( L - R ) Begich, Stevens

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP):

Senator Ted Stevens' election defeat marks the end of an era in which he held a commanding place in Alaska politics while wielding power on some of the most influential committees in Congress.

It also moves Senate Democrats within two seats of a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority and gives President-elect Barack Obama a stronger hand when he assumes office on January 20.

On the day the longest-serving Republican in Senate history turned 85, he was ousted by Alaska voters troubled by his conviction on federal felony charges and eager for a new direction in Washington, where Stevens served since Lyndon B. Johnson was president.

"Alaska voters wanted to see change," said Democrat Mark Begich, who claimed a narrow victory on Tuesday after a tally of remaining ballots showed him holding a 3,724-vote edge.

"Alaska has been in the midst of a generational shift - you could see it," said Begich, the 46-year-old Anchorage mayor.

Undecided races

Democrats now hold 58 Senate seats, when two independents who align with Democrats are included, with undecided races in Minnesota and Georgia.

"With seven seats and counting now added to the Demo-cratic ranks in the Senate, we have an even stronger majority that will bring real change to America," Senator Charles Schu-mer, a New York Democrat and chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, said in a statement.