The Alaskan U.S. Senate race has concluded with a concession by the Democratic incumbent and another official gain for the GOP in Washington, D.C.

Democratic candidate Mark Begich officially issued his concession to Republican Dan Sullivan on Monday.

"Serving Alaska in the U.S. Senate has been a tremendous honor," wrote Begich. "Today I spoke with Dan Sullivan and encouraged him to adopt a bipartisan resolve in the U.S. Senate. I will always be involved in my community, and the results of an election have never diminished my desire or passion to make Alaska a better place."

As of Nov. 17 with 100 percent of the Alaskan precincts reporting, Sullivan defeated Begich with 47.97 percent to 45.83 percent of the vote.

Latin Post reported on Nov. 12 regarding projections giving Sullivan the victory. Despite the projections, Begich did not concede, citing voters encountered difficulties en route to voting and their ballots had to be counted.

Begich wrote last week, "Right now there are still tens of thousands of ballots yet to be counted. We know we can count on the Alaska Division of Elections to get the job done right, and while we're anxious to see the final tally, we respect Alaska's procedures, processes, and timetable."

Alaskan election workers began counting approximately 20,000 absentee ballots last week. According to the Associated Press, thousands of absentee ballots have yet to be counted, but Sullivan received a "comparable edge" over Begich.

Nearly a week after, Begich also issued a statement on his campaign website recognizing the election as "one of the closest races in the country" but acknowledged "over ten million dollars of attacks" by outside groups with a partisan narrative.

"These accomplishments are not red or blue results, they're Alaska results, and the final margin of this election and the clear support I received from independent voters affirms that," Begich added.

Sullivan proclaimed victory last week following the early projections results.

"I am deeply humbled and honored to be chosen by my fellow Alaskans to serve them in the United States Senate," Sullivan said in a statement on Nov. 12. "From day one we told our supporters that we would run a campaign that Alaskans could be proud of and that's what we did. But we couldn't do it alone and Julie and I are so grateful for the incredible support and encouragement we received from Alaskans in every corner of our state."

Sullivan's victory gives the incoming 114th Congress 53 Republican, 44 Democratic and 2 Independent senators. One Senate election has yet to be determined in Louisiana between Democrat Mary Landrieu and Republican Bill Cassidy, which will have a runoff election on Dec. 6.

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For the latest updates, follow Latin Post's Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO or contact via email: m.oleaga@latinpost.com.