After holding on to dwindling hope for days, Sen. Mark Begich on Monday conceded he had lost his U.S. Senate race to Republican Dan Sullivan.

With the concession coming nearly two weeks after the Nov. 4 general election and with few votes left to count, the statement was largely a formality.

The Associated Press called the race nearly a week ago. Soon after, Sullivan attended orientation meetings in D.C. to prepare to take office and voted for Republican leaders in the new Senate majority that takes power in January.

Through it all, Begich refused to back down, drawing heat from critics although his campaign believed key areas of the state might give him a last-minute surge to put him in the lead.

Begich chipped away at Sullivan’s lead. On Monday afternoon, the Division of Elections issued new numbers, showing Begich had trimmed what last week had been a roughly 8,000 vote lead to 6,211 votes or to 2.25 percent.

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