race on Wednesday,” The Hill writes. “After a judge reviewed some of the contested ballots and allowed 160 previously uncounted votes to be tallied, Bishop's lead grew to 259 votes.”

MINNESOTA: “Before the recount, Emmer trailed DFLer Mark Dayton by nearly 9,000 votes. Since the recount began Monday, Dayton has lost 38 votes and Emmer has lost one, according to results posted by the secretary of state's office. As of Tuesday night, 69.9 percent of the ballots had been recounted,” the Minneapolis Star Tribune writes. “Emmer's camp has challenged 597 ballots and Dayton's has challenged 143; those ballots are taken out of the mix and will be reviewed by the state Canvassing Board.”

NEW YORK: NY-1: In the one remaining uncalled House race… “After the counting of 71 military ballots this morning, Mr. Altschuler trails Mr. Bishop by 214 votes, according to the Altschuler campaign, or 215 votes, according to the Bishop campaign. The Suffolk County Board of Elections has not released an official count,” the Southampton Press writes. The race is in the courts and could drag on for weeks.

MINNESOTA: The Minneapolis Star Tribune on the first day of the gubernatorial recount: “By day's end, more than 400 ballots were challenged, with the vast majority coming from Emmer's side. County officials declared half of those challenges ‘frivolous,’ meaning they remain in the current count but could get another look.”

That said, "Dayton picked up 20 votes while Emmer lost four. Dayton now leads Emmer 43.6 percent to 43.2 percent -- a margin of 8,794 votes. Those numbers represent only a snapshot, since more than half of the state's ballots have yet to be recounted. Before the recount began, Dayton led Emmer by 8,770 votes."

NEW YORK: NY-1: “The fate of the nation's only remaining undecided congressional race will be submitted to a State Supreme Court judge in Riverhead today,” Riverhead Local writes. “Lawyers for Tim Bishop (D) and Randy Altschuler (R) are scheduled to appear in the Riverhead courtroom of Judge Peter H. Mayer today to begin arguing over the more than 2,000 absentee ballots challenged by both candidates in the race for New York's First Congressional District.” Bishop leads by 235 votes.

Stu Rothenberg wonders if the special election in May was a turning point and that Democrats misread the message of their win there. (But one could argue that May was a turning point because of other events -- namely, the BP spill and Greek debt crisis, which produced a summer of bad news for the White House.)

Nathan Gonzales: “For most of the election cycle, Democratic strategists were optimistic they could hold the House because of their arsenal of opposition research. But Democratic attacks failed to bring down enough Republican challengers to keep the majority.”

There is now just one uncalled House race remaining -- NY-1, where Democrat Tim Bishop narrowly leads Republican Randy Altschuler by 235 votes with 2,051 yet to be counted. Republicans are a net-gain of 63. Both parties will appear in a local courtroom on Tuesday to address all challenged ballots, and a state Supreme Court justice which of the challenged ballots will be counted and which will be set aside.

CALIFORNIA: “Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, has been re-elected to a third term, fending off a challenge from Republican David Harmer,” the San Francisco Chronicle reports. “His re-election means no California congressional seat changed party hands.”

MASSACHUSETTS: “An Associated Press review of town-by-town election returns shows Democratic Gov. Deval Patrick gained re-election in part by winning back more than two dozen cities and towns [Scott] Brown had captured in the Senate race” although the chairwoman of the state Republican party “cautioned against drawing too many parallels between the two campaigns, saying Brown was a stronger candidate than [Republican gubernatorial nominee Charles] Baker.”

MINNESOTA: “Minnesota hit the reset button Monday in another close election as workers began the tedious task of reviewing more than 2.1 million ballots in the governor's race — one at a time and under the watchful gaze of volunteers and lawyers for Democrat Mark Dayton and Republican Tom Emmer,” the AP writes.