ALASKA: “Even as [Sen. Jim] DeMint says he would welcome fellow Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski back to the Senate, the South Carolinian is still urging conservative activists around the country to donate money to replace the incumbent with Tea Party favorite Joe Miller through a legal appeal,” The State reports. DeMint, who raised $5.6 million for ultraconservative GOP candidates this year, attached a personal appeal letter to a “CONTRIBUTE” banner and a photo of Miller at the top of www.senateconservatives.com, the Web site of his Senate Conservatives Fund.”

Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY-1) has come back to overtake Republican Randy Altschuler with counting of absentee and provisional ballots. That means of the five races still uncalled, Republicans lead in two. They are currently +61 in the House and could get to about +63 if current numbers hold. The uncalled races: CA-11, CA-20, NY-1, NY-25, TX-27.

CA-11: “As of 6:20 p.m. Friday in the most recent report issued by her office, California Secretary of State Debra Bowen reported that [Democratic Rep. Jerry] McNerney continues to lead [Republican challenger David] Harmer by less than 1%, a percentage difference that has remained the same for more than a week,” Tri Valley Views reports.

CA-20: “It now appears likely that Fresno Democrat Jim Costa will win a fourth term in Congress and narrowly escape the Republican tidal wave that nearly ended his three-decade political career,” the Fresno Bee writes. “Yet Costa could have an even harder time holding on to his 20th Congressional District seat in 2012.”

NY-1: “Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop has overtaken Republican Randy Altschuler in the prolonged race for a New York House seat on Long Island that may stretch on for weeks to come,” Politico writes. “With the counting of absentee and provisional ballots complete in six localities, Bishop leads Altschuler by 15 votes. Election officials still must tally 5,004 ballots in Brookhaven – a process that is expected to be completed by Wednesday at the soonest.”

NY-25: “Republican Ann Marie Buerkle holds a 567-vote lead over U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei in the 25th Congressional District race after Wayne County election officials released their unofficial tally of absentee votes today.”

TX-17: “A ballot recount in South Texas demanded by U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz is nearly complete, but he's still trailing Republican challenger Blake Farenthold,” the AP reports. “Only about 15,000 absentee and early ballots have yet to be re-tabulated in Cameron County, which includes Brownsville, in the 27th Congressional District race.”

MAINE: "He has cursed at reporters and threatened to punch one. He once promised to tell the president of the United States to 'go to hell,'" the Boston Globe writes on its front page, profiling Maine's incoming Gov. Paul LePage. More: "LePage, with his narrow victory, is leading a Republican renaissance in Maine, one of just two states that will flip from complete Democratic control of state government to complete GOP control in January. He is a polarizing figure, and more complex than his public image might suggest… Republicans in Maine have not controlled the House, Senate, and the governor’s office at the same time since the 1960s."

NEVADA: Politico’s post-mortem of the Nevada Senate race includes criticism of Sharron Angle’s political team, including longtime adviser Terry Campbell. “‘In the 20 years that I’ve been involved politically, I’ve never had the misfortune of working with such sheer, utter incompetence. Too much is at stake in these political campaigns — people like Campbell don’t need to be anywhere near them,’ said Chris LaCivita, who served as political director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee this fall and worked directly with the Angle campaign. ‘If they were filming a sequel to the movie “Dumb and Dumber,” Terry Campbell would have a feature role.’”