Joe Miller

A new Hays Research poll of the Alaska Senate race showing Joe Miller in third place is getting a lot of attention, but there actually hasn't been a lot of movement in this particular poll. Miller is exactly where he was a week ago, according to Hays: 

Senator Lisa Murkowski, the write-in candidate in the Alaska Senate race against Republican Joe Miller and Democrat Scott McAdams, oozed with contempt for Miller during a debate last night, which was televised on Alaska's KTUU:

MURKOWSKI: Scott is not ready to lead. Joe is not fit to lead. I have been leading this state [crowd boos]--I have been leading this state for 8 years. And I will continue to do so, bringing the seniority that I have built, the work ethic that I have built, and the passion for a state that I love.

Alaska's Republican Senate candidate Joe Miller's latest ad:

CNN asks likely voters in Alaska:

If the election for U.S. Senate were held today and the candidates were Scott McAdams, the Democrat and Joe Miller, the Republican, who would you be more likely to vote for or would you write in the name of Lisa Murkowski, who is also running?

The results:

Miller 38%

Murkowski 36%

McAdams 22%

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who has launched a write-in bid for reelection after being beaten by Tea Party favorite Joe Miller in the Alaska Republican primary, will lose her committee position tomorrow, according to Senate Republicans:

Senate Republicans just said they will move tomorrow to strip Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, from her post as ranking Republican on the Senate Energy Committee.

Freshman Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), who beat Ted Stevens in 2008, says the national party shouldn't be counting out Lisa Murkowski's seat in his home state. They just need a little faith:

In the wake of Joe Miller's upset over Lisa Murkowski in Alaska's GOP Senate primary, there's been a lot of buzz for Delaware GOP Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell, who is challenging moderate GOP congressman Mike Castle in the September 14 primary. This week, the Tea Party Express endorsed O'Donnell, a former conservative activist who has worked at the Republican National Committee, Concerned Women for America, and the Savior's Alliance for Lifting the Truth.

Alaska's soon-to-be-former senator Lisa Murkowski only won election in 2004 with 49 percent of the vote. Still, given the fact that 2010 seems to be a much stronger year for Republicans than 2004, you might think Joe Miller would poll better than 50% to 44% against Democratic nominee Scott McAdams (whose name the DNC's spokesman didn't know last week).

A statement from Alaska's GOP Senate nominee Joe Miller:

Earlier this evening, I received a call from Senator Murkowski honorably conceding the race. I want to thank her for a hard fought contest.

Tomorrow, the general election begins.

But tonight I'd like to reflect back on the amazing feat we accomplished together. We started from a handful of people knowing who we were and what we stood for to now being the Republican Party nominee.

CNN reports: "Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski conceded in the Alaska GOP senatorial primary which remained unresolved after last Tuesday's voting." Joe Miller will almost certainly be Alaska's next senator.

The Anchorage Daily News is live-blogging the counting of 25,000 absentee and questioned ballots in the Alaska Senate GOP primary between Joe Miller and Lisa Murkowski. Miller started off the day with a 1,668-vote lead. After 6,000 ballots were counted, his lead now stands at 1,294.

ADN reports:

The Anchorage Daily News reports:

Murkowski wouldn’t discuss whether she’d pursue a third-party or independent write-in candidacy for the seat if she loses the Republican primary.

“It is way, way, way too premature to even be talking about that,” Murkowski said.

But a third party-run would be tough: