One week after election day there is still no decision in the US House race to represent Illinois' 8th District.

Republican candidate, Joe Walsh, a Tea Party favorite, maintains a slim lead over three-term Demcoratic Congresswoman Melissa Bean with 347 votes. The winner won't be known until next Tuesday, November 16, when election officials count the remaining absentee and provisional ballots.

Regardless, Joe Walsh, an attorney from Barrington, Illinois, says the voters in the 8th District have spoken. Walsh says his focus now is preparing to travel to Washington, DC next week to participate in freshman orientation for new members of the US House. Walsh declared himself victorious in the early morning hours on November 3rd, but Melissa Bean refuses to back down, releasing the following statement earlier today through her campaign spokesperson:

"Every single day that ballots have been counted following Election Day, the margin of votes separating Congresswoman Melissa Bean and Mr. Walsh has continued to shrink. Now, more than ever, this race remains too close to call. While we wait for additional ballots to be counted, we remain encouraged by the favorable results we've seen in suburban Cook County. In fact, nearly 70 percent of the absentee ballots counted since Election Day in Cook County were cast in support of Congresswoman Bean, which suggests that similar absentee numbers will be reported in Lake and McHenry between now and November 16th." (read more)

There are allegations of "widespread irregularities" and possible voter fraud in Connecticut, but not enough for Republican candidate Tom Foley to continue in the razor close Governor's race.

He has decided to concede to his Democratic opponent, Dan Malloy, who leads Foley but just over 5,600 votes.

Despite Foley's decision, the Connecticut Republican party is demanding a federal and state investigation into the allegations, and at his news conference Foley concurred.

Foley said there was no significant fraud, or voter fraud that would have changed the results." Although people reported voter fraud, he said "there was no credible evidence of fraudulent voting" that would have changed the outcome of the race.

Sources say that in Bridgeport, an overwhelmingly Democratic city where polls remained open for two extra hours, some of the alleged problems included: a bag of ballots that was left unattended by a pregnant poll worker who went home sick, ballots were copied without supervision...in one case, copied inside the Democratic mayor's office, vote sheets didn't add up, and union election workers allegedly left replica ballots, with the Democratic candidates' names marked off, in polling booths, which is an apparent election violation. (read more)

There are allegations of "widespread irregularities" and possible voter fraud in Connecticut.

Sources tell us that in Bridgeport, an overwhelmingly Democratic city where polls remained open for two extra hours, some of the alleged problems included: a bag of ballots that was left unattended by a pregnant poll worker who went home sick, ballots were copied without supervision...in one case, copied inside the Democratic mayor's office, vote sheets didn't add up, and union election workers allegedly left replica ballots, with the Democratic candidates' names marked off, in polling booths, which is an apparent election violation.

Those are just some of the allegations officials will now have to deal with when Republican candidate Tom Foley announces what his campaign has uncovered, and what they plan to do about it.

Foley trails Democratic candidate Dan Malloy by about 5,600 votes, but Foley could announce that his campaign is taking legal steps or demanding a hand recount.

Some voters say they waited in line for an hour, while some others just plain gave up.

Others tell us that their polling places were switched and that they are not sure if their votes were tallied. (read more)

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Early Intel -- GOP Sweetens its Offer to Manchin

Republicans are making some big promises to try to lure West Virginia Senator-elect Joe Manchin to cross the aisle.

Aside from his pick of committee assignments (likely the Energy and Natural Resources Committee), Manchin might get support for one of his pet projects - a plant to convert coal to diesel fuel that has stalled under Democratic leadership in Washington.

It's one of Manchin's pet projects and could mean big money for the state's coal producers.

"Republicans believe in an ‘all of the above' approach to energy," one top Senate aide told Power Play. "And coal-to-diesel could certainly be part of that."

Manchin's switch could mean Republican support for not just $1 billion in seed money for the project but also a deal, much sought in coal country, to require the armed forces to use converted coal for fuel. (read more)

From a House Democratic Source:

FOX has obtained a letter being penned by defeated House Democrats that implores House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to step aside.

The letter is now circulating Capitol Hill and has not yet been sent to the Speaker. FOX has obtained draft language of the letter.

In the draft of the letter, the members say that they were "victimized by a national wave of resentment toward Democrats, a wave that ensnared you along with us."

The letter goes on to say "Madam Speaker, fairly or unfairly, Republicans made you the face of the resentment and disagreement in our races. While we commend your years of service to our party and your leadership through many tough times, we respectfully ask that you step aside as the top Democrat in the House."

The letter says that the defeated members "fear that Republicans will further demonize you, and in so doing, they will scare potential candidates out. The prospect of having to run against their own party leadership, in addition to their Republican opponent is simply too daunting."

