Photos: Election Day in Alaska

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Bob Bell at election central. Unofficial results show him trailing incumbent challenger Hollis French by 86 votes, with 100% of precincts reporting. November 6, 2012

Alaska's polls had not yet closed when many of the nation's media outlets began to call the U.S. presidential election for Barack Obama. They made the call as soon as polls closed for West Coast states -- California, Oregon and Washington – that historically vote Democratic. Alaska, predictably, will swing in Romney's direction, but it was too little, too late.

One Alaska Dispatch staffer noted that the mood was mellow at a party for Alaska Democrats at Snow City Café in Downtown Anchorage, but at least there was cheese.

READ MORE: Election night fall-out

Alaska poll results began rolling in a few minutes after 9 p.m. on the big screens at Election Central, with some early indicators of how the night might go for some candidates. Congressman for All Alaskans Don Young was headed to a 21st term in the U.S. House, that much was sure.

But closer to home, legislative races remained tight well into the late night. Because of a massive redistricting, all but one of the state's legislative seats are up for grabs. The shakeup has injected partisan-based, industry interests into the election process.

In a state reliant on crude to pay for government and a Republican governor working diligently to lower state oil taxes to promote new investment, oil industry supporters have backed Republican candidates in an effort to dismantle what they perceive as a road block: the 16-member bipartisan coalition of the state Senate, comprised of 10 Democrats and six Republicans.