The Olympian Logo

Murkowski emerges as winner in Alaska Senate race | The Olympian

×
  • E-edition
  • Home
    • Customer Service
    • About Us
    • Buy Photos and Pages
    • Contact Us
    • Plus
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Newsletters
    • Newspaper in Education
    • Subscribe
    • Subscriber Services
    • Archives

    • News
    • Business
    • Crime
    • Databases
    • Death Notices
    • Education
    • Local News
    • Military News
    • Obituaries
    • Politics & Government
    • State
    • Traffic
    • Watchdog
    • Weather
    • Opinion
    • Cartoons
    • Editorials
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Opinion Columns
    • Submit a Letter
    • Sports
    • College
    • High School
    • Mariners
    • Preps Stats
    • Seahawks
    • Sounders
    • UW Huskies
    • Politics
    • Living
    • Announcements
    • Food
    • Health & Fitness
    • Home & Garden
    • Travel
    • Entertainment
    • Arts & Culture
    • Comics
    • Puzzles & Games
    • Events Calendar
    • Horoscopes
    • Movies
    • Restaurants
    • Outdoors
    • Fishing

  • Classifieds
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Cars
  • Homes
  • Place An Ad
  • Mobile & Apps

National

Murkowski emerges as winner in Alaska Senate race

By BECKY BOHRER

The Associated Press

    ORDER REPRINT →

November 17, 2010 02:33 PM

History, the GOP, the tea party, Sarah Palin and her own mouthful of a name worked against her. Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski conquered them all Wednesday, becoming the first Senate candidate in more than 50 years to win a write-in campaign.

The victory is a remarkable comeback for Murkowski, who lost to political newcomer Joe Miller in the GOP primary, and a humbling moment for Palin, the former Alaska governor, 2008 GOP vice presidential candidate and Murkowski nemesis whose support was not enough to get Miller through an election in her own backyard.

The outcome became clear after a tedious week of counting handwritten ballots. Alaska election officials confirmed they had only about 700 votes left to count, with Murkowski ahead by 10,400 votes. Miller has challenged 8,153 of the ballots counted for Murkowski, but he would still be behind even if he won every challenge.

Murkowski declared victory after flying from Washington, D.C., to Alaska on Wednesday, exactly two months after announcing her write-in bid.

SIGN UP

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to The Olympian

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

"Doesn't it just feel like, wow," she said at an Anchorage rally. "It feels a little bit mind-boggling."

She called for unity and wished Miller and Democrat Scott McAdams, who conceded last week, well. Then she called for a night of celebration, telling supporters that "against all odds, we as Alaskans, together, made history."

Miller said he may ask for a re-count. Miller has maintained he'll stop fighting if the math doesn't work in his favor, and his spokesman, Randy DeSoto, said late Wednesday that Miller will discuss matters with his campaign and legal teams, and "decisions will be made shortly."

The state GOP, which backed Miller, called the race for Murkowski and asked Miller to withdraw. Murkowski's run caused a rift, and state GOP chairman Randy Ruedrich -- whom Miller once tried to oust -- said the party "stands ready to embrace Lisa Murkowski as Alaska's only Republican U.S. senator."

"We call on Joe Miller to respect the will of the voters and end his campaign in a dignified manner," Ruedrich said.

Murkowski will return to Washington owing nothing to tea party activists, who largely opposed her, or to the Republican Party, which supported Miller after the primary. Though she plans to caucus with Republicans, she said she won't be beholden to any special interests or party -- an initial sign that she may not try to reclaim her leadership post within the GOP conference. She voluntarily resigned it in deciding to make her outsider run.

She's already standing against the tea party on one hot issue -- earmarks that allow lawmakers to steer federal spending to pet projects. Former GOP defenders including Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell now want to ban earmarking, but Murkowski say a ban won't do much to reduce federal spending and would leave bureaucrats to decide spending priorities.

Murkowski's write-in bid almost didn't happen. After losing to Miller in August she went back and forth before deciding to run, saying she had been encouraged by Alaskans who wanted an alternative between the conservative Miller and the little-known Democratic nominee.

The last Senate candidate to win as a write-in was Strom Thurmond in 1954, and no write-in campaign on this scale had ever succeeded in Alaska. But the long-shot nature of Murkowski's campaign seemed to invigorate the senator and her team.

She showed a fire she'd lacked during the primary, when she referred to Miller as "my opponent" and fell victim to aggressive last-minute attack ads by the Tea Party Express.

This time, she pounced on Miller's every misstep. While she still stressed her seniority and her willingness to be a voice for all Alaskans, her speeches sounded more like rallies than lectures, generally ending in her leading a raucous chorus of supporters in spelling her name: "M-U-R, K-O-W, S-K-I."

"She just had a fire in her belly to do this not for herself but for the large number of people, literally hundreds, who begged her to do this," said John Tracy, who worked on her ad team.

Murkowski wasn't the typical write-in candidate: She enjoyed widespread name recognition as Alaska's senior senator and daughter of a local political dynasty, and had a $1 million-plus bank account.

