U.S. Senator-elect Jeff Merkley (D-Portland) is currently considered the country’s 57th and most recent Democratic Senator-elect after slow ballot counting kept Oregonians on the edge of their seats for several days after theElection.

But Merkley may no longer be the body’s latest Senator-elect. According to Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan, the GOP may be ceding a Senate race in Alaska to Mark Begich (D-Alaska), where the state is still wading through ballots.

“The margins are very tight in two key Senate races. In Minnesota, where a recount will take place, our candidate leads by a mere 206 votes. In Georgia, our candidate won but faces a runoff due to state election law requiring the winner to garner 50% of the vote,” Duncan wrote in an "Action Alert" email to supporters Monday.

There was no mention of the Alaska race, where Begich led incumbent Senator Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) by 1,022 votes as of Friday.

If the results stand, Begich will join Merkley and Senator-elects Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Kay Hagan (D-N.C.) as one of four Democratic challenges to successfully knock off a Republican incumbent in the 2008 general election. Begich’s addition will also give Democrats 58 seats in the Senate.