JUNEAU, Alaska — 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 flew back from Washington, D.C., to Alaska on Wednesday, greeted by about 50 cheering supporters hours before an evening rally in Anchorage. She said the numbers gave her confidence in declaring victory.
Miller said he might ask for a recount. Miller has maintained he’ll stop fighting if the math doesn’t work in his favor.
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.
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.
