Huffington Concedes Loss in Senate Race : Politics: Former congressman says his action will better allow bipartisan probe of alleged voter fraud. Feinstein disputes his claim of 170,000 illegally cast ballots.

Nearly three months after losing his bid for U.S. Senate by a narrow margin in the most expensive legislative race in history, former Rep. Mike Huffington finally conceded defeat Tuesday.

Huffington said in a written statement that his stepping aside would better allow for a bipartisan investigation into alleged voter fraud--a problem that he claims to have documented since his loss to Sen. Dianne Feinstein and one that he contends cost him the race.

“Investigations have uncovered thousands of votes that were improperly cast and counted, but the burden of proving we could overturn this particular election is too steep and is interfering with the most important task in front of us--repairing the voter registration and verification system in California,” Huffington said in his statement.

While Feinstein said Tuesday in a statement that she was pleased Huffington finally conceded, she disputed his contention that there were more than 170,000 improperly cast California ballots in November, including dead voters, double voters and non-citizen voters.

“I do not agree with his statement that there were ‘a monumental number of votes that were improperly cast,’ ” Feinstein said. “This statement is based on projections and extrapolations which he has never presented for analysis and which, as he concedes, do not meet the burden of proof in contesting the results of the election.”

After spending $28 million in a bruising campaign, Huffington lost the Nov. 8 election by a scant 163,564 votes out of 8.5 million cast. The race was so tight that Feinstein did not claim victory until 10 days later.

Feinstein’s win was certified by the California secretary of state’s office in mid-December, and she took office Jan. 4. That same day, Huffington filed a petition with the Senate to overturn the election, alleging that “misconduct, irregularities and fraud” in California were so widespread that “the true results of the election cannot be known.”

Late Tuesday afternoon, Huffington called Feinstein in Washington to congratulate her on her victory. Their conversation was “brief but cordial,” said Feinstein spokesman Bill Chandler.

On Jan. 9, Feinstein formally asked the Senate to dismiss Huffington’s petition to overturn the election and launched a phone solicitation campaign to help defray her mounting legal costs. At the same time, the Senate Rules Committee announced that it had hired a bipartisan team of attorneys to review the challenge.

But Huffington’s concession, Chandler said, means that there will be no Rules Committee investigation.

When Huffington notified the committee that he was withdrawing his contesting of the election, he said he urged Congress to reform federal voter registration laws--especially the controversial “motor voter” bill that allows potential voters to register at government offices such as motor vehicles departments.