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Alaska
Senate
ALASKA |
Nov. 2,
2010 U.S. Senate |
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Plurality: 10,252 votes (3.88 percentage points) AK Division of Elections
Notes: In a race that will be long remembered, Sen. Lisa Murkowski lost the Republican primary but won re-election as a write-in candidate, narrowly defeating Tea Party-backed attorney and veteran Joe Miller (R) as well as Sitka director of community schools and former Mayor Scott McAdams (D) and three other candidates. The Aug. 24 Republican primary (>) produced a major upset as Miller defeated Murkowski by 55,878 votes (50.91%) to 53,872 votes (49.09%) (>). On Sept. 17 Murkowski announced that she would run as as write-in candidate in the general election (>). Running as a write-in was a challenging path; the last time a write-in candidate for U.S. Senate won was in 1954 when Strom Thurmond was elected in South Carolina. General election debates included the three major candidates at KAKM-TV public television studios in Anchorage on Oct. 27 (>). During the counting of the ballots following the election, the Miller campaign challenged more than ten thousand Murkowski votes, at times for trivial reasons, but when the vote tally was finalized, Murkowski won with 101,091 write-in votes to Miller's 90,839 total votes. (Murkowski's official total included 92,931 ballots counted outright and 8,160 challenged and counted; while 2,035 ballots were challenged and not counted (>)). Open Secrets reports the Murkowski campaign spent $4.6 million and finished with cash on hand of $321,000, the Miller campaign spent $1.5 million and finished with cash on hand of $825,000 and the McAdams campaign spent $1.3 million and finished with cash on hand of $63,000 (>). Campaign Managers: Lisa Murkowski: Kevin Sweeney (Sept. 2010, succeeding John Bitney) Moved over from position as chief of staff to Sen. Murkowski; started working for her as legislative assistant in 2005, then press secretary, communications director, and chief of staff. President of the Alaska Federation of Natives; communications director for ASRC Energy Services, Inc.; and legislative liaison for the Alaska Department of Education. Graduate of Cornell University. Joe Miller: four campaign managers finishing with Robert Campbell, a Barrow attorney (announced Aug. 13). He succeeeded Paul Bauer. See also: Staff. "Alaska Senate hopeful turns to court to stop Murkowski." Reuters, Dec. 27, 2010. Joshua Saul, Craig Medred. "Joe Miller considers final efforts as Murkowski victory seems certain." Anchorage Daily News, Nov. 17, 2010. Huma Khan. "Lisa Murkowski Makes History, Wins Alaska Senate Race But Joe Miller Not Conceding." ABC News, Nov. 16, 2010. Patti Epler. "Alaska Senate race: The untold story of Lisa Murkowski's write-in decision." Anchorage Daily News, Nov. 12, 2010. Linda Feldmann. "Lisa Murkowski of Alaska bows out, is seventh losing incumbent." Christian Science Monitor, Sept. 1, 2010. Patti Epler. "Miller victory: How Murkowski fumbled in GOP primary." Anchorage Daily News, Aug. 31, 2010. Richard Adams, "Joe Miller beating Lisa Murkowski in shock Alaska election result." The Guardian, Aug. 25, 2010. |
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