Miller, meanwhile, had several missteps after the primary. Court documents were released showing that he had been suspended as a government employee for using work computers for partisan political work and lying about it. In other miscues, his security detail handcuffed a journalist asking questions at a town hall meeting, and it was revealed his family received many government handouts that he railed against as a tea party candidate.

Murkowski's victory became apparent after days of ballot counters and observers scrutinizing the handwriting of more than 100,000 ballots bearing her name.

It was a process unlike any Alaska had seen, with the rules for conducting the election written as the race went on. That provided the crux of Miller's federal complaint -- that the determination of votes was subjective and not strictly in line with election law. The law calls for write-in ballots to have the oval filled in and either the candidate's last name or name as it appears on their declaration of candidacy written.

Miller observers, seeking to hold the state to that standard, objected to thousands of ballots, including ones with a cursive letter or two, slight misspellings or mangled lettering. The campaign even challenged ballots that read "Lisa Murkowski Republican" or "Murkowski, Lisa."

Murkowski told supporters at Wednesday night's rally that "after eight weeks, I think we can say our miracle is here."

"I promised during this campaign that I would do everything, everything that I could do to best represent you," Murkowski said, her voice shaking at times. She added later: "I pledge to you today and from this day forward that I will do everything that I can to keep that commitment to you all."

There's no threshold for demanding a re-count, but if Miller is more than roughly 950 votes behind Murkowski, he will have to pay for it himself. The state hopes to certify the race Nov. 29; the deadline to then request a re-count is Dec. 4.

Murkowski, 53, was appointed to the Senate seat long held by her father when he became governor in 2002; she won the seat in her own right two years later, in a narrow win over Democrat Tony Knowles. Her father was ousted in the 2006 gubernatorial primary by Palin, contributing to the icy relationship between the two families.

Levi Russell, a spokesman for the California-based Tea Party Express, told The Associated Press that Murkowski's failure to win a majority in the race "demonstrates a rejection of her well-known policies."

While disappointed in the race's outcome, Russell said the group stands behind its strategy and Miller. "We continue to feel that Joe Miller is more in concert today with the people in Alaska, who are concerned about the growth and intrusiveness of the federal government with the higher taxes, deficits and national debt," he said.

The win comes a day before what would have been Sen. Ted Stevens' 87th birthday. Stevens, a legend in Alaska for bringing home billions in federal aid and projects during his 40 years in the Senate, was one of Murkowski's biggest supporters, and a mentor. He died in a plane crash two weeks before the primary. Members of Stevens' family were at Wednesday night's rally.

Murkowski invoked his legacy during her write-in campaign as something she wanted to carry on.

  Comments  

Videos

Colorado man recounts killing mountain lion with his bare hands

More than 20 shots fired in fatal police shooting of California rapper

View More Video

Trending Stories

Woman dies after wreck on highway in Thurston County

February 17, 2019 11:20 AM

Report: Payless will close all of its shoe stores

February 17, 2019 02:01 PM

Infant girl, plus woman holding her, suffer gunshot wounds after man ‘shows off’ handgun at party

February 17, 2019 09:48 AM

Where’s the Lacey Albertsons? It’s gone, now that senior housing project is under way

February 18, 2019 02:53 PM

Woman who died in Thurston County wreck has been identified

February 18, 2019 04:59 PM
Local display advertising by PaperG

Read Next

The Latest: Maduro says Trump sounds almost Nazi-like

Nation & World

The Latest: Maduro says Trump sounds almost Nazi-like

The Associated Press

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 19, 2019 01:33 AM

Rejecting Trump's criticism, Venezuela's Maduro accuses Trump of sounding almost like a Nazi.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to The Olympian

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE NATIONAL

16 states sue Trump over emergency wall declaration

Nation & World

16 states sue Trump over emergency wall declaration

February 19, 2019 01:27 AM
I owe how much? Americans shocked by impact of new tax law

Business

I owe how much? Americans shocked by impact of new tax law

February 19, 2019 12:19 AM
Costume Designers Guild to honor Ruth E. Carter, Glenn Close

Celebrities

Costume Designers Guild to honor Ruth E. Carter, Glenn Close

February 19, 2019 12:07 AM
Something’s killing humpback whales near the Outer Banks. Three are beached in 5 days

National

Something’s killing humpback whales near the Outer Banks. Three are beached in 5 days

February 18, 2019 08:03 AM
Did FedEx lose $50,000 in watches? North Carolina shop is suing over empty envelope

National

Did FedEx lose $50,000 in watches? North Carolina shop is suing over empty envelope

February 18, 2019 01:07 PM
Hiker trapped by quicksand in Zion Park. It was a ‘frigid’ overnight rescue, rangers say

National

Hiker trapped by quicksand in Zion Park. It was a ‘frigid’ overnight rescue, rangers say

February 18, 2019 12:47 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

The Olympian App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Contests-Promotions
  • Vacation Hold
  • Rewards
  • Pay Your Bill
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
  • Photo Store
  • Archives
Advertising
  • Information
  • Place a Classified
  • Local Deals
  • Place an Obituary
  • Today's Circulars
  • Special Sections
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story