The lawmakers also say that "one mark of a strong leader is the ability to discern when it is time to pass the baton" and calls this a "dark hour."

The letter closes asking Pelosi to step aside.

Full text of the letter below. Unclear who exactly will sign it and when it will go to the Speaker. (read more)

Some conservative activists claim the battle over Alaska's senate seat will be the true test for the current Republican leadership. But, Republican candidate Joe Miller is defending the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which claims it has been getting a lot of unfair heat from some conservatives.

Miller is facing what could be a costly, lengthy legal battle with incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Murkowski launched a write-in candidacy in September after she lost the Republican primary.

NRSC spokesman Brian Walsh says the NRSC has been supporting Miller unabashedly since he won the Republican nomination. But he claims the NRSC has gotten criticism from right wing conservative activists, like radio talk-show host Mark Levin, who says Tea Party activists will be watching the NRSC's actions in Alaska closely. (read more)

A day after New Zealand Prime Minister John Phillip Key accidentally called Hillary Clinton, "President Clinton," the secretary of state and former presidential candidate said she has no plans to seek the title -- again.

She made the comments in New Zealand on Friday, the second to last stop on her two-week Asia-Pacific tour. In two separate interviews there, Secretary Clinton said she doesn't intend to run for president in 2012 or 2016.

Asked by TV3 New Zealand whether she really has ruled out running for the White House through 2016, "Oh yes, yes," she insisted. "I'm very pleased to be doing what I'm doing as secretary of state," she told TV3 New Zealand."

In a separate interview with TV New Zealand, ONE News political editor Guyon Espiner asked Clinton whether the U.S. is ready for a female president. She responded with a big laugh and then, "I hope so." But she quickly added, "Well, not me. But it will be someone and it is nice coming to countries that have already proven that they can elect women to the highest governing positions that they have in their systems." New Zealand's former prime ministers include Helen Clark and Jenny Shipley. (read more)

The long, drawn out U.S. Senate race in Alaska should finally come to a conclusion next week. The Division of Elections will begin counting the more than 80,000 votes cast for ‘write-in' Wednesday in Juneau. Currently, ‘write-in' has a 7-percent lead over Republican nominee Joe Miller. That amounts to 13,000 votes.

There are still about 30,000 absentee ballots that will be added to the count Tuesday. Miller believes since many of the absentee votes are coming from the military he will cut into the lead. Even if Miller is right and the lead shrinks, he will be facing a steep hill to climb.

Alaska courts have ruled the spelling of a write-in candidate's name need not be perfect to be counted. It's the election worker's job to determine voter intent. In this race that would mean a vote for M-U-R-C-O-W-S-K-Y should count for incumbent Lisa Murkowski.

The question we posed to the Miller campaign is, ‘how vigorously do you intend to challenge votes for Murkowski that are close, but not spelled perfectly?' They continue to say they want to make sure the process is done accurately. (read more)

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Democrats suffered their worst congressional losses in three generations because of the president's national health care law, but Republicans could fall victim to Obamacare too.

The president and the soon-to-be former House speaker both said the 60+ House losses were the result of "the economy."

Well, yes. But if you asked a sea captain what sank his boat, he could say "the water."

But the iceberg that sank the Democratic House majority was health care. Perhaps they could have survived passing the legislation during better economic times, but passing an unpopular plan at a moment when the electorate is screaming for action on the economy was a political kamikaze mission.

When Fox News' Mike Emanuel pointed out to Obama Wednesday that almost half of respondents in a national exit poll said they favored repealing his plan, Obama shot back that that also meant that half "thought we did the right thing." (read more)

Thursday current House Minority Leader John Boehner formally sent a letter to his GOP colleagues officially seeking speakership.

Here is a copy of the letter:

Dear House Republican Colleague,

The statement made by the American people this week was a repudiation of Washington; a repudiation of Big Government; a repudiation of politicians who refuse to listen to the American people. The people have been clear: the job-killing spending binge in Washington must end, and Congress must change.

To return our country to prosperity and restore the American Dream for our children, we need a smaller, more accountable government that honors our Constitution and respects the will of the people. This must be the focus of the new majority. The people's priorities must be our priorities.

If I am fortunate enough to serve as Speaker of the House, we will run a much different kind of Congress - one that is humbler, more transparent, and respects the will and intelligence of the people. No bill will come to a vote unless Americans have had at least three days to read it first. We will put an end to so-called "comprehensive" bills rushed through Congress without scrutiny or debate. We will eliminate rules that make cutting wasteful spending hard and increasing spending too easy. We will lead a legislature that gauges productivity not by the size of the bills we produce, but by our success in remaining faithful to the will of the people we represent and serve. (read more)